LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, Société Européenne (MC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. I'm delighted to welcome you to this shareholders' meeting. Sorry that it's the same tune as last year, but actually, I find it truly wonderful. But perhaps we'll offer something else next year. So the meeting is open. Thank you all for being here. The scrutineers are as follows: Dior represented by Antoine Arnault; and Financiere Agache represented by Frédéric Arnault. Both are present. Very good. And as meeting Secretary, I appoint Mr. Jérôme Sibille. So all together, they will comprise the bureau of the meeting. The agenda, legal formalities. You've been informed of those. So before handing over to our Chief Financial Officer, I would simply like to say that the results of the year were not at all poor, because the meeting is for the 2024 results. So EUR 85 billion in revenue, available cash flow in excess of EUR 10 billion, and investments totaled EUR 5.5 billion. Before giving you a more complete presentation on the group's activities in 2024, over to Madam Cabanis, who will discuss the 2024 figures.

Good morning, everyone. Let me present the main financial items for the year 2024. Revenue for 2024 remained stable. There is a bit of sluggishness of demand. It was all about digesting as it were the exceptional growth we enjoyed after COVID. You will see that in organic terms, growth was plus 1%, but there was a scope effect of minus 1% and a currency effect of minus 2%. This is because of the developments in the various currencies in which we do business. Revenue stood at EUR 84.6 billion at end 2024. Regarding the geographic distribution of revenue, hasn't changed much in 2024. U.S. remains the #1 country, 25% of revenue. Asia is the first region, 28% of sales. Europe stable at 25% and Japan was up 2 percentage points to 9%, with revenue significantly up in 2024. Looking at revenue on a quarterly basis. On the left-hand side, U.S. enjoyed a 2% growth over the year. You can see a favorable development at the end of the year. Next to that, you have Japan that had a bumpy year, up 28% compared to 2023, the second year running, and this growth has sort of stabilized at the end of the year. Then Asia, not including Japan, that was a challenging year, especially because there was an unfavorable base of comparison and there was a surge of Chinese customers going to Japan instead. And in Europe, growth was moderate over the year. Looking at the various business groups, of course, the main activity is fashion and leather goods that accounted for half the revenue in 2024. Selective Retailing is the second highest contribution with 23% of sales driven by Sephora; Watches & Jewelry 12% of revenue; Perfumes & Cosmetics, 10%; and then Wines & Spirits accounting for 7% of our revenue. Then you have a table showing revenue by business group in 2024. This is a mixed bag. We have heterogeneous situations. More or less stable in organic growth, Watches & Jewelry and Fashion & Leather Goods. Robust growth of Perfumes & Cosmetics and Selective Retailing, up plus 4% and plus 6%, respectively, with the outstanding performance by Sephora; but Wines & Spirits slowed down because of low demand in the U.S. and Asia. Let's look now at current operating profit. Profit from recurring operations sitting at EUR 19.5 billion, down 14% and operating margin sitting at 23.1%, down compared to 2023, but significantly high compared to pre-COVID levels. Now this development reflects a rigorous running of costs that remain costs under control to no more than 2%, significant capital expenditure investment in our brands and our network to keep the -- to, of course, address growth when, of course, we come out of this low growth cycle. But there are 2 exceptional situations that should be pointed out, Wines & Spirits, where low volumes compared to -- combined with the high pressure on prices and unfavorable mix have brought about lower profits and margins. And DFS, our business has 2 basic currencies, the Hong Kong dollar and the Macau pataca. And these 2 currencies were appreciated vis-a-vis the Chinese RMB. And so these made these purchases less attractive. And all in all, we're talking about several hundred million U.S. dollars for DFS, but that is offset by the outstanding performance of Sephora in Selective Retailing. Regarding operating profit, that is compared to published numbers, apart from what I just said, one significant effect was the currency effect because the changes in currencies vis-a-vis the euro cost us more than EUR 1 billion, and we couldn't offset that with prices. Let's look at the results per se. Here, you have the P&L table here. I've mentioned revenue. Gross margin is down 4%, and that reflects a moderate inflation in cost of marketing expenses and lower currency gains compared to last year, but they are a one-off effect. There's an unfavorable effect of Wines & Spirits, lower harvest in champagne. And then we had higher-than-usual provisions on inventory, which we normally do on a seasonal basis. Operating expenses were up 2% compared to 2023. There are marketing -- rather selling expenses up. Administrative admin (sic) [ expenses ] were up 3%. Marketing expenses were down 5%, but that's because of unusual expenses, the Olympic Games, the share programs for LVMH for employees that accounts for most of the operating expenses. The other expenses are historically high, and that's because of the cost of exit of some activities such as Off-White and Stella McCartney. Financial expense stands at EUR 792 million. It's better than last year. And the effective tax rate stood at 28% in 2024. So that's higher than 2023. And that's because of a grower share of profits in Japan, where income tax is higher than the average. So all in all, the net profit group share stood at EUR 12.6 billion, down 17% compared to last year, but last year was a record year. Let's look at our balance sheet now. Without acquisitions, there were a few changes compared to 2023. As I said, inventories were kept under control, as well as PPEs that is property, plant and equipment. These were choices that were maintained throughout the year, and we were able to keep debt down compared to equity. A few words about free cash flow, operating free cash flow. You have this on the slide right now. We were able to generate free cash flow to the tune of EUR 10.5 billion. It is significantly higher, up EUR 2 billion compared to last year. This outstanding performance again shows the rigorous and disciplined management of working capital requirements, but also CapEx in a year where profits were down. As you can see on this slide, net debt was down in 2024, standing at EUR 9.2 billion. Net cash from operating activities more than offset the payment of dividends and a few acquisitions in shares that we did last year. Net debt, as you see, is about 13% of equity, which is quite correct and quite limited. And we need to have enough to address possible headwinds. So with all this, we are offering a dividend of EUR 13 per share, stable compared to last year. As you know, we try to line up the growth of net profit and the need of dividend. And of course, when profits are down, we keep the dividend stable. You had an interim dividend of EUR 5.5. And so the balance, EUR 7.5 per share will be paid out in April. Now then a few words about revenue for the first quarter of 2025. We published the numbers earlier this week. Revenue is down 2% in published numbers. There's a positive currency effect, plus 1%. But on a constant scope and exchange rate basis, revenues were down 3% compared to Q1 of last year, in line with the cycle found already in 2024. Europe is growing. Japan slightly down compared to Q1 2024. But as I said earlier, that quarter had the advantage of Chinese customers on the territory. So that boosted sales. The rest of Asia has similar trends as 2024. U.S. slightly down in spite of a good performance on Fashion & Leather Goods and Watches & Jewelry. So no need to return to these figures. This completes this financial presentation. Thank you for your attention.

