Pernod Ricard SA (RI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. Hello, everyone. It is a great pleasure to see you once again this year. Once again, in Salle Pleyel for our General Shareholders' Meeting. Thank you for your loyalty. Thank you for having come this numerous for this important moment in the life of your group. And I specifically want to welcome those who participate in this general meeting for the first time. The current general assembly was convoked in compliance with the legal and regulatory dispositions in effect, no demand to write a draft resolution or a point on the agenda of the assembly general was formulated following the publication of the notice of the meeting in the BALO on the 4th of October 2024. There was a present sheet that was signed by the shareholders present, and the executives have present. I declare this general annual assembly open. I would like to ask Mrs. Patricia a Ricard Giron, representing the Pernod Ricard Company; Mr. Laurent Raets, representing the group [indiscernible]. I am nominating Anne-Marie Poliquin as the Secretary of this General Assembly are also present in the Central Bureau Madame Patricia Barbizet, Senior Director and Mrs. Hélène de Tissot, Vice President, Executive Finance and IC. The auditors are represented by Mrs. Caroline Bruno-Diaz for KPMG SA and Mr. Marc de Villartay from Deloitte and Partners. I also can see that the provisional quorum is 80.88%, representing 200,256,314 shares for 251,844,333 shareholders present or accounted for. The general shareholders has the quorum under the law. The legal document are digitally made available to the members of the general assembly and available on the bureau. These were sent and made available for the shareholders in the deadline. And this is regularly -- this is a regular general assembly that can validly deliberate on all resolutions on its agenda. It is -- you will see between Pages 42 in the brochure that you received when you signed in. All the resolutions are mentioned. Let us come to the heart of the topic today. Our management report for 2023 2024 and the forecast of your group. Before all, I will let you discover in images what were the highlights of this year. [Presentation]

You have just seen it. This year was a year of innovation, a year of commitment in terms of CSR and a year of investment to deliver a sustainable and profitable growth over the long term. You will see it following this presentation. This year, we have worked to prepare the future of your group in spite of an environment that was both complicated and demanding. 2024 had a geopolitic and economical context that was very difficult in some of our important markets, and we'll come back to this in detail. You can see here the financial summary, with a organic revenue that is overall stable at minus 1% and positive, if we remove the exceptional aspect of exiting Russia. Our operational -- our recurring operational income is at -- growing by 1.5% with the price effect and a strict control of cost. Our recurring operational margin is growing by 80 basis points. Our available cash flow, close to EUR 1 billion has decreased by 33% compared to the previous year, reflecting our strategic investments to serve our future growth. Lastly, the net revenue share of the group, with a decrease of 35%, integrates exceptional elements, including an accounting disposal of our wine sector. This shows the resilience of our model. Our global footprint is major asset with a balanced presence throughout the regions of the world and between mature markets and emerging markets. It is especially clear in the current context with a slowdown of the American and Chinese markets. If we look at further details, I'm going to start with the U.S. The organic revenues in the U.S. has decreased by 9% over the fiscal year. If we look at the sell-outs, which is close to our underlying performance. These are decreasing by 4%. This difference between the minus 9 and the minus 4 can be explained by a destocking of the retailers in an environment of interest rate and need of financing cost for our retailers that is very high. And this is something we can see across the value chain for the same reasons. Moreover, in the U.S., we have the continuation of the normalization post-COVID after 2 or 3 years of remarkable growth. Lastly, the U.S. consumer is seeing his spending power under pressure after 2 years of very strong inflation. Concerning China, its revenues has an organic decrease of more than 10%. The macroeconomic environment in the U.S. is depressed, having an impact on the morale of Chinese people and having an impact on their consumption. Outside of China and the U.S. and outside of the exceptional effect of exiting Russia, the rest of the world is doing quite well with a growth of 5%, with India at plus 6%, which is now becoming, in terms of revenue, the second market for the group. The global Travel Retail has grown by 2% with a solid growth, however, impacted in Asia by the context in China. Moreover, there is a strong dynamic more generally. So good performances in Poland and Ireland, strong growth in Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Africa and the Middle East, especially in Turkey, and a return to growth in Brazil