Nexans S.A. ($NEX)

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good afternoon, everyone. I'm delighted to welcome you here, and I'd like to thank you for attending this AGM. During this session, we will be commenting on the performances and highlights for the year 2025. There will be theme presentations about data centers and the digital transformation of Nexans followed by a description of Nexans' climate strategy. We also have on the agenda membership of the Board with the renewal of the terms of LAURA BERNARDELLI and ANNE LEBEL in the capacities as independent directors for a period of 4 years. We also suggest to appoint 2 new independent directors, Antonio Cammisecra and [ Thierry Furniere ] for a period of 4 years. and then will be [Audio Gap] Unify was a record year with unprecedented performances, thereby establishing Nexans' relevant vision and ambition in continuation of our dividend policy that we've had for the past 5 years. And in light of the stock performance, we suggest a dividend of EUR 2.9 per share will return to that during the session. Now you probably found when you got here several items illustrating Nexans' a central role in the world's sustainable electrification. And you also saw our corporate film, highlighting group's contribution on a daily basis to the energy transition, digitization infrastructure security and the circular economy as well as our new brand campaign showing that Nexans is not just building cables, but actually building connections. You also saw 2 demo spaces on the group's strategic offers. First, both on our Fire Safety Solutions, showing our -- well, safety -- fire cables also as a competitive demonstration of fire propagation. The second booth, on the data centers market showing Nexans' expertise in critical electric infrastructures that have are supporting, of course, digital development and artificial intelligence. I hope you enjoyed that. And now I declare open the AGM that is both the ordinary and extraordinary parts and to facilitate the vote on resolution and to have a quick display of results we're using an electronic voting system, a fast secure system. You've got a tablet as you got in which does include the notice of the meeting, and please return the tablets when you when you leave the room. The universal registration document may be downloaded on our website. There's 1 version in French, and another one in English, you can also look it up, ask anyone on the staff. Just to protect the environment, we do not [indiscernible] This is a public session broadcast live and afterwards on the web. And so unless you object to this image might be shown on the website on Nexans website. So we have next to me, Anne Lebel, who is the lead independent Director who chairs the Compensation Committee and corporate governance as well as the compensation committee. Julien Hueber, who is the CEO; Vincent Piquet, who's the CFO; and Nino Cusimano, who is the Chief Legal Officer and is also in charge of development and the Secretary General of our group. And I would like to welcome members of the Board. I'd like to thank them for being here. We also have in the room member of the executive committee, some of whom will join me later on on stage for their presentations. And I should also like to greet [ Mrs. Juliet Duco Gimo ] [indiscernible] and Ms. [indiscernible], PricewaterhouseCoopers they are both our Auditors Chair of the Board. I'd like to put together the bureau, the offices. So in line with the legal provisions, we have 2 members of the AGM with the largest number of votes and who will accept to do this. So in view of the attendance sheet with 2 shareholders representing the largest number of votes are BPI funds participations and Index as limited. We asked both the shareholders that they would accept to work as vote tellers and it is agreed to do just that. So Bpifrance participations will have Ms. Karine Lenglart, representing BPI and for [ Invensas ] Limited, who also accepted to provide to the strategies duties there will be [indiscernible]. And so we have the officers were the bureau and of course, our Legal Officer will be the Secretary of this of this meeting, and he will be -- he is, of course, our own Secretary General. This is the first convening of the AGM, and we have a quorum with 76.21%. Well, we all need 20% of voting shares for the ordinary part of the AGM resolutions 1 to 6, so to vote plus Resolution 22. And we need a 25% quorum 25% of voting share for the extraordinary part of the AGM. And here, we are looking at Resolutions 17 and 21. And so therefore, the bureau notes that this joined AGM with more than the necessary quorum may address all the items on the agenda, both for the ordinary and the extraordinary part of the AGM. So this is how things will go. First, we will, of course, complete legal formalities. Then there will be a show introduction video. And Julien Hueber, our CEO, will revisit the highlights of 2025. Vincent Piquet will continue with a comment on the financial performance of 2025 and of course, revenue for Q1 2026. And so will all -- this update will be followed by theme presentations first on data centers and which is a strategic growth driver for Nexans, and that will be our Elena Fedotova who's with us, artificial intelligence for performance, this will be presented by Guillaume Eymery. And then we'll have a progress report on Nexans' climate strategy. And a follow-up on new initiatives. That is just an item on the agenda that doesn't require any vote. This will be presented by Marc Grynberg. And then an update on governance, we'll have candidates to the Board, Director candidates and compensation with Anne Lebel. Then we'll have the reports of the auditors, and then we'll have questions in the room and people online using the chat system that is being made available and then you will be able to vote on the resolutions themselves. It should be pointed out that we have not received any request for additional resolutions or indeed any other item on the agenda, neither have you received any written questions from shareholders. And so therefore, I now give the floor to the Secretary of our AGM. Nino, you have the floor.

Thank you. So all the documents required for this AGM were made available to shareholders in keeping with legislation. You will find the various reports of the Board of Directors within the universal registration document, 25 as well as on the company's website. Let me also tell shareholders that because of new developments in regulations as of July 1 next -- the -- in terms of the modalities of invitation to census AGM will be online. So please provide your e-mail address to associate General security services, they are in charge of sending the invitations. [indiscernible] take it away.