We will now present a small clip stemming from questions put by our shareholders on the group and its major businesses. [Presentation]

So we can say that in 2024, the group's performance was very solid, especially given the geopolitical context rather troubled and uncertain. And for me, this evokes the considerable strength of our brands as compared to the market as a whole and an appeal that's quite remarkable on which we work day in, day out to enhance the desirability of our houses. The prime activity, as we said, is Fashion & Leather Goods that held up well last year, in particular, Louis Vuitton, driven with a capacity for renewal that is tremendous, and we can cite a few events that occurred in 2024. For example, the opening of the New York store, a store on the face of a temporary -- I say temporary because this Maison, this house, it's quite large, delivers over twice the revenue of the previous store that was also very well positioned at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. And if you have occasion to visit New York, I invite you to go and visit the store, which Pietro and his team, that I've assisted a little from time to time, worked a great deal. At the top of the store, there's a delicious restaurant that we decided yesterday, together with Pietro, to christen Chez Gaston. Why Chez Gaston? It's a tribute to Gaston Vuitton, who's a son of Georges. I won't tell you the whole story, but he was a refined gourmet. And of course, we conducted a great many other transactions, expo in Bangkok, that exhibition that we also visit, that it's an extraordinary success with a number of visitors in dozens of thousands that attracted all the activity of Bangkok and allowed our Vuitton brand to remain #1 in the market. Next, a very fine event, an exhibition that we saw last week in Tokyo, that's a little more recent, of high jewelry and high watchmaking with some wonderful pieces to say that today, Louis Vuitton in these segments is one of the most creative houses, supplying unparalleled quality in watchmaking and in watchmaking today, the finest mechanical watches, the most complicated time pieces, and without a doubt to be found at Vuitton. And soon, we'll be developing the sector even further. And I've asked on this occasion that I should have on my desk, the Louis Vuitton Montgolfière, the hot air balloon, that's an extraordinary clock. You can show it. Be careful. It's heavy. It's a timepiece, a clock that's mechanical with a quite extraordinary mechanism that you wind up and it will run for over 8 days, and it's a very big success. And there's a very long waiting list of many years, manufactured by a very small crafts workshop, L'Epée, that LVMH acquired. So in Louis Vuitton activities, there was the wonderful show of Nicolas Ghesquière in Barcelona, the Cruise show in a unique location, the first to organize a show. And also Pharrell Williams' show at UNESCO, as well as many other events. The America's Cup were awarded the America's -- it's now called the America's Cup Louis Vuitton global event held every 3, 4 years, to which Vuitton is associated and has been so for many dozens of years. So the expansion of Vuitton is going from strength to strength, and I'll come back to that in due course. Also in the front row, we have La Maison Dior that has just completed an extraordinary show in Kyoto in Japan. A jewelry event at Florence. We have a jewelry creator, Victoire de Castellane, who's truly remarkable, probably the most talented in her generation, and these high jewelry collections sell wonderfully. I won't give you the figures that we achieved on this occasion, but it's truly remarkable. We also held a show in New York in April and the [ Cruise ] show in Scotland. As Dior is always fortunate, in Scotland it tends to rain every day, but that occasion, there was a radiant sunshine and the show was outside and great many umbrellas had been planned, but it went very well. I'll pass on the Christmas window displays that you probably saw at [ New Mountain ] with those of Vuitton, the most remarkable window displays in the world. And last year, we inaugurated a Dior Gold House. I could go on. The list is long. We've had a great many events and many new developments at Vuitton and Dior. I'd also like to mention in passing, Loro Piana, that is also going from strength to strength with a wonderful exhibition in Shanghai, and LOEWE also developing strongly with a show in Japan. In closing on Fashion & Leather Goods, I'd like also to mention several new artistic creators joined the group, Sarah Burton at Givenchy; Michael Rider at Celine; and Jack and Lazaro at LOEWE, and I can answer questions about that later, if you like. Cosmetics. Briefly, Christian Dior continues an excellent momentum with extraordinary fragrances, perfumes. The Sauvage perfume is still the world's leading fragrance for both men and women, a global success. And we also have great many new products or skin care that is developing strongly. And Dior is the leading makeup brand. We have a lipstick that we sell every 1.5 seconds worldwide. It's truly remarkable. The quality of our laboratories, the quality of the teams working at Saint Jean de Braye on the cosmetics and lipsticks on the whole set of other products is, I believe, unparalleled. That's for cosmetics. On Wines & Spirits, well, I'd say that here, this is a sector that continues to normalize after some outstanding years. It's a sector in which, with the tariff issues that are currently being reviewed globally, well, things are a bit strained. Also in terms of staff in the wine growing sector, and I'll answer questions on that, if you wish. Jewelry, here again, many successes, notably for Tiffany, the brand that has considerably raised the level of great houses selling jewelry, has a great track record. It's the leading store for luxury products in the world, the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. And that is truly impressive, this landmark where we organize presentations of collections. We, for example, presented the extraordinary Peter Marino's collection, that was last year, and also presenting high jewelry collections that are always keenly followed. Lastly, turning to Selective Retail -- or rather, on jewelry, of course, I would be remiss in not mentioning Bvlgari that is going from strength to strength. The fact that we recently, in Milan, have opened a new Bvlgari store, a new store, we can call it a Maison, it's a house. It's the largest Tiffany house outside the United States and a remarkable Vuitton house on the Via Montenapoleone, attracting great many visitors. And in Selective Retailing, we'd like to underscore the remarkable performance of Sephora that continues to grow. And as we saw in the short clip, we've been very successful with the Olympic Games, for which we were one of the prime sponsors. That was a global planetary event that was quite sensational and a whole set of French champions distinguished themselves. And lastly, we recently signed a partnership with Formula 1. The next Grand Prix in May will be held in Monaco. You're all invited to follow it live. And for our Maison, it's an outstanding opportunity and in particular, for Vuitton and for TAG Heuer, that will be the official timer, replacing another leading watchmaking house for the next 10 years. And perhaps at the end of those 10 years, TAG Heuer will manage to directly compete, in terms of size, the current #1. We'll strive to achieve that. We have investments that are planned to do that. We must build facilities, the watchmaking movements that takes time. But over a 10-year period, we can aim to achieve that. So before giving you a few thoughts about the future, I'd like to say that performance is not only financial for us, we also have a social and environmental performance that will be presented subsequently. But I would like to emphasize that LVMH is the leading recruiter in the private sector in France. We have over 6,000 stores worldwide. And in France, over 20 production and craft workshops in France located across the country. In total, EUR 5.5 billion were invested by your company in 2024 worldwide, which close to EUR 2 billion in France and EUR 5.8 billion paid in corporate tax, about half of which in France. That never ceases to increase. Having presented these few achievements, these impressive successes notched up by your group in 2024, I'd like to dwell on the future. The year 2025 has been marked by a measure of disruption, because up until the end of February, everything was going well. And then we were faced with a geopolitical and global economic situation that was upset by potential tariffs, worsening international