and in Mexico. This is what translates the resilience of our balanced model in spite of the weight of the U.S. and China that we saw at almost minus 10%, we are overall stable in our revenue, and this makes us stand out across the industry. In general terms, in 2024, our performance has continued with the normalization across most of the markets after 2 or 3 years, as I said earlier, of exceptional growth following COVID. Here, you have the annual average growth rates by region over the past 5 years, with the first year being an index of 100. You can see that in the Americas, over this period, the annual growth has plus 3%. In Europe, we grew on average by 4% and in Asia, rest of the world, by 6% per year. This translates by an annual -- average annual growth rate of plus 5% in spite of the technical effect of the U.S. destocking and of Russia. This 5% of average growth is in the middle of the range of our framing of growth over the medium term between plus 3% and plus 7%. In spite of the current context, which is difficult for our industry and our sector, we remain full of confidence in the future because beyond this balanced model, Pernod Ricard is operated in the most dynamic segment of our industry, that of the international premium spirits brand, which is a market of about EUR 120 billion that has been growing 7% per year on average. You can see the global market of alcohol is EUR 1.1 trillion. This includes beer, champagne, spirits, wines and smaller segments like Ceder. This segment is growing by 4% on average. Within the segment, the global market of spirits, which includes traditional spirits or local like Baijiu in China, standard spirits also and premium spirits. This segment that weighs EUR 439 million -- EUR 439 billion is growing by about 6% on average. And as I said, the segment on which we operate, which is the Premium Plus Spirits, grows by 7% on average per year. Next, our confidence also rests on some underlying trends that support the growth of spirits over the long term and on our capacity to adjust ourselves and to meet the evolution of the needs of the consumers. Across these big trends, you have global demographics, which is growing. You have the growth of the middle class. They're going to go from 3.5 billion people in 2020 to a little bit less than 5 billion by 2030. And you also have an increase of consumption for women. Through our brands, we are evolving to adjust to the changing needs of the consumers, like a research of experience, hence our growing presence in concerts, festivals and other festive moments. The quest of expressing ourselves, tell me what you drink, and I will tell you who you are, and what we also call convenience, which is offering solutions that are practical, fluid and qualitative with, for instance, the ready-to-drink cocktails. To implement our strategy, we have 3 levers that make our group absolutely unique, and you know them very well. First of all, our portfolio of diversified brands that are increasingly premium. Developing our brands, increasing their value over time is not only our priority, it is our expertise as well. Our legacy has its roots in the Terroirs that give our brands all of their authenticity and all of their character, and the identity of some of them remains very tightly linked to their founder, which gives them a depth and in temporality and a personality that is very specific Jameson, Martell, Chivas, Perrier-Jouët, Lillet, Ricard, of those were building brands, and we continue and reinforce this tradition. Our portfolio, which brings together more than 200 brands amongst the most desirable in the sector is the most comprehensive in the industry. So we are having this portfolio, and we are also obsessed with the consumers to offer innovations that integrate their desire and their aspirations. For instance, the range of vodka cranberry ready-to-drink cocktails that we've launched at the beginning of 2024 in the U.S. that bring together the Absolut vodka with the cranberry juice of Ocean Spray is very successful. As you saw earlier in the video, for 2024, we were very active with marketing investments to further grow the desirability of our brands, with campaigns that had a great impact like the one of Skrewball in the U.S. and a record number of products with a limited edition, like the one of Ricard that we saw in all of the terraces this summer when it wasn't raining, or Absolut Warhol, Lillet x Emily in Paris, or Malfy with Missoni. These partnerships are reinforcing the equity and the value of our brands, such as their association with ambassadors that are as prestigious as the Olympic Champion Tom Bailey for Malibu or the actress Melanie Laurent for Perrier-Jouët. This portfolio of unique brands is something that we breathe life into and that we further perfect. This year, we have continued our active management in line with our international development strategy and our premiumization. We have disbursed certain brands of local spirits like the Clan Campbell whiskey or the Becherovka liquor. We have announced a project to disburse our wine brands for the second semester of this current fiscal year. And last month, we have signed an agreement to disburse Minttu and other nordic brands that are produced in Turku