Chairman of the Board, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, they are low with the media, energy transition and electrification, but also is not just a single industry, a single market. The whole point is access to electrification, access to electricity means having a right to get treated in hospital, the first school child to be able to work in a lit classroom and for anybody to live in dignified conditions. And yet today, even though it seems obvious millions of people do not enjoy these rights and entire nations depend on other countries the electricity. And this is where Nexans steps in, not as a provider, not as a supplier, but as a guarantor of states energy sovereignty, and this is no improvisation. This is a requirement. This is a requirement for excellence in quality, in services in the provision reliability of our services when an underwater cable connect nations, we cannot go wrong because we are connected nation constantly, we have to provide low carbon technologies, improve productivity. This means we have to invest in human skills, in production capacities and indeed in our own geographic expansion. But this also requires us to be beyond approach, both in terms of compliance, ethics, our E3 model or indeed our products in terms of the circular economy. Our ambition is worthless unless it is based on integrity. Nexans is not a mere producer or manufacturer of cables, we have built, we build bonds between nations when underwater cables connect France to Ireland. We have the Celtic part or Keltech part, doesn't just carry electricity. We are building trust. And these cables help provide independence and energy sovereignty, the 2 countries, France and Ireland. We build resilience for our territories every distribution network being built means that we have a catchment area of jobs holding out. It means local industries remains sovereign. It means the region remains alive and we build security for families because our far resistant cables are mean fires that we can slow down. But what makes me really proud is to know the men and women building all this because at Nexans 75% of men and women work in factories. So factory is not just a me detail in our business model. It is at the very heart of value-creating strategy. And this is where we make a difference, not in meeting rooms, but in workshops, in production lines, indeed, in cable laying ships at sea. Our teams are ready. They showed in 2025, what they were capable of doing. We have a performance that leave no doubt about the skill the expertise, the commitment of our 28,000 people. And Nexans certainly has the wherewithal to achieve its ambitions. We have a sound balance sheet. We have real investment capacities, strategic acquisitions, targeted capital expenditure. We're not announcing dreams we are performing. We are implementing a strategy and let's start in this presentation, great electrification trends withdrawing the map, our intensified program is industrial excellence as our foundation, the 3 markets, which we are bound to win, but also the highlights of '25 acquisitions contracts, proof of execution and then our ambitions to 2026, profitable growth, our expansion in the U.S. strategic CapEx. That makes sense every figure you see means something. Every decision responds to a logic that of a builder. We are not content with delivering cables, but strand after strand, we are spreading the world's energy freedom. This is our joint ambition. Welcome to this AGM. The trend towards electrification is gaining ground. We have 4 sectors where growth is being driven. The demand for electrification and this is -- well, in the energy mix, this accounts for in France, this accounts for 27% of the mix. And by 2040, we expect more than 40% of electrification in the energy mix, and this is a global trend. The second driver -- the second factor is hyper growth in a number of markets, especially data centers that are clean essential for electrification, but you have giga factories that will be consuming more and more electrification in the world in which we live with many crisis, not just in the Gulf and in Ukraine means that states really need to become self-sufficient. And that, of course, is future growth for us but our policy of targeted acquisitions is in line with this trend towards electrification. Our strategy hasn't changed. If you look back at the U.S. since 2019, we started restructuring, but that makes sense to one to 2024, we started simplifying our markets focusing, of course, on electrification, we disposed of a number of assets. And by end 2024, we could start amplification. And now we're moving into intensification because -- of course, as of January 1, 2026, we've become pure players in electrification, an incontrovertible player in electrification. And so this period and this whole business stands on 4 pillars. First, commercial excellence in 2025, we worked with Nexans team on defining strategic markets. solar energy, critical buildings, data centers, and we understand that these markets displayed a higher growth rate than the rest of the market in these markets do need new technologies and are very much in line with our strategy. The second pillar is the industrial excellence. We are industrialists. We're proud of our plants. And we will improve the competitiveness of our industrial capacity by electrifying everything so as to be able to seek out markets that require shorter time -- timing to give us an edge on the competition. And then, of course, we have to provide operational excellence in terms of, as I said, timing, agility, accuracy. And then we need to be excellent in terms of M&A because, of course, if we want to expand, we have to acquire new territories, especially in the U.S., and that means we have to show excellence not gen in acquiring assets, but also in integrating them. And so let's look at Nexans' 3 markets first, transmission that is underwater high-voltage cable. So we are turning to future technologies, and we're looking at the quality of operations because we have an order book, that means that our -- well, the demand will be secure all the way up to 2028. The transmission people were able to double the size of operations and indeed, its industrial capacity since 2023, we moved from -- we grew from EUR 800 million to EUR 1.6 billion. And so this illustrates our ambition in the field. And then still in that business, we have a team of experts well-recognized industry with a strong reputation and that are always in a position to develop technological innovation. Indeed, there was a world backward that we communicated a couple of months ago, our ability to lay cables more than 3,000 meters deep in the Mediterranean. The second market is the grid, and that is medium voltage. And so this is a fast-growing area. For the past couple of years, we've enjoyed both in Europe and in the U.S. and indeed in other parts of the world, -- and 1 of the highlights there, we are in a position to work with our customers to have visibility, for instance, in France with our Energy strategic client. We have a 7-year contract, enabling us to have enough visibility to invest in our factories. And so here, we're also investing in new technologies with low carbon assets in on the -- well, the green verticals, especially data centers, but I'll get back to that. Anyway, that type of hyper growth ahead of us, is -- means that we can invest in production capacities and looking at Europe between 2025 and 2028, we expect production capacity to go up 40%, likewise in other parts of the world. in particular, in Morocco. We just started a plant there, it will be commissioned as early as next year. And then the third big market is, of course, the low-voltage parts, what we call Connect. And so we're looking at various domestic users, home cars that means more electrification in buildings. But of course, we've been working hard over the past few years, especially 2025 on what we call the fire safety technologies. And we've been pushing these products because we believe that these products do provide protection and safety for building for people in general. Within Connect and low voltage, we have, of course, solar energy, and we'll be able to talk about that as well. And then still in the -- in Connect, we have a strong geographic expansion with external acquisitions. The last 3 acquisitions at Nexans were to do with the Connect business. We published Republic electro in Canada and RCT in Spain. These are very intensive markets in terms of business in terms of product value, and we have to be outstanding in terms of operational excellence compared with the competition. And so we're working both on the low and middle voltage for low carbon, especially aluminum-based products. Now look at the outlook for 2026 and we were able to start on that since the year has already begun. I beg a pardon 2025, 2026. So 2025, there were 2 acquisitions, 1 midyear in Spain. -- and that is a company called RCT. The reason we decided to acquire that company had to do with the quality of their industrial capacity, the additional capacity providing -- provided by this capacity, we're up 20% on a very dynamic and buoyant market in Spain, plus excellence in terms of data centers and fire safety. So they provided the check these both boxes and that made -- meant that we had to go for that. And then we had electric cables in Canada there, again, that meant additional capacity. We're using that new capacity. But also this was a very much data center-oriented acquisition means that our industrial capacity can work in with electric cables in Canada. This means that we can gain significant market shares, not just in Canada, but in all of North America. Now in 2025, we won a number of major contracts. I'll just cite 2 as by way of example, a major cable contract with RTE on the offshore wind turbines were EUR 1 billion worth of orders in the backlog and then another contract where we also were able to take a position. And indeed, we're very proud of this. We got the contract for the Saint-Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland using high-voltage cables in lines in the -- on the length of 60 kilometers. We also worked on product safety. We are now in a position to retrieve from our platinum customers, we can recover used cables. So we purchases on behalf of electricity. This is called cable loop. So we recovered the cables, and they are then reinjected in our furnaces in loss. And that means we can recycle used copper. And so we started this in France and we're expanding this to other countries, especially in Spain and Belgium. And then another highlight, and that is our E3 model, the -- while expanding the model to all our plants. And the important thing for us at Nexans is to ensure that every single plant should understand what it means to protect the environment, how -- what difference they can make and how they can take -- well you have economic environment and engagement, these 3 Es are being implemented in all our teams, and that's a way of motivating our people. And by end 2025, we're able to around the Innovation Summit in Toronto, and that's -- that was our chance to promote technological products, not just for North America, but for Europe as well. Now in 2026, and that we announced this, we acquired a leading company in the U.S. Republic Wire. So this is a beautiful company. This was created in 1982 in the state of Ohio close to Cincinnati. And they focus on low voltage cables. That's part enjoys good reputation on the U.S. market, and it will be the Nexans' largest low-voltage connect company generating EUR 500 million on a single production side. That acquisition will enable us to develop additional growth on the U.S. market in line with our strategy, and we should be able to build a connection between Republic Wire and unowned production units in Canada and South America to keep making headways on the American market. And what we really liked about this acquisition was, of course, the quality of the industrial capacity is fully automated. It is the latest technology. We also liked their ability to take a position on all American territories with a significant network of salespeople well anchored in these territories. But also, we were able to have -- to find a place for our own products in Nexans and find synergies with Republic products to find commercial synergies, not just for data centers in the U.S. but also for manufacturing plants or even for the service sector. In the U.S., we're looking for the low voltage, we're looking at EUR 12 billion in revenue. We did have a presence, and now we do have a presence on that large market. Now let's take a look. Let's look forward to the future will be -- there will be new developments. One thing will be, of course, our third transmission ship, we will be launching it Norway on the 18th of June. This is an outstanding ship, the largest we have built that will carry 13,000 tonnes of copper. It's heavier than the Eiffel Tower, and we'll be able to lay 4 cable simultaneously. So there will be a huge industrial device that will enable us to make a big difference on the transmission market. The second big highlight will be, of course, to support our own industrial sovereignty by modernizing our furnaces in longs in Northern France. That will enable us to turn copper cathodes into copper wires. And -- I mean, we're looking at a EUR 90 million capital expenditure item. We'll be able to inject as much as 30% of recycled copper. And this means that we will be able to provide low carbon copper to our customers. And then, of course, the other -- 2026. I was referring to records. But in terms of well, technology transmissions, we're looking at these cables 3,000 meters deep. We're way ahead of the competition in terms of debt. In 2026, we also landed contracts at the beginning of this year. The first 1 was a 7-year agreement with Enedis on the low and medium voltage area -- right now, we are positioning the company in the data center market. I've explained that data centers accounted for less than 1% of our activity 2 years ago. Today, they account for more than 5% of our sales. And in 2 years from now, 10%. It's a real shift for Nexans. We are positioning ourselves. We are building expertise. We are developing a marketing offer and production capabilities that will allow us to deal with this major shift in notification data centers. We have also landed a major contract in Italy with a grid operator and also with tenants, more than EUR 1 billion for undersea transmission contract. All these contracts or this ambition for growth will only be possible if we keep investing massively into our industrial assets, which is what we do with the construction of a new plant in Morocco, in a town called [ Safi. ] It will be a showcase plant for medium voltage. It will help us keep up with the demand in Morocco, but also in Northern Africa. This plant will be launched in 2027. In France, we keep investing into fire safety cables. In the [ OTA ] site, we have finished the first phase of EUR 20 million in CapEx, we'll start the second phase of automation very soon. Also in France, we invest into the Bourg-en-Bresse Plant with a fifth sea line for NV products following the contract that we were awarded with Enedis. Last, we also invest more than EUR 90 million in Charleroi Belgium in our ground high-voltage sites following the contract with TenneT. This will enable us to deliver growth until 2028. In conclusion, I can say that all this ambition for this growth we generate is only possible, thanks to the brand awareness, the brand of Nexans on this market, which is why we're very proud to launch this brand awareness campaign that promotes our staff, that promotes the markets where we position ourselves and also our environmental ambitions. Thank you. I now ask Vincent Piquet, our Chief Financial Officer, to present the financial results for FY 2025 and the sales for the Q1 2026.