crisis, and this disrupted some the month of March, and I said that the last time I spoke to analysts, January was a very good month. And then as of the end of February, things deteriorated. Having said that, we remain optimistic. We continue our investments. We continue the mastery of manufacturing, that's absolutely key, and we uphold our values that I'd like to briefly recall. Firstly, creativity at the heart of everything we do, inventiveness, novelty. We must also concentrate on creativity in terms of the iconic products of our various houses, the quest for unparalleled quality that lies at the heart of our success. And we truly strive to maintain the highest level of quality across all our businesses. And lastly, the spirit of enterprise, of management, the process that allows us to have leaders, some of whom are with us today, of leading executives, and I'd like to commend them and congratulate them for this remarkable performance of our group in 2024. And the fourth value, but Antoine will present that, is to have a sense of responsibility, and Antoine will return to that in due course. So for the future, I'd like to make a few comments. The earnings were presented. There were articles, comments by analysts, et cetera. I'd like to address 2 issues. In certain articles and certain comments, mention is made of crisis of the luxury sector, the luxury market, and of a slowdown. So what is the situation precisely in terms of the current situation? I believe that today there are 2 developments, I would say, that are in opposition, but ultimately lead us to be positively hopeful about the future of our business. Firstly, we have the long-standing development of people on this planet who are interested and capable of entering our stores and buying our products. I think this increase, this expansion, that's not just due to the geographic expansion of our network, but rising living standards that we see across countries is set to continue. And so the reason for our success over the last 30 or 40 years remains ever present. Of course, there will be ups and downs depending on the cyclical situation is really set to continue. There's every reason to be convinced as I am that the extraordinary appeal of our businesses will continue and must be our long-term lodestar. And that's the most important factor when it comes to guiding our strategy and business in general. Now the second factor that is more unfavorable that we're currently seeing is that of inflation and its consequences, the rise in interest rates. And if inflation kicks in, interest rates will rise and the expected drop will not continue, may well be the opposite. And this affects the portion of the customers of our businesses, which is the aspirational customer segment, customers who enter for the first time a luxury store seeking to acquire one of our products. Well, that portion of our customer base, of course, who have more limited means than the other segment, the affluent customers, well, this section is more affected than the other customer segment. So it's quite obvious that there are more potential customers in the aspirational segment than in the affluent segment. And that is why that a whole set of houses within the group have expanded swiftly, notably the greatest and that over a great many years. And when the economic climate becomes more challenging, as is the case now, it's cyclical, well, that portion of the customer base has a greater difficulty in acquiring products than the affluent customers that is less affected or not as swiftly affected as the other segment. And this has prompted us to give this some considerable thought. What is the group's purpose? Is it to grow sales or to offer always the finest quality, knowing that the more the company grows and becomes bigger, and we see this with the results of our various competitors, the bigger the company, the more it needs, in order to continue to grow, to work with the affluent customers, but that is less buoyant midterm in terms of renowned and development, because this affluent customer segment is far more sustainable. So we're faced with that situation. And together with the executives of the various companies such as Pietro and Delphine, we inclined to the view of let's favor growth of the highest end of our products, even if it grows a little less, because overall growth, what counts is to have the greatest desirability for the long term. And that's our goal whilst, of course, keeping the profitability. Vuitton has outstanding profitability. There's no question of jeopardizing that. And I know that when businesses are smaller and that they are directed at an affluent segment, the case of Loro Piana, that's probably the brand in the world that offers the finest quality across a whole set of products as it is smaller. It has growth that is markedly higher today than its major peers that also offer excellent quality, whom I won't cite here. But they, in order to grow their business and also -- if they continue like that, they're going to kind of, as it were, trivialize their products and even their best products. And that's what must be avoided. To have the best quality, we must avoid trivializing the products. And I think that it's a difficult exercise. And now that we fully understood the reasons underlying the way the market operates for the most well-known, most important brands as well as the smaller brands, but with high potential such as Loro Piana, it's 90%, 95% affluent customers. So we're gaining market share. But today, I mean, I won't give the figures, but at least EUR 3 billion in revenue. The day we want to reach EUR 7 billion, EUR 8, EUR 9 billion or EUR 10 billion, maybe we'll need to give it some thought. And that's not the purpose. The goal is to offer unparalleled quality and then growth will follow at a more or less fast pace. The bigger we are, the faster it is, or we have to accept to make our products more commonplace, and we reject that absolutely, notably the 2 main brands. I don't wish to bore you with that rather abstract or strategic thinking and reasoning, but it's something that we must give considerable thought, the long-term success of the group, the continuing of its expansion and extraordinary profitability, because after all, we generated EUR 10 billion in cash flow last year that we're distributing to you, shareholders, at least 2x or 3x more than the next competitor. So it does leave scope. And we have truly the result that this group should remain the most desirable, that each of its brands should be the most desirable, perhaps at the expense of a little less growth. Okay. I mean that doesn't bother me the slightest as long as we produce the finest products. I'm not going to dwell on that much further. But the final comment I'd make about the situation is that certain commentators explain you that nothing will ever be the same, that the causes of the current slowdown are structural, that drastic measures are required and all that is generating what I view as totally ill-considered pessimism. So I'd like to say a few words about that. Firstly, our situation, far from being worrisome. You've seen the figures, the cash flow, the balance sheet. You've seen, after all, the results that are remarkable, that are very good. So I fail to see -- okay, great many companies in a crisis would truly like to have such ratios. It's not the case across the board. Secondly, it's rather paradoxical to say we're entering a structural crisis, certainly an irreversible crisis after an unprecedented growth phase and the end of COVID. So the same 2 years ago, we'll say, if the things pick up, if the tariff problems and others resolve, we'll write the opposite. We've seen that. I don't know if I've already said this to you, but on several occasions, we have seen the same thing. I recall that when we acquired Sephora. Maybe I described this to you, I told you about that. Be that as it made during the first 3, 4 years? Well, you've done something very silly, is incredible. How could you do such a thing? You must sell it immediately, okay? And then it began to work and work very well. The same, the very same said, well, it's great. You're remarkable. You bought a remarkable operation. That's great. And then the business. I'm sure I've told you this, we paid EUR 100 million. And today, it's generating EUR 16 billion in revenue, EUR 1.6 billion in profit. So there you are. You need to be wary of these misconceptions and always to react to the problem with ideas that have been tried and tested and accounted. I mean, Einstein said that, you don't solve a problem with ideas that have already been used. So the third reason that gives me cause for optimism