in Finland. We are focusing more and more on the most attractive categories with the strongest growth. At the end of 2023, we had the great pride to inaugurate a new category by launching the Chuan whiskey, first prestige malt produced in China. The Chuan is interpreting whiskey in the light of the culture and the gastronomy and the terroir in China. We have started to sell it this year, and it absolutely meets the enthusiasm of Chinese consumers for exceptional spirits that are produced locally. We have also taken a minority share in Almave, which is the super premium, no alcohol brand based on blue agave. It is at the intersection of 3 trends of consumption today. The enthusiasm for tequila, the research of authenticity and the attraction for 0 alcohol spirits for those who choose to not drink alcohol while still enjoying the pleasure of the flavor. This zero-alcohol segment is a complement to our spirits portfolio. So beyond our portfolio, the second of the 3 levers that are the strength of our model is our geographic footprint with a unequaled distribution network, the most extensive in the industry that allows us to be permanently close to our consumers wherever they are. You know it, we are present in more than 160 countries and our own sales team are directly present in more than 60 of these countries. This network has no equivalent across our industry, and it allows us to continue this unique portfolio brand to seize the opportunities of emerging markets and to capitalize on our anchoring across mature markets. Beyond the brands and Pernod Ricard network, what makes all the difference, what gives Pernod Ricard its unique character, and to our first 2 levers, their power is the soul of Pernod Ricard. It is the soul of our group, of your group and our culture of winning. Our culture sets us apart from the others. And our reason for being brings us together. We create it's conviviality. We have placed humans at the heart of our model, and we make each meeting a source of inspiration. This reason for being is really our compass. It guides us through our decisions, similarly to the 4 values that underpin our culture, and that the members of our teams really incarnate on a daily basis. Our feet are firmly on the ground. The common sense of the farmers in the most noblest sense. We are anchored in our terroir. We are authentic, and we are proud of being so. We are together beyond the borders, open to the world, inclusive and in solidarity. And inside of us beats this passion for challenge for our employees every day is an open invitation to innovate and create value. Our teams are our first asset. Their commitment is an ingredient that we cannot do without in the quest for our success. Because of this, I am particularly proud that we were named amongst the best companies in the world in 2024 by Time Magazine and recognized in the list of the world's best employers 2024 by Forbes. Pernod Ricard is a company of passionate people where it's nice to work. And because it's our teams that speak the best about this, I want to make you see what a day in-house looks like. [Presentation]

These smiles, these conviviality, these palpable attachment to our group are for me, a great source of pride. Our impact in terms of employment, which goes far beyond our 20,000 employees is another. In total, Pernod Ricard supports almost a million jobs worldwide. These jobs are, for example, those of the farmers who supply the ingredients used in our brands. Those of the glass workers who make our bottles and those of the bartenders who serve our spirits. This is the figure that struck me most in the survey led by Oxford Economics. We commissioned them, in order to help us to measure, in very concrete terms, our contribution to the creation of economic and social value in France and around the world. Because we operate in every corner of the globe, our group has both a direct and indirect impact on the economies of the countries in which we are present. Thus, Pernod Ricard contributes to the global GDP at the height of EUR 33 billion, as Jeremy Leonard is going to explain to us in just a moment. There is also another way of looking at the group's impact by identifying the direct beneficiaries of Pernod Ricard's activities, which represent around 15 billion over the financial year '23/'24. The first position is our contribution -- our tax that is at the height of EUR 6.4 million. Our supply represents EUR 6 million when we total our services, procurement, industrial and agricultural products. For agriculture, it represents EUR 1.1 million. The remuneration of our employees, including taxes and social taxes is at EUR 1.6 million, so that's 10% of our direct contribution in whole. Finally, the payment of dividends and repurchasing of shares represent EUR 1.5 million during this year. We see thus that the sharing of value between our different people who take part, our partners, our employees and our shareholders. And thus, finally, the states are the first beneficiaries of the group's activity. So I'm delighted to welcome Jeremy Leonard. Managing Director of Oxford Economics Global Economics Service, who is going to say more on the economic footprint of our group all along our value chain. Jeremy, the floor is yours.