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for attending this meeting. I'm thrilled to present the 2025 financial results. As you can see and following what Julien has explained, 2025 was a bumper year financially speaking. with the growth that the group has demonstrated plus 8.3%. We have reached sales of EUR 6.1 billion in standard sales and EUR 7.8 billion in current sales, that's considerable also at standard and current copper prices. And these sales are even stronger in organic sales. plus 11.6%. This was accretive in terms of profitability. As you can see, we have reached a historic profitability level. EUR 728 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.3%, which is very good and which is higher than the growth in sales. This is also support all this comes with -- rather with a strong cash generation. I'll come back to this in detail. Also, the ROCE is very good above 20%. And the balance sheet is very solid as the leverage is at 0.36 in which leaves us room for investment and to roll out CapEx. This balance sheet is the result in the consequence of the actions that we took in our portfolio in 2025 with the acquisition of Electro Cable and RCT, as mentioned by Julien as well as the announcement of the sale, the disposal of Nexans auto electric, which is currently being finalized. Let's get into the detail of all this. Let's take a group level view. You can see here the improvement in our margin very strong improvement. There have been adjustments to restate and reflect all changes in portfolio -- they are now under IFRS 5 for all discontinued operations. But if we restate all these elements, we consider very strong growth in the EBITDA and our adjusted EBITDA margin which has reached almost 12% to EUR 728 million, a very positive free cash flow, which is mainly supported by a number of down payments. So the cash conversion ratio at 47%, which is outstanding and a ROCE above 20% for the group and at 27% for electrification. We have a very strong foundation and 2025 has been highly positive financially speaking. But let's get more granular in the different -- look at the different elements. First, growth in the top line, as I've said, high growth, organic growth over the year of 8.3%, 11.8% in the Q4. A great end of year indeed. In electrification, the figures are even better with the Q4 at 18% and at 11.6% full year. This is driven by the very strong performance of transmission. An activity that we'll be discussing further, which has increased a lot in terms of volume tolerability over the last 2 years, but also Grid and Connect, that's made a lot of progress. The EBITDA we'll be looking at at profitability, but transmission and grid are the drivers of the improvement of our profitability. We have an all-time high margin at 13.3%. Let's look at each segment in detail, high-voltage and transmission. This is an activity that has reached sales of EUR 1.6 billion in 2025. As a reminder, it was almost half of this in 2023. This activity has strongly grown over the last 2 years following the capability-related investments that we made with the shift, there will also be delivered but also investment in production lines in Norway. It will soon be completed also in Belgium. We are clearing a very large backlog. You can see that it has kept growing in 2025 as it reached EUR 7.7 billion after EUR 7.4 billion in 2024. We have good visibility until 2028, 2029. This allows us to optimize further production and the efficiency of our assets, whilst sales teams are working to start and fill up the backlog for 2028. Improving margins is a priority objective for the Transmission division. You know that 2022-2023 was a difficult cycle. 2025 demonstrated our ability to set this right. So we reached 12.3%. And as we've said, the division is now on the right track and is well set to exceed 15% by 2028, which is the objective that we set for the team. Grid now. Flat findings indeed, outstanding news. We also have growth but also an improvement in the margins very strong. Grid has become 1 of the real driving forces of the group's profitability. It's a very promising market with lots of capability constraints, which is quite fine for us. It's helping us a great deal. We are constantly on the lookout for capabilities. And financially, teams have delivered a profitability at 16.4%. And which is quite high. Clearly, this is the high point. This is thanks to the operational excellence and all the work that is done to cherry pick the deals that we go for and the activities that we deliver to drive profitability. Also, the sterling performance of accessories, which is in the Grid segment, which is accretive and growth and accretive in margin for Grid. Connect, now low voltage, also a solid performance with more diverse regional dynamics. Organic growth was in line with our midterm guidelines. So there is growth. Q4 was very intense with some expectations of deliveries. The EBITDA keeps going up massively. We are also working on a number of topics to try and drive profitability, especially topics related to one-off events in Asia Pacific. Also, the scope of -- on the scope of La Triveneta Cavi, we are in line, but it's quite -- it's quite a big chunk for our big chunk of work for our teams. We have also launched a number of improvement programs for operational excellence to set things right. Now all this income statement allows me to move on to the balance sheet. In terms of cash, the change in the net debt is very positive. As you can see, it's summarized on this slide. With the FCF free cash flow that is highly positive cash flow from operations of EUR 808 million. Of course, it's driven by the EBITDA performance, but also the change in WCR, which was very positive. These operational aspects. They do show that cash generation is a very important priority in the work of our teams. It's a real focus for them. We managed to finance EUR 483 million in industrial investments. CapEx, growth investments. We mentioned those for transmission, but not only we will also have a lot of investments into maintenance and on the rest of the portfolio. All this cash generation allows us to pay out dividends like the 1 that is proposed today to pay a number of acquisitions, RCT to pay for a number of acquisitions rather -- also in the last bar, EUR 727 million, all discontinued activities, activities that were sold and auto electric. We have a net debt of EUR 266 million and a very positive leverage of 0.36 for 2025.. This 2025 performance builds upon and strengthens the balance sheet. It was already very solid. Our cash position is more than EUR 1.6 billion in a very strong improvement against 2024. If you look at all our liquidity, if you take all our credit lines and financing more than EUR 2.6 billion. If you look at the debt maturities, the time line, we are quite confident about it. The first maturities will be in 2027 with loan by the IB where we do have room for maneuver. It gives us a very positive position where we can redeploy our capital very much so and a credit rating by S&P, which is stable at BB+ and an average leverage for the group, which is already investment grade, even though we are not officially rated as such. This has allowed us to finance the acquisition of Republic Wire deal that we have signed, but that has not been closed yet. Julien mentioned all the strategic interests with this deal. I wanted to highlight the financials of that transaction, an enterprise value of EUR 680 million which acquired which allows us to acquire all of the operations. An enterprise value to adjusted EBITDA for 2027 at EUR 7.6 million following synergies are after run rate synergies. It is in line with our multiple states likely bill, but it is in line. So we did not have to pay too much for this acquisition or to pay too much. It was very important for us. In terms of financing, we will use a combination of debt and cash. This will temporarily increase our leverage above 1.2, but we are confident about our ability to bring it down quickly under one, thanks to the cash generation capabilities of the group and to Republic Wire that will continue to do its work. We identified EUR 23 million in synergies in the next 3 years at cruising speed. 50% of these synergies will be -- will materialize very soon in the first year with cross-selling opportunities, low voltage, which is really their core business. We do have complementary products, technology synergies and industrial synergies. Financially speaking, this acquisition was don't add a good multiple. It does not have any major impact on our leverage and it's accretive in growth profitability. So we are delighted that we should be able to -- it's quite likely to close the deal in the coming days. It allows us to offer you a very attractive return. TIs at 59% over the past 3 years. Based on the EUR 2.9 that is offered a very high payout ratio more than -- 42% and more than 200% over the last 6 years. As shareholders, you can see the reflection of this financial performance in the dividends that the group is happy to award to you. Let's finish with 2026. We do confirm again the guidance that we issued at the start of the year with an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 730 million to EUR 810 million and a free cash flow of EUR 210 million to EUR 310 million. That's prior to the acquisitions, we were very conservative in the assumptions we made about the Grid's interconnected projects. And as you can see on the slide, we expect lighter performance in the first half, but a better performance in the second half. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Vincent. I'd like now to ask Elena who is a member of the Executive Committee to join us. Ele is in charge of business development for large -- connect large projects in all and particularly for data center.