is our business model. Of course, we must adapt it. And we must no longer think growth and revenue at all. We must think quality, increase in the product range, heightening the better to have a small hot air balloon or even a bigger one, because we do have one. But maybe that's for -- or a large hot air balloon to ensure that our brand radiates then to have products that are sold far more cheaply and readily. Of course, make no mistake, if we wanted 10% of Vuitton, we press a button, that would immediately generate 10% growth tomorrow morning. People tend to say Vuitton is the end of growth. I mean that's deliberate, right Pietro? We know what to do to generate 10% growth, but we mustn't do that. So we need to adapt and strive to see the market as it is today. It's not the same as it was 20 years ago with our brand portfolio. That's why it's remarkable. We have brands. We have Maisons that are very well developed, such as Vuitton, and houses that are still to be developed at the acme of quality, such as Loro Piana and a series of fashion houses that we can expand, that we can develop. That's what I wish to say. I think I've done the rounds. And now we move to -- when do we have questions? Forgive me. No, we have -- over to the new Head of Human Resources, who will tell us about activities in that field.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders and employees. I'm delighted to be with you here. This is my first AGM as Head of Human Resources of LVMH. I joined the company 20 years ago, I've been here 20 years. And I'm delighted to share with you on the remarkable ecosystem and the outlook for 215,000 people. Our CEO and our CFO told us that this is a period of uncertainty, but that uncertainty has only served to strengthen our belief. The talents of the group are the first guarantees of success for the future of the group. Every day, in each of our houses, by their commitment, their passion, they bring about and carry values of excellence, creativity, spirit of enterprise, and our leaders in close cooperation with human resources are implementing and creating an environment that is conducive to the development of our collective ambitions. And one example is LVMH shares. It's the first employee shareholder program. It was designed in reflecting our own inclusive and attractive model to make shares affordable to all. And this was very successful, because we have almost 40% of our employees joining, 60% in France and all the available shares were bought up. Now I'll give you some figures. We have 215,000 employees in a number of countries, more than 90 nationalities. And the question is, how can we remain close to all these employees when you have so many people from so many countries, and we want to give each of them a chance to speak their voices. And this is why we started this survey called Pulse. That was last year. 145,000 employees took part in the survey, and it showed that more than 89% of our people are proud to work with LVMH. And we also found ways of improvement. We need to support our managers in growing their teams. And as a response to that, last week, on 15th of April, we started a new program to support our 30,000-some managers, and that's called Career Compass, and that program proposes to provide tools and key resource to help managers always support their teams. And that will be extended, in fact, to all our talents in 2026, and we look forward to sharing with you the outcome for the next AGM. And then more generally speaking, in the context of upsets, especially technological upsets and breakthroughs, I believe that the need for learning, for training is, in fact, an opportunity for LVMH. We want to grow the skills of our people throughout their careers, but regardless of their levels of seniority. And to make that happen, we started partnerships, strategic partnerships with the great universities. And the purpose of these partnerships is to open unlimited access to training and online resources that our employees can access depending on their needs. I would also like to insist on our constant commitment to LVMH House. This is our own university that is there to support our executives. But as part of the training program, the best way to acquire new skills to our mind is to offer new professional experiences. And in this respect, we have 6 businesses, 75 houses, providing a remarkable unique playground in unlimited opportunities for our employees. In 2024, as many as 19,000 employees were able to enjoy internal mobility and take on new responsibilities in the group. So mobility is not only a factor of growth, but also a factor of performance for individuals, but also for the group as a whole. This is a priority to ensure future growth. The wealth of our ecosystem is also to be found in the great diversity of talents we have. We wish to promote the fulfillment of all of us. We want to create a fair setting for all. And for the past 75 years, we've been conducting, with great resolve, a policy of equal opportunities with clear and transparent objectives. Number one, of course, we want to look at a gender balance and want to have ultimately 50% of our key positions held by women by 2025. And at the end of last year, 2024, we already stood at 48%. So a significant improvement compared to the 23% we had back in 2007. But goes to show we still have a little ways to go. there are a number of initiatives that have encouraged our female employees to apply for leadership positions. LVMH's mentorship program that started in March 2024 and brings together as many as 5,000 talents. And we are also strengthening our efforts to include disabled employees. And so we have a new program called new colleagues, and we have to provide better integration of employees with psychological disabilities. And then we want to promote that commitment beyond the group. And in fact, we are working hard on helping people find a place in society through work. And we created the Institute for Vocational Training. And so this gives new opportunities to people who are left out of the labor market. And so we have as many as 6 campuses. 650 people now year-on-year have been taking part in the program for a 6-month curriculum. At the end of that 6 months, more than 82% of them found a job. And then we are also looking carefully at the attractiveness of the group. And in fact, the trades that we develop here are future opportunities as well. And this is essential to make our business model sustainable, but also to make our products desirable. And our recruitment policy reflects this. And in particular, we want to give prominence to craftsmanship and pass on this valuable precious know-how. In 2024, we celebrated 10 years of trades of excellence. And this is a pioneering initiative, reflecting our long-term commitment to preserve the know-how, these trades, this craftsmanship. And for the past 10 years, as many as 3,300 apprentices were trained in that institute. But we have as many as 21,000 young people who are able to discover opportunities, training through the career forums called You & ME. Now to go beyond this, beyond know-how and craftsmanship and expertise, we've started initiatives to help new generations discover these trades and crafts. And in 2021, we created LVMH Inside. That's a good case in point because 125,000 prospects were able to get the LVMH certification, having been through a 30-hour curriculum online. And we're delighted to see that several schools have taken up that's very certificate in their own curricula. And the next class will start opening on 22nd April. It's free of charge. Please join. Now of course, another one of our concerns is to provide a quality work environment that will provide safety and security. And we are there to support people who may encounter challenges in their personal lives. And so we discussed this last year already. Four years ago, we started LVMH Heart Fund. Now that's a fund that is there to support and provide financial aid for people meeting such challenges. And now 9,300 employees over 5 continents were able to get help from that. So ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, that commitment in favor of talent is not based only on the group's Human Resources, it involves all our leaders. And as part of a collective approach for these values to remain sustainable throughout our group, we want values of excellence, the spirit of entrepreneurship, the commitment that has always reflected the spirit of our houses, we want to, of course, promote future growth in the group. And it is this long-term vision, which goes hand-in-hand with agility, this is what has enriched our road map. Thank you so much for your attention.