Hello, everyone, and thank you very much for this introduction by Mr. Ricard. Indeed, when -- as he said, in 2023, Pernod Ricard asked Oxford Economics to monitor its global footprint. We often talk about revenue and employment as we saw in the figures right before, but we all know that these figures underestimate the importance of the total impact of the company on the company on society, but how -- to what extent? This is what Oxford Economics worked on and has done since the beginning of the year. Thanks to our global models, national and subnational models that cover the activity of companies through their value chain, we are able to quantify the total impact of the activities of Pernod Ricard whether in terms of GDP, employment or taxes. I have the pleasure to share our results -- our main results with you now. As this graph indicates, Pernod Ricard goes beyond the distilleries and its offices by making and selling spirits and wines around the world. Pernod Ricard supports an economic activity that is substantial through its main operations and its value chain up -- downstream. The main impact of Pernod Ricard is articulated around 3 channels. On the left side, you can see the economic activity that is indirect, that the group stimulates through its expenses during -- on its supply chain with its suppliers buying grape, buying cereal, glass and services. And of course, its economic direct activity generated by its operations, it's vineyards, distilleries and regional headquarters. The induced economic activity, which is very important, supported by employees of the company and suppliers who spend their wages in furniture, food, entertainment, shopping, et cetera. Other than its main impact, Pernod Ricard supports also actors on selling their product such as bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers. As we will see later, this impact is more important than we may think. To summarize the results, if we take into account the contribution of the entire economic activity supported by Pernod Ricard, grouping the main, the direct and indirect induced upstream. As was said before, during the fiscal year 2024, global operations of Pernod Ricard supported EUR 33 billion in GDP global contribution. So this is equivalent to 1/10 of the Paris GDP. 1 million of employment in the world and EUR 14 billion of payment and taxes around the world. But another way of assessing Pernod Ricard's impact is to compare its direct contributions to the global activity that the group supports. Expressed as a multiplicator, we have seen that Pernod Ricard's multiplier is 1.6 -- 6.2, sorry, meaning that for each euro of GDP generated by Pernod Ricard, it supports EUR 5.2 additional euros, which are generated by the extended impact. So this multiplier is even more important because for each employment, each job at Pernod Ricard, 52 outside of the company depend on these activities. This underlines the strong productivity of the employees at Pernod Ricard which should generate a great added value in the ecosystem, and the fact that these downstream sectors, bars, restaurants, hotels, need a lot of workforce to ensure the distribution of the company's products. Even if the markets and operations and Pernod Ricard's impact are global, it is interesting to take a look at France, which with the United Kingdom, is the most important country in the group in terms of operations and manufacturing. During the fiscal year '23, '24, Pernod Ricard contributed at the height of EUR 2.7 billion to France's GDP. Around EUR 800 million came from its direct operations, whereas the rest came from its impact, indirect, induced and downstream channels. We can see that a part of the direct operations of Pernod Ricard in France is even more important than it is on the global scale. And this is of no surprise, given the extent of Pernod Ricard in France. By the way, Pernod Ricard supported 22,000 jobs during '23/'24 in around 3,000 -- and 3,000 of its direct employees and 19,000 working in the supply chain and bars and restaurants, hotels and retailers as well. Let's note that 36% of the indirect employment and induced employment is localized outside of the regions where the direct production is based. It is clear that global operations at Pernod Ricard contribute in a very significant way to the economy through direct impact, indirect impact and induced impact, supporting a substantial GDP and the creation of jobs and tax receipts around the world. Our study enable to highlight the extent of this economic footprint in France and in the world. I thank you very much for your attention. And I'm going to give the floor back to Alexandre Ricard.