Hello, everyone. Hello. I am Elena Fedotova, I'm Chief Development -- Chief Business Development Officer for Data Center and Grid and Connect large projects at Nexans. Today, I'd like to talk about data centers. I have worked in this industry since 2019, and I have developed conviction since then. Data centers are not just not just a transient cycle; for Nexans, data centers, our real growth driver. I would actually say that they are 1 of our growth drivers. And that's what I would like to show today. We all use mobile phones. Whenever you do a search on your phone, whenever you take a picture of your family, this building that you can see on the picture here, steps in, it's a data center. It's an electrical building. And as you can see that it uses all between 9 2030, we'll use them more than 165% to 100% -- 165% more in electricity. That's over $3 trillion investments. That's France's GDP. France's annual GDP. Thus, this is a massive market, and it will not come as a surprise that this market will double in size by 2030. It is driven by 2 trends: a technological 1 and a trend that is more sovereignty driven. As regards to the technological side of things, which you can always read in the press is that there are lots of stories out there about AI. Now what the papers don't say today is that 75% of data centers today are that 75% everything -- 75% of content is in the cloud. That's your YouTube videos, your Netflix video, your e-mails. And this growth is quite solid because even though AI work and I emphasize that if here. If the AI demand were to decline, this technological growth of the plan will continue between now and 2030. Now there's also sovereignty Julien mentioned earlier on, the sovereignty of countries and data is part of that sovereignty. Today, -- if the state decides to limit access to data, it's also usually decides to invest into digital. It's a second growth driver, and you can also see some figures here on screen. Now I'd like to discuss again AI data centers. The data centers that host AI are not the same as traditional data centers that we've known so far. Artificial intelligence leads to several technology called disruptions, including in terms of electricity. And let me demonstrate this with 3 points. The first disruption or breakthrough is power density. What does that mean? Let me give you a very simple example. 10 years ago, each and every 1 of us had a phone, a mobile phone like Nokia or still Motorola at the time. This allowed us to make calls or even to send text messages. Today, people have an iPhone. It's more or less the same size. But the iPhone is like having a computer in your pocket, having music, et cetera. What has changed is the density of data that you can squeeze into a given tool like a telephone -- and this is what's happening today with data centers. This is what I call the density of the server density that is really changing. Now what are the consequences? It's quite simple. Going forward, your conventional copper cable will reach its limits at some point. And that's why Nexans is proposing or offering rather today, superconducting cables something that we've been working on for over 20 years. It's part of our expertise. And we are a global leader in superconducting cables. In short, superconducting cable is a copper cable, but it is nitrogen, liquid nitrogen cold. This is a real business expertise. Second example, direct current DC -- this completely changes the way electrical architectures are designed in data centers, including in terms of cables which is why today, people talk about solid transformers on the market. You may have heard a lot about this. But this is really what's been happening today. It's a real technological disruption is like Nexans. So we do take part in working parties like shift to DC or even open compute. We are -- we sit at the same table as Google, Microsoft, Schneider Electric and other companies to define the standards of [indiscernible]. One last example, decarbonization -- it is becoming a decision-making criterion to choose suppliers. Earlier on, Julien mentioned our foundry in Nexans which, going forward, will be able to produce cables, including recycled ones. Now let's come back to our traditional business. How do we stand out as Nexans. Three things. First, our focus; second, our technological edge; and third, our commercial positioning. First, let's look at our focus. In 2018, we took a gamble. Nexans decided to focus on electric cables. That means that we, through all our weight, we made a concerted effort to focus on the electric properties of cables. Then technological edge or leadership. I mentioned this earlier on. I don't think I need to labor the point. But the main takeaway here is that you build technological leadership in the long term. That means R&D investments, which is what we do, but also the industrialization that Nexans has embarked upon throughout the years. And 1 last thing, of course, our commercial positioning. Today, our objective and what we do with our customers is that we are becoming a strategic partner that is we engage our partners early on to discuss the optimization of CapEx and OpEx in relation to cables. So 1 example, like, for example, the ergonomics of the cable that you may already have heard about the installation of cables on building sites. This is really what makes the difference. And a few examples, of course, I cannot not share examples with you. The first 1 in North America. Tim is here with us. But on the North American continent, we landed a major contract with the data center. What really tipped the balance in our favor was our global coverage but also supply and the reliability of our supply. Second example, in Europe. Here, we were awarded a project in France, and what played in our favor was our technical expertise. We involved the entire decision. We worked with all players in the decision-making chain of our end clients. That is a nice hyperscaler. We worked with an operator and an operator that works with data centers. We worked with an engineering and design firm with the general contractor, but also with the certification body in order to solve the problem that the customer asked us just to address. Then Stella Nova, it's our global first in low-voltage superconducting cables. It's really a world first. There is no equivalent cable today in the world. It's a demonstrator I need to specify this. Now in conclusion, I would like to say that data centers are a growth driver for Nexans. Our ambition is fairly clear. It was announced earlier on by Julien. We want to double in size this market by 2028. We want to a double-digit percentage of our sales between 2028 whilst protecting our profitability for us and for you, in line with the group's objectives. Again, it's a very simple conviction. There's growth on this market and Nexans is well positioned to harness it. Thank you.

Thank you, Elena. I'd now like to invite Guillaume, who is a member of the Executive Committee, who's the Chief Strategy and Purchasing Officer. He's going to give us a presentation about artificial intelligence and how we're going to use it at Nexans. .

Greetings, everybody. Elena has just mentioned or discussed the infrastructures that hosts AI. Well, I'd like to talk about the use that the company like Nexans can have of AI. This auditorium is located at about 25 kilometers from the Oase Airport. And as I'm speaking to you, and now this EUR 320 million is taking off. In the cockpit, both pilots have very [indiscernible] this cockpit looks complex for us, but for them, it's simple. It allows them to safely fly the highly complex system. AI for an industrial company is the new cockpit is the new flying system. Now what does that mean for Nexans . For us, AI is a vehicle to generate performance, industry and commercially that sounds quite obvious. But it's not that obvious to say that it's a performance driver through collaboration because AI through data makes it possible to bring different business lines closer to one another to bring meeting rooms closer to the field to factories. AI is also a tool for resilience, thanks to prediction, anticipation. It's also a differentiating tool to better serve our customers and Nexans' staff. Now what does it all mean in practice at Nexans? A simple way of imagining AI is to look at it as having 3 layers. The first layer, which is what you sometimes buy a knowing you like copilot, for example, or Claude or ChatGPT that you may have in your pocket on your smartphone. There's a second layer. What is available off the shelf, what you can buy for your business? You just need to go out there and look for it. For example, the in-car system that we use today to detect patent infringements and take the required steps I'd be tempted to say that these first 2 layers are the layers of curiosity. That is being inquisitive about a world that is changing, a new world individually and as a group. But more interesting is the third layer, the layer of imagination. What is this lay of imagination? Is the AI that's you or that we will develop specifically for our business to create a sustainable competitive edge. And that's what I'd like to talk about today. You may have heard of the SHIFT program started in 2018, and this is our own internal transformation program. This provides the tune of EUR 300 million to the company's EBITDA. But what is it exactly? What is shift? Well, it's all about using data as close to the ground as possible in our plans in our offices it's at any key point in the life of a contract, and this is there to drive functions to make the right decisions to drive the company properly. So what's that got to do with AI [indiscernible] asked? Well, it is believed today that a good manager, anybody running their business properties will use maybe 5% of all available data -- now with a shift, we moved up to 20%. So you go to a local databases with our teams, we go and recover sometimes conceal the data to generate performance both in terms of service provision, free cash flow, EBITDA, additional sales. Now with SHIFT AI using data massively, we can use as much as 90% of available data to go faster and also have a greater impact. Now then what does this mean in practice? I'll give you a few examples before we deep dive into this. Reducing complexity. What is this all about? It means, well, for us doing what is, say, good or bad [indiscernible]. In other words, focus our attention to the best clients, best partners, best products and serve our customers best. SHIFT also means getting the best and real-time price adjustments to get the best prices adjusting to inflation or the scarcity of resources. But let's move to something else, inventory. You might ask why do I talk about the inventories that's not the -- well, not particularly original. It has, of course, plays a lot all levels of the company in all business units. I mean inventories is about supply chain for industrials for the financial guy or the sales guy trying to serve his customers best. So what's the right size of inventory to suit our businesses best. And that's what shift helps us do. But AI on the ground, that is the person actually positioning the pallets of the right space in the industry in the storage houses, so as to have the best possible for those. Basically, you're creating connections between different parts of the business between the different units. All the way from the warehouse to the top of the company. Now engaging AI something new. And what is critical stake is speed. Speed because the world is changing at unprecedented speed. We have companies investing massively in infrastructure, but also in the use of AI. So we've got to be fast. But we have -- we must not work in a disorderly fashion. There are rules. You have to obey by rules but there are also ethical issues because the purpose is not so much to replace our employees with AI. We want to be able to, in fact, have more people and indeed enable them to earn more. Whether you're driving a company or a plant or a workshop or indeed a single machine, flying a plane, a good pilot shouldn't be afraid of his or her instruments, a good part should be able to to use new instruments, how to control them. And our ambition is to -- for each of us to become familiarized with AI using a knowledge we can train our people at the right time in the right place, helping them make the most of in their own activities. Thank you.