I'd now like to give the floor to Antoine to talk to us about the environment and the results there from.

Good morning to all. I'm very pleased to come back on an outstanding year, both through our environmental actions as well as the impact for actions in sports. Our partnership with the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, let's take a look at video. [Presentation] The Paris 2024 Olympic games, an occasion of renowned for the group in France and abroad, thanks to the work of houses, including Louis Vuitton, Chaumet, Dior, Berluti, Moët & C and Sephora. I'd like to thank particularly the craft people of the group who work with passion on the Olympic, Paralympic creations, showcasing French know-how that of the group in the finest manner during the world's greatest event. On the environment front, despite of a year mark by economic and geopolitical uncertainties, we decided to firmly stay the course and to affirm our environmental ambition because sustainability is a key component of the desirability of our employer brand. Our products and reputation, our environmental strategy launched 4 years ago is rolling out action programs within our 75 houses. On challenges, key for us, the circular economy, traceability, biodiversity and the climate. They said quantified targets for 2023, 2026 and 2030, the review of the first phase of our program. As you can see on this chart is positive. Supply chain traceability has been reached to the tune of 100% of raw materials acquired over 10 million products that are subject of circular services and our Gaïa research facility is a bedrock to continue our trajectory in '24. As you saw in the film, we were in Japan and Italy, Brazil, Mexico, the United States and China to route LIFE 360 and the daily life of our teams. We're able to fully assess the mobilization of houses in Europe and the rest of the world, leading to tangible results in 2024 that are markedly up creative circularity, changing the code of beauty, reducing the environmental footprint. They increased their ecodesign approach. 33% of materials, group products and packaging stem from recycling processes. Ecodesign occurs at outstanding moments to acquire the desirability. The uniforms of the award winners was -- during the games was designed with ecodesign materials. Terracotta Foundation was used by Guerlain to be ambassador of the refill. With this refill, we can reduce the carbon footprint by 30%. Traceability, transparency are the fundamental principles that guarantee the excellence of our products. The certification rate by demanding standards of our strategic processes is up in '24. The groups opted for new traceability solution and deploy the digital passport of products after Louis Vuitton's Loro Piana, Dior and Bulgari that are equipping their ranges with such a system. We're also acting to protect natural resources foremost amongst which water, essential to our production, thanks to recycling technologies and its distilleries. NC has reduced its water use by 42% in 20 years. In 2024, we amplified our regenerative agriculture program to preserve biodiversity and soil quality by supporting breeders in agriculture. Our projects are present across the world. We have rehabilitated 3.8 million hectares of habitat, fauna and flora. On climate in 2024, we set out a transition plan, strengthened the robustness of carbon data with new collection platforms, promoted synergies between group functions, purchasing, marketing, IT so that carbon is really at the heart of operational steerage in parallel. We've opted for co-innovation with our suppliers to win the battle of Scope 3 by rolling out our LIFE 360 business partners program. Results are there. In '24, 2 years before the set time line, we reached -- exceeded the objective 50% reduction over 2019 carbon emissions linked to energy consumption, thanks to the change of renewables in the energy mix. It went from 1% in 2013 to 71% in 2024. On Scope 3 emissions of our supply chains, we're on track with our trajectory with a 33% reduction in 2024 versus 2019. Of course, we remain vigilant, the sustainability of our strategy of progress as we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord. We can be proud of these results. We've reduced the carbon of our growth. As you can see, the carbon intensity of our revenue went from 132 grams of carbon per year in 2019, down to 89 grams in 2024. We'll continue our trajectory by carrying the luxury sector with us involving our stakeholder supply, promoting the acquisition of new skills for our people. As you saw in the film, as Maud mentioned, 2024, we inaugurated our LIFE Academy, La Millière, a biodiversity reserve, hosted by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He's just off to visit a women's prison whom I'd like to acknowledge and thank for his contribution to our Board Meeting for so many years. The new luxury is taking off within our group. It's because sustainability is more professional, a key component of everyone's mission that we have every likelihood of reaching our objectives in '26 and 2030. Thank you.

And now I'll give the floor to our auditors.