Well, thank you very much, Jeremy. The figures that were just presented to you show clearly to what extent your group, strong of its roots and endearment to France, is today a great contributor to the strong economy of our country. And through our RSE road map, good plans from -- good times from a good place, we are careful to make sure that our terroir is there. We benefit to our communities, consumers and our planet. As you know, our demand in terms of performance is unseparable from our engagement when it comes to company social responsibility. To such an extent that in 2023, we decided to we embed our CSR teams to act as close as possible to our value. Noemie Bauer, Director of the CSR of the group, who's going to share the progress achieved. And of course, those that we still need to accomplish. Noemie, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Alexandre. Hello, everyone, I'm really honored to come and present to the CSR strategy of the group and the progress achieved in 2024. Our strategy, which is called preserve -- preserving to share in French was presented -- it will be until 2030. We want to improve our environmental and social footprint of the group all along the value chain by starting by the upstream for agriculture following with human beings and the circular production. And finally, good behavior with our products, responsible behaviors. I'm going to show you where we stand now, what's the position. The first pillar, preserving our terroirs, aims at protecting our natural ingredient faced with climate change. We commit to -- we have a transition to have a regenerative agriculture to preserve the soil, protect biodiversity and keeping water capturing carbon and producing raw materials that are more resilient. With this transition, we need our entire ecosystem, and we have committed in 2019 to test these agricultural programs for regeneration in several regions. In 2024, we have already reached our objective and have launched test programs in the 8 regions. These tests will enable us to better support farmers in their own transition approach. And in 2024, we counted more than 11,200 farmers that we have supported. We also committed to certify 100% of our raw materials for agriculture by 2030, and we count already 39% of our raw materials that have been certified. You will have understand, human is at the heart of our agricultural transition, but it's at the heart of our entire CSR strategy, and this leads us to a second pillar, value human beings. In this pillar, Pernod Ricard commits to and engages to offer a work environment that is secure, inclusive and responsible. Health and safety of our employees is an absolute priority. And we have achieved, in 2 years' time, we were able to reduce by 43% our frequency of accident rate. This was possible, thanks to our discipline, face where our rigorous standards, but also because of everyone's commitment. And this engagement was achieved during a campaign, be the one who invites other employees to take care of themselves but also people around them. To favor the wellbeing of our employees, we need a good inclusive work space. This is translated by the rate of the number of women that are directors and leading teams. These efforts were acknowledged by the equally standard for equal pay for men and women. It's not the only one that's acknowledged Pernod Ricard efforts. This year, we also received 2 good rates from the CDP. The CDP is a transparency project for the environment that attributed this year 2 marks, A- for water and strategy, knowing that they go from A to F. Water and climate are essential pillars to act we aim at limiting our use of natural resources, such as water, but also production of waste by favoring circularity, recyclability and we also wish to decrease our CO2 emissions. Pernod Ricard committed by 2050 to follow a 0 trajectory, 0 CO2. We have ambitious targets for 2030 already. In 2024, we reached a very great progress, with minus 30% of emissions and are Scope 1 and 2. Our target is at minus 54 by 2030 for upstream farming. We reduced it by 9%, with a target that is hired until 2030 and for the rest -- for packaging and logistics, we reduced them by 6%, with a target of minus 25% by 2030. We are thus really on tracks. Finally, I'd like to close with our fourth pillar being responsible. For us, our products gather individuals during convivial or festive moments. So we think that adults must make enlightened decisions when consuming alcohol or not and in what quantities they decide to do so. This is why Pernod Ricard wants to raise awareness in consumers through campaigns, corporate campaigns such as drink more water or brand campaigns. And in 2024, we already counted 108 million people who were aware of these, thanks to the campaigns. This goes through the labels themselves, and we add a QR code as well on our bottles so that people can scan them and get information on the product, the potential risks with their health and the responsible consumption. And in 2024, we added the QR code on 95% of our products. I hope you are as enthusiastic as I am when it comes to the progress that be made, and I invite you to watch a short video on our terroirs. [Presentation]