Thank you, Julien, Vincent, Elena and Guillaume for this very fascinating presentation. I call on Marc Greenberg who is directly in charge of climate and environmental issues, as he is Interim Chair of the Strategic and Sustainable Development Committee. He'll tell us all about the climate strategy.

Yes. Thank you, Julien, and good afternoon, everyone. It is my pleasure to give you a progress report on the implementation of our decarbonization road map and indeed the work of our committee on monitoring climate challenges and more generally environmental challenges. So back in 2025, We, of course, looked at our decarbonization road map. And more specifically, we started a new initiative proposing to consider ways of decarbonizing high emission activities that are the most challenging looking at metallurgy shipbuilding and of course, this is a complex business, but we will be investigating various options. And once we make our choices, we'll let you know more. We've also reinforced our Board's competent in terms of climate and sustainable development. Indeed, in 2025, we looked at the circular economy and more specifically, all directors -- well, members of the committee were given sort of training on copper recycling -- this is particularly relevant for Nexans in terms of strategy because metal recycling enables us not just to secure our own supply in raw materials that are becoming scarce and scarce but also, it enables us to expand our offer of low carbon products and then again make a difference compared to the competition. Now still as part of the circular economy, we've been monitoring project in loans. We are looking at a significant capacity in precisely copper recycling with a view to providing low-carbon products. Another thing we've been looking considering in 2025 is the integration of our new acquisitions, new businesses inside -- Nexans' scope of activity. So from day 1, when we acquired business, we need to include climate aspects as well and make sure that, that new acquisition also follows our own decarbonization trajectory. So earlier back a few years ago, we announced our climate objectives. So we're looking at reducing our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to the tune of 46% by 2030 compared to the baseline, which was 2019. Regarding Scope, 3 emissions by 2030, we're looking at a 30% reduction compared to 2019. And so where do we stand? Well, in by end 2025, our Scope 1 and 2 emissions were already down 49%. So we're ahead of schedule. Indeed, there were intermediate steps. We overshot that. Looking towards 2030. Regarding the energy efficiency of our industrial activities, we were able to reduce Scope 1 emissions for Scope 2. So that is emissions included in the power and electricity we purchased, we were able to decarbonize our own -- well, the electricity we purchase and reduce the share of fossil fuel in the electricity we use by building our own solar panels, for instance. And then for the Scope 3 emissions, we were able to bring emissions down 40% by end 2025. So there again, we are well on track to achieve our ambitions by 2030. Now 1 decisive factor in achieving that performance was extending our offer of low-carbon products. And that, of course, will have a direct effect on the Scope 3 emissions, but also we were able to continue decarbonizing our own transportation systems. Now then the commitments regarding 2026 are in line with the to previous years. We're implementing our decarbonization road map, but we will also be focusing on those activities. Activity is more difficult to decarbonize that is ships and metallurgy. But we're approaching this in a very pragmatic way. We'll try to try and find the best and most effective. We are achieving our objectives in terms of decarbonization. We need to identify those solutions that enable us to bring emissions down fastest, cheapest with least capital expenditures. So there has to be some trade-off in the various options before us. Now then regarding upscaling our Board, we've been continuing with our training programs, and there will be a program to do with Scope 3 emissions. And why Scope 3, you might as well, that's a sort of complicated concepts. We sometimes believe that Scope 3 is the other guy's problem. And sort of makes sense because, of course, Scope 1 and 2, I mean, Scope 3 is basically the scopes 1 and 2 of our supply and our customers -- but we do want to work with customers and suppliers to reduce their emissions. And so therefore, reducing what amounts to our scope emissions. And our scope 3 emissions are quite significant when it comes to the use of our -- of the products that we sell or the services we provide. And so we'll be looking at that more carefully in 2026. There is another thing I forgot to mention, by the way, regarding our achievements for 2025, if I can we go back to the previous slide. On paper, it looks as though we are ahead of schedule regarding ambitions for 2030. Having said that, you shouldn't extrapolate from that. not -- at least not in a linear fashion for very simple reason. If we look at our -- when we define our ambitions for 2030, that included growth objectives, both organic and inorganic growth, external growth. And so we have to include all that in our objectives. Now then the -- the last item is that we have been recognized by third parties for our performances, our commitments in -- for the environment, our climate objectives because we've achieved outstanding scores in particular, the carbon disclosure protocol or EcoVadis and systems in a we were at least as good as the previous years. And in some cases, we actually did even better. Now it is -- for us, it is important for us to be able to to confirm our own ratings and to have our own internal rating confirmed by third parties from the outside and is, of course, extremely motivating teams to see that to be recognized in such a fashion. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Marc. And now I'll call on Anne Lebel, who is the Lead Independent Director and Chair of the compensation and governance and corporate Governance Committee and indeed, compensation committee to tell us about the compensation policies and the resolutions that are -- that have been devised by committee.

Yes, good afternoon, dear shareholders. So the work we've been doing at our committee for corporate governance and compensation. So I'll introduce all this transparently with a view to highlighting sustainable value and openness. So the Board that we have is publicly in line with AFEP-MEDEF Code in its most recent version. We have directors, including independent directors with a balanced diversity in terms of gender, nationality, experience and skills. Composition of the board reflects the fact that we want to have a highly demanding and committed Board, especially as regards matters of electrification, innovation, finance governance and sustainable development. Right now, we propose to renew the terms of 2 independent directors, Laura Bernardelli and myself. That comes under Resolutions 4 and 5. We have the appointment of new independent directors, Antonio Cammisecra and Thierry Fournier under Resolutions 6 and 7. These 2 appointments follow the departure of the 3 directors representing Invexans, [indiscernible] Francisco Pérez and Oscar Hasbún í Martinez. The new employee representative [ Riku Soininen ] who joined us in February. Soininen -- I beg a pardon. 2025 was a very intensive year -- in 2025, there were as many as 12 meetings of the Board and 36 committee meetings. Specifically, we looked at the succession plan for the CEO. You have our new CEO, of course. So we also looked at the conditions of his predecessor's departure and the compensation package for the CEO and will go into the details of that later on. Now renewals and appointments come -- are in line with the continuity plan for the Board of Directors. So we propose to renew the term of Laura Bernardelli for 4 years. She now chairs the Audit and Risk Committee. She has been since 2022. If you confirm this renewal, then she will keep going in that capacity. My own term as a director for 4 years. And so if you do to me and this will mean that I will continue with the same mission. We have 2 independent directors for the 4-year period. Antonio Cammisecra. He is the CEO of ContourGlobal. He has been since 2024. Before that, he worked for Enel for more than 20 years. He was -- he participated in the development of Enel Green Power to make it a giant in renewable energies and he worked in [ Dow Greens ] from 2020 to 2023. He has wide expertise on electrification and the power industry at large. He joined our Board as a nonvoting members in March 2026. Thierry Fournier is Head of Roquette has been since 2025. And before that, he was Managing Director of Saint-Gobain. He will provide his own significant industrial expertise, and he joined your Board as again, nonvoting directors in March 2026. And now let's take a few videos, introducing these 2 candidates and indeed our new employee representative. [Presentation]