Thank you. So ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning. On behalf of the college of statutory auditors, Deloitte and Mazar, these are the reports we produced to your attention for the year 2024. There are as many as 8 reports: 1 on the parent company financial statements, 1 report on consolidated financial statements, a report on related party -- regulated related party agreements and then 5 reports on transactions on share capital. They were made available ahead of this AGM. And so I'll just give you a brief summary. Starting with our report on the LVMH parent company for resolution #1. The accounts were prepared according to French accounting standards, and we believe that the valuation of equity investments and provisions for contingencies and losses were the key items of the audit. As a result of our examination, we certified the accounts of the LVMH parent company without reservations or observations. Regarding the consolidated financial statements prepared according to the IFRS financial standards, we believe that the 3 following topics were the key items of our audit: valuation of fixed assets, valuations of inventory and work in progress and provisions for contingencies and losses and uncertain tax positions. As a result of our examination, we certified the consolidated accounts without reservations or observations. Regarding Resolution #4 of the AGM, we produced a report on related -- regulated related party agreements. There are no new such regulated related party agreements for the period. And so the conventions that were approved in previous years or which remained in force in 2024 are included in this report. And then regarding the extraordinary part of the AGM, we produced 5 reports on resolutions, likely to have an effect on the share capital. These are transactions to either increase or reduce the share capital. Our reports have no observations regarding such transactions, which will take place according to rules of the Code of Commerce. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, dear CEO, thank you for your attention.

Right then, well, having heard these reports, we have time for questions. Now we received a number of questions in writing either by e-mail or actually by post. We will provide the questions and the answers that were produced prior to the AGM. Well, thank you. For each Annual General Meeting, shareholders can put questions to us by e-mail. We decided to look at those questions that were not covered in the general consultations for which the videos have yet to provide an answer. So question number one, there were a number of changes within the Executive Board. How can you account for these changes at a time where the group remains stable usually? Well, it should be pointed out that LVMH has been recognized for a stable management and top management, and this is a key factor of its success. The long-term commitment of our employees, our employee loyalty is a distinctive mark of this company. But it is true that in 2024, there were a number of changes in the leadership teams, including on the executive committee. And there were 4 departures: Mrs. Gaemperle, Mr. de Lapuente, Mr. Schaus and Mr. Belloni, who left the top management and the Executive Board -- Executive Committee, but he still provides us with his expertise in his capacity as CEO of the LVMH Italy. Madam Alvarez-Pereyre is now the new Head of HR; and Mr. Motte is the CEO of Sephora. And there were 2 changes in positions. Mr. Guiony is now the CEO of Wine & Spirits; and Mrs. Cabanis is now the group's CFO. It should be pointed out that the 4 members of the Executive Committee who left their positions in 2024, each spent more than 20 years in the company, which is a reflection of the stability, the commitment, the satisfaction of our people, especially our executives. And more importantly, these leaders were replaced with people that had been identified earlier on and who had always been -- had already been working for the company. And so these changes reflect the group's ability to provide its employees with enriching opportunities throughout their careers. Now these changes occurred in a context where new generation is coming in to prepare the future of the group and address tomorrow's challenges. Now there's another question. A number of issues to do with the luxury supply chain emerged this year. Dior, like other brands such as Armani, was put in a challenging position in Italy. What are you doing to address these issues? Well, quality and more specifically, high quality has always been and will always be the group's #1 priority throughout our activities on supply, production and distribution. We want to preserve our know-how to offer high-quality products. This high demand, this high requirement in quality applies throughout the group because each and every employee of the company carries the values of LVMH in terms of ethics and social and environmental responsibility. We wish to abide by the highest possible standards and we have rules of conduct and principles that dictate the behavior of all our employees and indeed all our stakeholders. To this end, we need to be ever more vigilant on these issues. And this means adapting our governance structures. It means a better coordination amongst all levels of the group, having a better monitoring system for the group and ensuring that expertise and know-how is properly transmitted, as was the case for the fashion and leather goods and watches and jewelry departments. Regarding the Dior company and the issues in Italy, involving one of its subsidiaries, it should be pointed out that Dior itself was not being challenged. You have 2 subcontractors, 1 being indirect in charge of providing partial assembly of leather goods for men, accounting for less than 0.3% of our production in Italy and they violated labor laws and indeed our own code of conduct. This was kept away from us deliberately. As soon as we became aware of this, aware of the seriousness of these violations provided by these suppliers in view of our own procedures, the Dior House worked hand-in-hand with the Italian authorities and immediately put an end to the orders and make sure that stringent measures would be applied to monitor production. And to be perfectly transparent, the Italian Justice Department decided to put an early end to the liquidation, recognize the efforts made by Dior to reinforce existing monitoring systems and avoid a repetition of this in the future. And number three -- third question, can you tell us about the effects of tariff barriers? And do you propose to move out of the United States for production to avoid the effects of these tariffs? Well, like all players, we lack visibility. To this point, tariffs were suspended for a period of 90 days. We certainly hope that this transition period will make it possible for states to negotiate and arrive at a possible -- positive outcome. So right now, the effects are uncertain to say the least. Our activity in the U.S. accounts for 25% of our revenue. To this day, our companies in the houses in the U.S. have enough inventory to absorb the impact and address this issue with full -- with plenty of time, but we also have production capacities in the U.S. that can be increased. So we will be looking at this house by house and product-product, and there will be price adjustments that may be considered as well. And so we have ways to compensate for this, and it is too early days now to be more specific. But in any event, the most important thing in the context of uncertainty, which is not very conducive to consumption, but we're looking at long-term desirability and the high quality of our products. This is where our priorities lie. And fourth and last, shareholders are being proposed to put a change in the age limitation for the CEO in the company articles. Can you tell us more about this and a possible succession plan for the CEO in the company? The answer is yes. The Board of Directors has -- will be suggesting that the articles be changed to harmonize the age limit for the Chairman of the Board and the CEO. Should there be a separation from these functions, the age limitation now in the articles stands at 75 years of age. But beyond the changes in the articles, the Board of Directors and more specifically, the Committee on Sustainability and Governance chaired by Henri de Castries is made up of independent directors, and they discussed the succession plans of our leaders, including executive officers. Now such plans may not be disclosed publicly, but clearly, both in the short term, the medium term plans and for sudden events, we do have contingency plans as well. Regarding to ensure stability of the shareholding structure, we changed the structure of [ Agache ] to make the family control over the group more sustainable and transparent. We shall not -- we're not in a position to disclose information that need not be disclose, but we -- in that new structure, we can ensure there will be a single vote on the controlling shareholders on all issues under his authority. As Mr. Arnault said, LVMH is a family company where principles of meritocracy, excellence and experience apply to all.