Thank you very much, Noemie. Our commitment is to deliver a profitable and growth that is over the long term. Pernod Ricard is a company that is part of a long time. And I think that this is particularly necessary when you look at the instability of the world today. Our priority is to continue to build the future of the group by relying on our strong fundamentals. Preparing the future is, of course, using all of the technological progress to always better identify and understand the expectations of the consumers and always meet them as best we can. This is why we have been committed for the past 4 years in a new digital acceleration stage on the using data and AI on a large scale. Because of our digital programs that we call our key digital programs, we have tackled a whole palette of tools that are with the great performance that we developed internally, processing millions of data and helping us in a creative way for strategy, for marketing and for sales. Today, 28 of our brands representing 3/4 of our business are equipped at least with 1 of these key digital programs, and we continue to deploy them to serve our efficiency and our performance. And we also put AI to work to help developing our teams. We went from a talent management based on the current and past roles of our employees, to an approach that was really skills centered. At the end of September, we've launched Horizon, that is using AI to analyze millions of possible combination between, one, the skills available. Number two, the wishes of our employees and lastly, the needs of the company. Our commitment in terms of data and AI is actually recognized. Last April, Pernod Ricard was #1 in Europe and #4 globally of the companies of consumer groups for the internalization of the data and AI competencies. And we are the leaders in our industry in this field. Having our own team of experts internally that we have been putting together since 2020 allows us to be autonomous, have a great performance and to be efficient across the whole data value chain of data and AI. In a world that is speeding up, preparing the future is also taking decisions very quickly, especially in terms of allocating our resources. This is the reason why we have simplified the organization about 18 months ago, to be more agile, with a tighter executive committee. And I really thank those members for their energy and their commitment and a headquarter serving our 7 brand companies and our 10 market entities. All of this to serve a sustainable and profitable growth over time. Even if the performance varies from 1 year to the next because of a very volatile environment, our trajectory remains the right one. We deliver our growth ambition of our revenues and of operational margin. This regularity of our performance throughout time is an integral part of the characteristics of the Pernod Ricard model. Over the short term, even if the share is lower this year, it remains more significant than those of our peers in a difficult context for our industry. Value creation over 10 years for Pernod Ricard, for the sector is exceptional. It translates a strong appetite for spirits as well as an acceleration of premiumization, and it fully validates our strategy and our model. In line with our commitment to create value over time for our shareholders, we would like to suggest an unchanged dividend at EUR 4.70, submitted today to your approval, which represents an annual rate of growth of 8.5% since the exercise of 2018-2019. And because we are particularly attached to our individual shareholders whose trust honors us, we want to really cultivate our relationship with you through our premium club. I will let you discover the testimonials of a few members of this club that might give some others of you that have not joined us yet, to do so. [Presentation]

I currently invite Helene de Tissot to present to you our financial performance and details.