And now we will look at the compensation policies and packages starting with the year 2025. We started with Resolution #8. We propose a partial waiver of presence condition on ongoing performance shares to acknowledging CEO's exceptional performance and significant value creation since 2018. EBITDA grew 276% capital market value up to 422% from EUR 1.05 billion to EUR 5.5 billion at end 2025. We don't accelerate the acquisition of performance shares and those that were not acquired lost for good, including those that were supposed to be acquired in 2025. So we're looking at 31,794, shares. So that's 34% of the initial allotment that could remain. These shares, of course, remains subject to performance conditions as set out by the Board of Directors. Resolutions 10, 11 and 12 are to do with the compensation of executive corporate officers, expert factors. So these items for 2025 are detailed in the universal registration document. Starting with Resolution #9, and that is the compensation of directors and that you are supposed to vote on during the 2025 AGM, you -- there was a maximum aggregate amount of EUR 820,000 for dedicated missions for the independent lead directors and the Climate Director. In 2025, there was intensive activity, 36 committee meetings. And so the total amount of 2025 was capped at the authorized amount. And so it was a total of EUR 820,000, 100% of the maximum aggregate amount -- compensation for the year 2025 as the Chairman of the Board, and this is voted on -- under Resolution #10, in line with the resolution of last year. The compensation package stood at EUR 320,000. So that you are no other compensation or indeed any kind of benefits in kind. Now, we move on to Resolution #11, and that is the compensation for 2025, Mr. Christopher Guerin, who was CEO until October 12, 2025. This is worked out on a pro rata basis and in line with the compensation policies for corporate offices as approved in 2025 by the AGM, the fixed compensation stood at EUR 743, 148. The variable part, variable compensation also worked out on the pro rata basis, stood at EUR 898,287 that is 80.6% of the maximum or 121% of the fixed compensation, reflecting the group's outstanding performance in the year 2025. As part of his departure at the behest of the Board and in line with AFEP-MEDEF rules Christopher received severence compensation capped at 2 years of actual compensation since the limits were reached. But protect the group's Mr. Guerin is subject to a noncompetition clause that is valid until June 2027. Other items of compensation are listed there. You have pension and other benefits in kind. And now looking at resolution #12, and that is the 2025 compensation for Julien Hueber, who has become -- who became CEO in October 2025. This has also worked out on a pro rata basis and in line with the compensation policies for corporate offices as adopted by the AGM in 2025. The fixed compensation stood EUR 157,000 for the year, so EUR 163, 360 on a pro rata basis. The board worked that out based on the -- on the CEO's new profile and skills and also in line with market practices for the variable part of the compensation. In 2025, there again, this was in line with the compensation policy for corporate officers. And so the variable part, the target was 100% of the fixed compensation. You could have as much as 110%. If there is an overperformance, 65% of the bonus is based on financial criteria, 35% on individual criteria that are predefined that were predefined by the Board. The variable compensation for '25 stood at EUR 207,400 so 84.7% of the maximum bar, so 126% of the fixed compensation. If you're in line with the compensation policies, 2,500 shares. So 64% of the fixed compensation were allocated under his term. And this comes along with 100,000 shares -- 1,000 shares that were granted in his capacity as a Managing Director for Europe. And on the right-hand side, you have other items, severance noncompetition, pension and other benefits in kind. And now the conversation for 2026. So this is forward-looking for directors and the chair. So we're looking at all these items you will find a comprehensive presentation in the universal registration document. The compensation policy for 2026 for directors and the Chairman of the Board are subject to votes under Resolutions 13 and 14 for directors, we're looking at resolution #14. What we propose to do is to keep the same policy in 2026. -- i.e., we have mostly a variable compensation with attendance and effectiveness criteria for directors. We will not change the the maximum aggregate amount, which still stands at EUR 820,000. Regarding the Chairman of the Board, that has been -- this is reviewed on a multi-annual basis. It remains the same for 2026. So we're looking at EUR 320,000 for fixed and compensation and no other compensation for the year 2026. And compensation of the CEO of that resolution #15. So you have 3 principles. You have a competitive compensation in line with market practices and reflecting the CEO's experience, balanced compensation with an equivalent weighting you have short-term and long-term variable items and compensation consistent with the group's policy -- we want to make sure that the CEO should have a skin in the game and an incentive to achieve the group's long-term ambitions. So this is for you to vote on. We're looking at a compensation policy competition package. The fixed part of it is EUR 750,000. The variable annual variable compensation is 100% of the fixed conversations, so that can reach 150%. No change between collective and financial criteria, which account for 125% and then accounting for 65% -- sorry, in the other objectives, the nonfinancial accounting for 35%. The long-term variable compensation cannot be more than 150% of the fixed compensation. So you had the performance shares worked out over a 3-year period, 40% on an economic criteria, looking at margin -- EBITDA adjusted margin and free cash flow. You have other external factors looking at total shareholder return compared to a benchmark basket and Euronext rating. And then you have non-ESG objectives added to that. The other compensation items are also listed here they are unchanged, and they include such things as end of termination, noncompetition and other benefits in kind. And finally, the last 2 resolutions are free shares and performance shares for the year 2027. So that's resolution 18 on free performance shares for the CEO and the group's senior managers, Resolution 19 is on free shares without performance. requirements, and these are for high potential employees, key experts and managers. For resolution #18, the performance shares are allocated based on 3 performance conditions, financial criteria, economic criteria and ESG criteria. So of course, these are the same criteria as applied to the CEO. This is -- the vesting period is 3 years in line with performance conditions and again, perfectly consistent with market practices. The performance shares for this year cannot be more than 12% of the aggregate -- the total number of shares in 2026, this was 3.9% of the total number of shares. So this we suggest a maximum of 330,000, shares. The amount being unchanged. And so for Resolution 19, the free shares for key experts and outstanding employees, these have a 3-year vesting period with a maximum of 50,000 shares. That amount remains unchanged. We're looking at 0.1% of the company's stock capital. So this -- these were the resolutions regarding governance and compensation. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you Anne. I'd like now the statutory auditors to present to the general meeting, the summary of their reports. And I hand over to Ms. [indiscernible] risk of PWC, who will be representing the statutory auditors to present their reports to the meeting.

Thank you, Chair. Dear shareholders, good afternoon. On behalf of statutory auditors, Forvis Mazars and PricewaterhouseCooper audit I'm thrilled to report to you on the independent task that you entrusted with us. For this financial year, we issued 7 reports to your attention. One on consolidated statements, which is to be found on Pages 43 to 46 of the Universal Registration Document. Report on the annual statements on Pages 425 to 427, a special report on related party agreements on Page 35 and 336; a report on the certification of sustainability information, Pages 222 to 225. And last, 3 reports on capital operations. As is customary in this meeting, I suggest I now summarize the key elements of these reports. Let me first start with our report on the group's consolidated financial statements that were drafted according to IFRS standards as adopted by the European Union. Our work on consolidated statements are meant to give you the reasonable assurance that there is no material misstatement. Our audit approach was adapted to the specificities of your group. This approach and the findings of our work were shared with the financial department in the course of regular exchanges. We also reported in our work to the audit statements and Audit Committee and to the Board of Directors. Our report on consolidated statements include 3 key audit matters the recognition of goods and services contracts mainly for the power transmission activity, litigation disputes and entrust investigations and the measurement of goodwill. Following this work, we certified the -- we issued an unqualified approval and certification of the consolidated statements. Second report on the corporate financial statements of Nexans -- the valuation of shares and subsidiaries and affiliates and antitrust and investigations are investigations and disputes. We have issued an unqualified certification of the statements. We have issued a technical observation in connection with the application of accounting standards and the modern [indiscernible] Our third report pertains to related party formed informed of any related party agreement besides our report also addresses put into and approved in the previous financial years that were implementing pertains to the certification pertain compliance with ESR standards and the European regulation. First, on the processes implemented you reported, but also including the sustainability statement. And last, as regards to the compliance of information in terms of taxonomy based on the work consistency or any lack of compliance with regulations. Last, as regards the extraordinary part of your general meeting, we issued 3 reports that relates to resolutions '17, '18 and '19, that grants [indiscernible] consequence on the share capital of your company. These reports do not include any specific observations or comments and we shall issue supplementary reports if appropriate when these authorities are issued. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Emily. Thank you to our auditor. Might I suggest we now open the question-and-answer session, the Q&A which shall answer questions in the room and those asked online live on the Internet. If you are in the room, I invite you to ask your questions you think the microphone provided. And I'd like to remind you that only shareholders may speak. Moreover we'll only address questions relating to today's general meeting. Please make sure you introduce yourself before you ask your question.