Thank you so very much. And now if there are any questions from the audience, we're here to take them. Are there any questions at all?

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I have a question about a football club in Paris. What would be the economic fallout of such a football club?

First of all, I will say, I'm not an expert on football. But this is not to do with LVMH. So I'm afraid I cannot take this question as part of the LVMH AGM.

My name is [indiscernible], and I represent API, this association for individual shareholders. I would like to congratulate you to offer an age limitation at 85 years. That shows you excellent health and we can only applaud this. But we do have 2 questions on issues that were not presented in this session. Looking at a global geography, China and the United States and Europe are the 3 big regions. It seems to be, as you pointed out, surely, there must be influential -- sorry, affluent customers or aspirational customers in India. Can you tell us about your policies if you are to conquer that market? And can you tell us more about the kinds of products that are encompassing both high quality and long term? I'm referring here to a department you're offering maintenance and repairs on your products. Can you tell us more about that?

Regarding India, right now, it is a small market, but there is an issue with very high tariffs. And so Indian customers, to a large extent, will purchase the products outside India. And since they are close to the Middle East, Dubai and such like, a lot of the purchasing is done outside India. Well, we do have shops in India, but so long as we have that issue with high tariffs, it is rather difficult to sell products at a higher price because of the tariffs to sell them higher -- at a higher price to Indians when they can get them cheaper just a few hours away. Regarding the repair shop, I'll ask Pietro, maybe he'll tell us more about that because it's true. At Vuitton, you can fix a bag in most of our shops. There is a department, he'll tell you more about it.

Yes. Well, at Vuitton, when you purchase a product, usually, it should be it -- it should last for tens, dozens of years. But so we design the products in such a way that they can be fixed or repaired if necessary. And so -- but that should be -- well, from a design stage, we want our products to be repairable if necessary. This is rather unique because you buy a product at Vuitton and anyone involved in the brand will ensure that the product will be there. But there are no discounts, but conversely, you have a guarantee that the products will last. We have workshops. We have little factories where we have a repair service. And indeed, you can walk into any of our shops. And if you need a metal part or a spare part, we have all these parts and we keep the parts precisely to ensure that these products can be maintained and fixed, if necessary. This is a significant investment, by the way. This is not a profit center. This is something we invest to develop customer loyalty. So well, most of the repairs are free of charge, but even those which we charge, they don't generate a profit. This does not cover the cost of the investment. This is a cost center, but we believe it's an investment in the future.

Question #4.

Yes. I was wondering who would take over from Kim Jones, who will be now moving for the -- our direction of the men's department. Do we have names? Anybody will?

Well, the next men's fashion show of Christian Dior will take place in June, and it will be Jonathan Anderson who will be designing that. Are there other questions? Number 6.

My name is [ Charles Luci ]. I'm an individual shareholder. This is my 28th AGM. And Mr. Arnault, I must say, we can only admire your journey as a builder of empires. All entrepreneurs around the world should take their queue from you. And that brings me to my question about the key success factors according of you, what are the best -- the 3 best decisions, the 3 best ideas that were defining for the success of the group? And then the 3 worst decisions that you were able to correct presumably? Regarding the quality of products, we know how you ensure the quality of products regardless of where they're made. And more specifically, as you know, there was criticism leveled at American productions. And then there are a number of threats, there are new trends in China. You have [indiscernible] are high-quality copies of goods. Then you have luxury shaming. That is something that after the anti-bribery acts, there is this thing of luxury shaming. And then is there a threat coming from the secondhand market? And then finally, I should like to congratulate on your gold medal for visibility in the Olympic Games because you were there everywhere, and you could be seen everywhere.

Well, the good and the bad decisions, I'd rather talk about the good decisions. If I could avoid, you better forget about the bad decisions. Good decisions, I think for a number of years, at the group, we've tried to have standing next to the big houses. And that's what we were saying earlier on, to have smaller houses that can grow faster and that is really what explains the success of our group. You buy a stake in smaller businesses. And so you can grow them faster. In most cases, it works. Some cases, it might not. But usually, it does work. And as I was saying earlier on with Loro Piana when we took that over, I remember the family was our partner. It still is our partner, but some members of the family said, "Well, we wish to sell some of our shares." And then we did sell their shares, sorry, did it because now if they want to get them again, they trade at 3x the price. Anyway, you can grow companies faster if they are smaller to begin with. And if they have the right potential and especially in the present climate where maybe not in China, but products without a logo are successful even at logo -- even at Vuitton and Dior, we produce products without logos on them. But of course, the right decisions depending on the right people, and Mrs. Maud Alvarez pointed out that there are lots of people working for our company, but there are people working for the company outside the group. We have 40,000 employees. But if you add also supplies, we have 160,000 people working for us. So that's why I pay great attention to make sure -- I mean, I always pay close attention to what governments might decide on our companies. They want to impose all sorts of regulation and taxes on companies, but the companies need to have room for new maneuver and need to be able to invest, but that's another issue. Anyway, when you have a large number of people working for you, the right decision is trying to find the right people. It's not always easy. At times, it may be challenging. But on the whole, and we have -- in this very AGM, we have a number of employees as well. I think we were able to make the right choices, the right decisions as to who we could hire. If you want a third decision, I think the choice of creators, I think we can say today that LVMH as a group not only has the best brands in the world that also was able to work with the best creators to attract the best creators. There was a question just now about Jonathan, but they are the likes of remarkable creators, Maria Grazia, who is wonderful. I won't list them all, but the new recruit at Givenchy did a superb fashion show. Right. Are there further questions?