Thank you, Alexandre. In detail, I'm going to try to go fast. I'm going to now present the consolidated account for 2023/2024, the fiscal year. I would like to start by showing some of the summary element. We've had a solid performance in the spirits market that is currently being normalized. This performance is translated by an organic revenue that is stable, growing by 1%, excluding Russia, with the growth of the volumes for the second semester over the market. The good performance in mature and emerging markets have made it possible to largely compensate for a difficult context that is different in nature in the U.S. and in China, as we've explained earlier. Because of the price effect and the operational efficiency and a strict cost discipline, we have grown the gross margin by 108 basis points and the operational margin organically by 80 basis points. We are investing to be more desirable in our brands and have a greater long-term growth. We have an investment of promotional investments that is growing and strategic investments in terms of CapEx for aging alcohol, whiskeys that are Irish, Scottish and U.S. and our strategic sort. The management of our portfolio was also very active last year, with the disbursement of certain brands of local spirits like Clan Campbell and Becherovka. And the announcement of the disbursement of our wines, which will be made further this year. Coming back to our key financials. Our revenues are EUR 11.593 billion, with a decrease of 1% internally and 4% overall. The recurring operating income of EUR 3.160 billion is growing internally by 1.5%, and otherwise, decreasing by 7%. The organic growth of the group is 80 basis points and impacted by nonrecurring expenses. Free cash flow is EUR 963 million, a decrease of 33% compared to the previous year because of the decrease of the recurring operating income and acceleration of strategic CapEx to support future growth. Let us now move to our revenues per category. The international strategic brands are decreasing by 3% because of the strong decrease of Martell in China, and the normalization in the U.S. Jameson has a strong growth outside of the U.S. and Russia, a 2-digit growth, especially in India, which is now the second domestic market for Jameson in volume. Absolut, outside of the exit from Russia, is delivering a solid 2-digit growth in emerging country and is growing by 3% in Europe. Scotches have also have a great dynamic in Asia outside of China and in Turkey. Local strategic brands are delivering a good growth of 5% with a positive dynamic for Seagram whiskeys in India, growing by more than 7% as well as a strong growth of Kahlúa in North America and in Western Europe. The specialty brands are decreasing by 2%. Even though the growth is good in Asia and the Middle East, it's not as dynamic in Western Europe and in the U.S. But brands like Bumbu, Skrewball, Altos, and Lillet are however standing out. Let us now move to our financials. So again, you can see the revenue, EUR 11.598 billion. You have a gross margin of 60.1%, with the price effect and the operation efficiency and a strict control of costs. The ratio of the promotions is at 16.1%, with a dynamic allocation between the brands, the markets and the distribution channels. The structural costs are increasing by 2% because of a strong discipline and targeted investment and the administrative and general costs are decreasing. Consequently, the recurring operational income is growing by 1.5%. The ratio of recurring operation income of 26.9% is growing by 80 points and decreasing by 72 basis points for facial with the exchange rate that was unfavorable with the net impact of the perimeter effect of minus EUR 285 million. Let us now move to the accounts group share. As I said previously, the net revenue has decreased, impacted by an increase of the recurring financial expenses, which is linked to the refinancing of our loans and by nonrecurring expenses linked to the depreciation of the wine assets and partially compensated by a pickup of the depreciation on Kahlua and some bonuses on the sale of Clan Campbell and Becherovka. The higher interest rate environment increases the financial expenses, with a raise of the debt to 3.1% as opposed to 2.6% the previous year. So our refinancing at the rate of the market, 3.5%. And for the bonds that had been limited at rates that were close to 0. Switching now to the evolution of our net debt. The ratio net debt over EBITDA is growing to 3.1x, with an increase of net debt that is now EUR 10.950 billion. Our cash flow generation is solid, with free cash flow of EUR 963 million that is below last year, with the deterioration of the operational revenue, with the exchange rate and the acceleration of the CapEx that are destined to support the future growth. On this slide, you have the 4 pillars of our financial policy and the priority. This policy remaining unchanged. I'd like to now suggest coming back to what we have done over the first quarter that we've shared a few weeks ago for '24/'25, it is decreasing by 5.9% internally, with stable volumes and revenues that are decreasing by 8.5% in facial. The sales in the U.S. are decreasing by 10%, which reflects the normalization post-COVID and the stock adjustments in the market, with sales from the retailers to the consumers that are decreasing by 5%. In China, there's a decrease of 26% in a very difficult macroeconomic context and a very low demand from the consumer during the summer and during the mid-autumn festival. These results are partially compensated by solid growth in India, with plus 2%, impacted by a negative sequencing of the sales that will be reverting in the second quarter. A strong growth of travel retail in America and Europe with Asia impacted by China and a solid dynamic throughout the world with a strong performance in Europe outside Russia, in spite of the impact of an unclimate weather as a strong growth in Japan as well as in Africa and in Turkey. Thank you for your attention. And I'm giving the floor back to Alexandre for the forecast.