So who would like to start -- the first question maybe. Someone has to start, right?

I'm an individual shareholder. I have 2 short questions. You buy copper, Don't you think that hoarding or concealment because a lot of material is being still at the moment. Now we have a dividend of EUR 3. That's very nice. That's all very nice, but the share is [Technical Difficulty] profitability is acceptable. My question why isn't it possible for us to reinvest our dividend into shares?

I will first answer your question about copper. Obviously, we buy copper for our factories to be able to manufacture cables. We sustained some tests in the past. We took all necessary steps to be able to track and trace every lorry that transports our copper, uncovered bare or raw copper that is then sent to our cable plants. As regards to the amount of copper we use in 1 year and considering the amount sterling during these tests, we consider that this is very limited indeed. A question of Mike. Julien Hueber as regards to copper that we buy back, we buy spent cables, so it's not raw copper. These are spent or used cables. We have introduced a weighing system at each of our customers, our platinum customers. They handle the traceability and the amount of copper using ways. They make the measurements. This system today is certified -- and we cooperate with our customers. Of the origin, -- this copper comes from electricians that refurbish buildings and flats. And rather than disposing of these cables or going to foundries they would rather reuse it or have it reused and reinjected, so to speak, into a recycling loop. That's why they approach Nexans. Mr. [ Muto. ] I suppose your question is to know whether cable thieves could resell these cables to us, people who steal cables from -- on railroads, Mr. Hubert the people who resell these cables are regular customers who are in our database in our [indiscernible] database. Mr. [indiscernible], but that's a legitimate question as we are going to go to scale with the last plant. We are going to have a growing need of recyclable copper. So far, it has been a moderate size plant Mr. Hueber. We have already gone to scale, but we work with companies. You have copper telecom cables, land cables. We buy them directly from companies like Orange that collect used cables. So it's really part of the the official and [indiscernible]. As regards to dividends, that's a very good question, [ Mr. Mouton. ] That's a very good question. We had first discussions at that time, the share price was rather in the vicinity of EUR 120, not at the current price because these discussions usually take last at the start of the year. We want to make sure that this dividend can go up every year, which is what we have delivered in the last 5 years. We tried to -- we try to payouts about 2.5% to 3% of the share price clearly with EUR 2.9 next year. It will depend on the share price. We want to have a payout policy that is predictable and sustainable for us and for our shareholders. But it's all very important to us. Now -- as regards the second part of your question, you said that maybe these dividends could be paid in securities, right? Okay. We asked this question ourselves a few years back, we looked at it, but we found no simple solution for a company our size. Therefore, we gave it the idea -- but I have to say that I discussed this with the Secretary General at the time because I thought it would be a very good idea to give this option to our shareholders receiving the securities rather than cash. I don't know if you'd like to add something, Mr. Cusimano.

Yes, we did look into that solution. We did discuss this at the time. We ruled it out because it was difficult. There was a lot of paperwork involved. It made it very difficult. It was unworkable at the time. But we did think of it. Question off Mike, I'm afraid. Mr. Muto? Well, right, right. Let's be clear here. We would like to do it, but only if the paperwork, the formalities remain reasonable -- at the time, when we discussed this with other listed companies, some of which actually had switched to that system and then revert to the previous one, they will -- so we discussed this at the time, it was 3 years ago, but I suppose we'll look into it again. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for your question, sir.

Any other questions? -- over there.

Good afternoon, Mr. [indiscernible]. I'm an individual shareholder. I have several questions. When you buy companies and I gather that, so it has not been entirely finalized for Republic Wire, which of your competitors could also take over companies. I have another question about your competitors, Nexans' competitors. And about the ship, does it help the sovereignty of France or other states? And 1 last question. I saw that there were stories about the departure of Mr. [indiscernible], Mr. Julien in 2025. Could you give us more detail? There have been a lot of changes in the management team, a lot of changes indeed.

Mr. Hueber , I'll answer the first question. When we took over Republic, you need to know that we were the first -- they're the only ones to negotiate with that company. We know the American cable manufacturing market very well. Not that long ago, with our cable wire factory, we would supply all of these manufacturers. So we know that company very well, the quality of their managers. We were the only ones to negotiate with them. There were no competitors. As for your second question who are our competitors overall. Well, the cable-making sector is fairly fragmented. There are only 2 companies that are global that have the footprint across several continents. Next answer is 1 of them. The rest of our competitors are more regional or domestic competitors. And at regional domestic level, we are -- you're looking more at private family-owned companies. That's so much for the competition landscape. Now we have a footprint across all markets. And this allows us to pool our industrial footprint with the different factories to try and it allows us to use production capabilities on the most interesting markets. About the ship right. Well, first, let's inaugurate the ship. It will really be handed over to us on the eighth of June. This ship is much more effective than the previous ones. 13,500 in tonnage in terms of cable, though the previous 1 was 10,000, so it's much more we can store more mines of cable. We can pay off more distance, which is quite important because we deliver with supply sites, the well over so we can pay off more in just 1 passage or crossing, so to speak. Also, in terms of CO2, that means we emit less emissions. We have engines also that help us save energy. It's more powerful, faster and it transports more cable.

Yes, and it's not so much additional capability, but it can replace other ships.

Right. Today, thanks to our order intake, we have a visibility on our workload in our transmission factories until 2028. Today, our factories are already running at 100% of their capacity. Now that we are getting this new ship, it will allow us to stop renting ship, ship that we're currently renting, that means we will have our own fleet. We'll stop renting.

Right. You referred to the different departures. First, for the record, [ Mr. Julien ] and Mr. Guerin left the company several months 1 after the other. [Technical Difficulty] and it's absolutely unquestionable. When we launched the simplification program with to help the company to make a leap forward. Thanks to Chris qualities in terms of marketing, sales, where he has made a huge contribution to the company. When we announced the program to -- during the Capital Market Day, the amplification program -- we call it AMPLIFY. We soon realized that what was important to us was to be able to better operate the assets that we already had, specifically industrial ones. And by discussing with the rest of the Board and in Chris, we concluded that despite the fact that Chris had done some really good work so far, the question was whether we had the right profile for the following 4 to 5 years given the industrial dimension of all this and also the need to build a company with a real operational dimension. We have been looking at succession plans for the CEO since 2022. We have always done this in full transparency with the serving CEO, we did that with Chris, and we realized that we had to prepare ourselves for this issue of operational excellence. As you know, [ Julian ] has been in the company for a very long time. He spent 15 years in Asia, in China and Korea. And therefore, no inside out the most effective cable manufacturers the world over, specifically their industrial equipment. So we tried to think of what would be best for the company Therefore, we decided to change CEOs, and let's be clear, Chris, did amazing work until then.

Any other questions? -- sir?

I am an individual shareholder. You have mentioned the new ship that will soon be delivered. You said that you would stop renting a ship. Does it mean that it will cost less in terms of operations? Or will it be the equivalent to today's rental right? Well, we changed the type of cost as we're going to move from rental costs to amortization. This asset besides is more modern, more recent, more effective. So clearly, it's much more positive. And also, as Julian said, that the capacity or the ability to send out these ships in the North Sea, for example, and avoid storms. It will help us generate more value than with rented chip.

Any other questions -- do you have any questions on the Internet. We don't -- we have a question on the Internet. How can you explain the drop in Nexans' share price relative to competitor, [ Prysmian. ] Well, we do like to benchmark ourselves with our competitors. We are working on several things right now. The first thing is that our Italian competitor has a very strong exposure on the American markets compared with us. You know that in the electrification industry, exposure to the U.S. market attracts more investors. We are correcting this -- we have just announced the acquisition of Republic Wire in the United States, as you have seen it had an immediate positive impact on the share price. Second, -- we need to do some work in-house on our transmission market. You have seen the profitability of transmission, which is in the region of 12% to 13%, where our competitors are rather in the region of 17% to 18% in profitability. So we are working on it. we're quite confident. We believe that in the next 2 years, we should be able to drive up this profitability. We will be on par with our competitors. Another aspect. It's the great interconnect project that we were awarded a few years back, which is pending. It's the undersea connection between Cypress and Greece. There are stories about it in the press. Of course, this project is pending. It's ground to a halt. It's quite a lot, EUR 2.5 billion in our order intake. And obviously, it does have a substantial impact on our share price. So these are the 3 main priorities. Work on the United States. We are very much aligned with the management and the Board. We really want to grow and to harness wire Republic as a platform to grow in the U.S. market. So we'll make corrections there. We're also working with political authorities. We are trying to work on the GSI project, so the -- Great Connector project between Greece and Cyprus. Thank you very much, Julia.