Chairman, I have 2 brief questions. If the specter of a global recession were to be confirmed, do you think that your American brands will be able to offset the loss of market experience by French and European brands? And secondly, the accumulated financial reserves in the current context will allow you to grow M&A by acquiring other brands that may be facing difficulties?

Well, first of all, the question of customs tariffs. In my view, we need to resolve it amicably. We need to talk, and talk with our U.S. friends in order to find a solution and I'm in favor. I don't know if this will happen, but to find the possibility of creating a free trade area between Europe and the United States, it's not always easy because Europe isn't led by a political power, but a bureaucratic power that spends its time ducking regulations that are imposed, unfortunately, on all member states in which sometimes France tends to add in passing in order to complicate further regulation and penalizes considerably our activity sectors. Agriculture in France, for example, not a week passes without a new regulation slapped on them. So discussions isn't easy, but that's what we should arrive at. To arrive at a free trade area with the world's largest market, which remains the United States and to ensure that this can once again generate a climate of trust and mutual trade, I don't know if we'll get there. I hope so. Failing which, I mean, if we end up with high customs tariffs, well, of course, part of our production is located in the United States. We have certain American companies such as Tiffany, and we would be led to increase our U.S. production necessarily to avoid customs tariffs. And if Europe can't negotiate intelligently, well, they'll have that consequence for many companies, pharmaceutical companies. I've had several companies who plan to up their manufacturing capacity in the U.S., but we can't blame that on the company. It'd be the fault of Brussels where it come about. And European states must strive to master that negotiation and not leave it in the hands of bureaucrats. That's what I can say. And what was the second -- on the M&A, external growth, yes. Well, today, I mean, there are a fair number of opportunities. But quite frankly, we also have many brands. And these opportunities must be really attractive. I mean, I won't say anything, nothing specific. Next question? No? If not -- oh yes. We'll move to the vote because we've got a great many resolutions. Yes. Next question.

I'm an individual shareholder. I have just 2 points to put to you on reading. A financial weekly never gives any advice for LVMH for ethical reasons. I discovered that you own 5% of the Bains de Mer de Monaco and Davos activities. Could you give us some details about this activity? Second point, I read a few days ago on a serious site, I don't know which one, that Diageo also has a significant stake in Moët Hennessy. So twofold question, is it a fake news? If not, how might the situation evolve?

Well, dear shareholder, the SBM, Société des Bains de Mer, we've been a shareholder for a very long time. That was the question, right, of Monaco, the SBM of Monaco. And I think that since our acquisition, the value -- the company, the value has more than doubled. We have a tie with Monaco that's a major market. We have practically all our brands that are present. So the fact that we take part in the life of the company that runs a Monaco to all intents and purpose, that's very interesting. And for Diageo, it's not new. I mean it dates back over 30 years, this agreement with them. It's there. It's been there for 30 years. And our friends at Diageo have a stake in Moët Hennessy. Let me tell you that the answer, they probably regret it probably. They also had a stake in LVMH and they sold it. What was the share price? They sold 1/10, about 1/10 of the current share price. Thank you. We'll now move to the vote on the resolutions. So first resolution approval of the parent company financial statements. Please vote. [Voting]

Approved. Second resolution, approval of the consolidated financial statements. Please vote. [Voting]

Approved. Third resolution, allocation of net profit for the year. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Fourth resolution, statutory auditors' special report on related party agreements. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Fifth resolution, ratification of Madam Wei Sun Christianson's co-option as a director. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Sixth resolution, renewal of my term as director. Vote now, please. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #7, renewal of Sophie Chassat's appointment as a director. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Eighth resolution, renewal of Clara Gaymard's appointment as a director. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #9, renewal of Hubert Védrine's appointment as a director. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. I'd like at this stage congratulate, the directors have all been renewed with a very high majority. Well done to you all. Tenth resolution, approval of the disclosure, the compensation of company officers. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Eleventh resolution, approval items of compensation paid awarded to Chairman and CEO. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twelfth resolution, approval of the items of compensation awarded to Group Managing Director, Mr. Antonio Belloni. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Thirteenth resolution, approval of the compensation policy for directors. Bureaucracy knows no limits. Vote is open, so forgive me. [Voting]

Approved. Fourteenth resolution, approval of compensation policy for the Chairman and CEO. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #15, authorization and power to be granted to the Board to acquire company shares on the stock market. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #16, authorization to the Board to reduce the share capital. Vote open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #17, delegation to the Board to increase the share capital. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. And 18th resolution, delegation granted to the Board to decide with preferential subscription rights issue of ordinary shares securities giving access to company share capital. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Nineteenth, delegation of authority to the Board to decide without preferential subscription rights of granting a priority right, public offering of ordinary shares. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #20, delegation to the Board to decide on the issue of ordinary shares, all various securities without preferential subscription rights. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty first resolution, delegation to the Board to raise the number of securities to be issued in the event of issue securities with or without preferential subscription rights. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty second resolution, delegation to the Board to issue shares and/or equity securities giving access to other equity security, confer rights to allocation of debt securities in consideration for securities, et cetera. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty third resolution, delegation of Board to issue ordinary shares, equity, securities, giving access to other equity securities. Okay, vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty fourth resolution, authorization to the Board to grant share subscription options without preferential subscription right or share purchase options to employee senior executives. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #25, delegation to the Board to issue shares, giving access to the company's share capital without preferential subscription rights. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Resolution #26, delegation to the Board to carry out capital increases without preferential subscription right for categories of recipients made up of employees or company office in foreign subsidiaries. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty seventh resolution, termination of overall limit for capital increases, immediate or if it's time pursuant to delegation of authority, EUR 20 million for capital increases and EUR 20 million for the overall limit of the 17th to 26th resolution. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty eighth resolution, amendments to Article 12 and 16 of the bylaws to set the same age limit for both the Chairman and CEO to 85. We've escaped the worst. One of my friends proposed to investors well known, whom I won't mention, suggested to put 100 years. And he's not far from that limit. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Twenty ninth resolution, amendments of the bylaws to bring them into compliance with various legal provisions. Vote is open. [Voting]

Approved. Well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all very much. A small gift awaits you out. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]