You're just going to lay the pipes. So what would we are cable producers, so we will not be operating the target per se, but it's a beautiful project. because we're talking about 60 kilometers worth of high-voltage cables. So the entire tunnel infrastructure is being revised the piping. -- will be laid underground. So rather than having towers of pilots going through mountains the fact that the -- well, the high-voltage lines being underground is well, more aesthetic and also energy saving, and we won't be charging tolls or anything Well, just like the channel tunnel where you have a cable laid on the ground. But the the difference is that the cable in the channel tunnel is on top of the time was this will be on the ground. And so well, they are revamping the tunnel and reelectrifying it as well. So they're killing 2 stones in one bird. It will certainly improve efficiency.

Sir, yes, I had a question about your purchase of copper part in loss with a new furnace that recycles copper, you're looking at, say, maybe 20% or 30% of the European market. So you buy -- the rest is new copper that you purchased. What is your position vis-a-vis the rest of the world in the U.S. with Republic Wire, will you be using also recycling copper there like we do in Europe. And if you want to duplicate the operation to the same in Americas you have in will the market be different? I mean, in Europe, we are well ahead in terms of recycling. Could you create more value in the U.S. because I mean they're not -- if they are lagging behind in terms of recycling, you could bring added value with that. So not just efficiency gains, but also become more profitable.

But there are 2 questions with 1 -- the sourcing of copper cathodes comes from Chile. Codelco is supply there. There's also Peru, Australia, and some sources in Africa as well. So these are the main supply sources for copper cathodes. And then we want to secure supplier. So we have a 5-year rolling contracts. We always 5 years is ahead of the game. The fact that we also throw in recycled copper means that we can even buffer up that supply of copper because we already announced 2 or 3 years ago, and we still believe that at some point, there will be pressure. I'm not talking about shortages, but still pressure on the copper market. And pressure has begun. In fact, a year ago, we're looking at anywhere between $7,000 to $8,000 a tonne. Now we're looking at $13,000 per tonne of copper and some banks are looking at $15,000, $20,000 per tonne of copper. So the fact that we can recycle certainly helps, plus it is for our customers, it's a sign of security. I mean, because of our size, because of the significant amount of recycled demand, we can be pretty confident about the supply, especially for titanium customers. Regarding the U.S., I mean, we have a blast furnace in Montreal, Canada, we do not recycle copper there. We may do so in the future. But the main thing is we have to look at the customers' appetite for recycled copper -- and therefore -- I mean, with the matching price because Europe is very mature on the environmental side. I mean some customers in ourselves been looking for low carbon coppers whereas in America, you haven't got the same sort of market maturity. But if we're in a position to provide recycled metal copper or aluminum, we will do just that because that's part of our 3Es policy. Something about copper versus aluminum. Yes. To keep it simple, the low voltage we're looking at copper, mid-voltage aluminum. On aluminum, we are pioneers in as much as we have been pushing recycled aluminum cables and also recycled polymer cables. In other words, we are in a position for mid-voltage, -- we sell cables in Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden. These cables are looking at 50% less CO2 than the standard cable. So we really are pioneers in this respect and our customers such the likes of E.ON or even Enodis, they're very much keen to get low carbon in Europe and indeed in other territories as well.

[ Bernard Lume ] I'm an individual shareholder. And there's I'm much mistaken. There used to be a club of individual shareholders. Is it still around? I haven't heard of it?

Well, that you have -- it's a good question. We well, would you believe we discussed this with Angeline. She is the director representing employees on the Board. And yes, you're right. we should breathe more life into that club of individual shareholders. Club back in 2012, I believe. No, no, no, that was more than 10 years ago, but you're right. Right. Any other questions? Well, if such is not the case, we can bring this Q&A to close -- and we have resolutions. So yes, we have 76.4% of shares represented. So we have a quorum. And Nino will tell us about the voting procedure. So a few words about that. You should have received a voting tablet as you got in. So on the screen, you will find the terms of the resolutions to vote. Then you'll have 12 seconds to vote for against or abstain -- and then you have to press okay to confirm. And then each resolution will display the number of votes issued your tablet not well properly, you will have people in the room who will help you. We'll show you a little video telling you how to use device. [Presentation]

Right then. Well, the time has come for us to vote on the resolutions. Now you will find them in the documents you received before and we will not read them word for word. So you have 15 resolutions for the ordinary AGM, Resolution #1 is to approve the statement to 2025. And giving the approval to the Board, you have to vote now. [Voting]

And so Resolution 1 was adopted, you move on to resolution #2. We're looking at the consolidated financial statements and the Board's report thereof. Please vote now. [Voting]

Resolution adopted. We move on to resolution #3, and that is allocation of income for 2025 and setting of the dividend. Please vote now. [Voting]

Voting is closed and resolution #3 is carried. We move on to resolution #4. And here, we're looking at the renewal of Laura Bernardelli's term as a director. Please vote now. [Voting]

And so resolution #4 has adopted congratulations to Laura. Resolution #5 is Anne Lebel's term renewal of Anne Lebel's term as a director, please vote. [Voting]

And so resolution #5 has adopted. Congratulations to Anne Lebel. We move on to resolution #6, and that's the appointment of Antonio Cammisecra. [Voting]

Adopted. We move on to resolution #7. Appointment of Mr. Thierry Fournier as Director. Please vote now. [Voting]

The resolution is adopted. We move on to #8. and here, we are looking at the approval of removal of the attendance requirements attached to the shares allocated under performance share plans to Christopher Guerin. Please vote now. [Voting]

And so Resolution #8 was adopted. We move on to #9, approval of the information relating to the compensation items paid during the fiscal year to corporate officers. Please vote now. [Voting]

And so Resolution #9 was adopted. We move on to number 10. Approval of the items of compensation for the year 2025 paid to Jean Mouton, Chairman of the Board. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted #11 now, approval of the items of compensation paid for 2025 to Christopher Guerin, CEO until [indiscernible]. [Voting]

Adopted. We move on to Resolution #12, approval of the items of compensation paid for 2025 to Julien Hueber CEO since October 13, 2025. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted #13. Approval of the compensation policy of the members of the Board for the fiscal year 2026. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted. We move on to resolution #14. Approval of the compensation policy of the Chairman of the Board for the year 2026. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted #15 now. approval of the compensation policy of the Chief Executive Officer for the year 2026. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted #16 authorization to be granted to the Board for the purpose of carrying transactions involving company shares. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted. We move on to the 5 resolutions that come under the extraordinary AGM #17 authorization to be granted to the Board of Directors for the purpose of reducing the company's share capital by cancellation of its own shares. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted. We move on to #18 authorization to be granted to the Board for the purpose of granting in 2027, free performance shares to employees and corporate officers of the group to the tune of 330,000 shares for 18 months. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted. We move on to #19. Authorization to be granted to the Board for the purpose of granting free nonperforming shares to employees or to some of them, maximum amount 50,000 shares starting in January 1, 2027 for 12 months. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted #20, that's an amendment of Article 12 of the company's bylaws to be in line with the women on board directive regarding gender balance on the Board. Please vote now. [Voting]

That was adopted. We move on to #21 amendment of Article 19 paragraph 2 of the company's bylaws to raise the statutory age of the Chairman of the Board from 72 to 75. Please vote now. [Voting]

And now we have #22 that's for the ordinary AGM, powers to carry out formalities. Please vote now. [Voting]

Adopted. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Nino. Well, we have exhausted the agenda. So the meeting stands adjourned. I would like to thank you for attending the meeting, both here in the auditorium and online. We'll see you next year. Bye-bye.