Well, thank you very much, Helene, for the forecast, for our diversified portfolio and our geographic -- balanced geographic presence. We are reiterating, with confidence, our ambition over the medium term, which targets an organic growth of our revenues in the top of a range between plus 4% and plus 7%, and organic growth of the recurring operating organic margin between 50 and 60 basis points. For the current year '24/'25, we are planning to see a return to the organic growth of our revenues, with a progressive improvement of our volumes and the maintenance of organic operating margin. Our ambition is to make Pernod Ricard the global benchmark for its brands and its premium experiences. To achieve this, we can draw on our 50 years of passion and know-how in the service of conviviality because, yes, in 2025, we will be celebrating a very special anniversary, the 50th adversary of our group, the [indiscernible] of our group. It will be the opportunity to celebrate everything that makes Pernod Ricard unique. Born in 1975 from the alliance of 2 visionary entrepreneurs, Pernod Ricard is, today, a global group with over 200 exceptional brands, still proudly asserting with a lot of pride, it's French identity. A jewel in our sector with 20,000 employees who make Pernod Ricard the great company that we are. I would like to thank them once again for their exceptional work and for the deep attachment to the group, and I think they deserve a round of applause from you. In the face of isolation, fragmentation and fracture, our reason for being as creators of conviviality, maybe resonates with even more strength than ever. Fostering links here takes on a full meaning. Human beings are creatures of encounters, exchanges, sociability. We crave relationships. I'm convinced that this human dimension, which has characterized us for 50 years now is also what will be what makes our success tomorrow. In one word, we can look forward to the next half century with confidence. Patricia Barbizet, our Senior Director and the Chairwoman of the Appointment and Governance Committee, will now review the governance of our group. So before she does that, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the Board of Directors present here, for its support throughout this year that had been marked, as you understand, by a complex environment. Patricia, the floor is yours.

Thank you. And as each year, it's a joy to be with you as President of Governance and as Lead Director. Let's look at the Board of your company. And during this year, we had 15 members whose names are now on screen. I'd like to attract your attention on 2024. The Board had 8 independent directors and 2 directors representing employees. This composition is changing today. Since Wolfgang Colberg will be leaving the Board at the end of the Annual General Meeting, we will now be 14 members. And by the way, Ian Gallienne, will become a nonindependent member, given that he has been at our Board for 12 years, and then we'll have 58.3%. I'd like to seize this -- grasp this opportunity to thank Wolfgang for everything he has provided to the group, his remarkable inputs and his determining role within the Board during these 16 years. Wolfgang, a great thank you, really. Thank you, Wolfgang. So the members of our Board have diverse skills that are complementary and that are perfectly in line with our group strategy. The experiences that are varied of the Board members guarantee indeed an efficient governance and that is very clear, and it's key to our activity, skills in terms of general management and their strategy in terms of finance, audit and M&A, governance and compliance, CSR and human resources, innovation, knowledge of the industry and the consumers and digital and technologies. All of these skills are gathered with the members that are part of our Board. At the close of this Annual General Meeting, if the proposals for renewal are accepted, the Board will be made up of 7 independent directors, with 7 women, thus 58.3% of the Board. This year, again, our Board has met 10 times, which equates an attendancy rate of 97.95%. Numerous subjects are on the agenda. The group business and strategy, group financial results and related financial communications, CEO remuneration policy, a comprehensive review of group risk mapping, and finally, different aspects in compliance. Today, I would also like to give you an update on the work we have -- I've carried out as a Lead Director. I have met our main investors, Board members as well, but all the main investors in France and abroad, and talked about the governance of Pernod Ricard and the composition of the Board. We mentioned topics that we tackle during our meetings. As every year and the previous years, the directors met in different sessions without in absence of the company's executive directors as at an executive session chaired by myself and the Chairman of the Board. And we assessed the performance of the -- this is part of the committee's mission and the Board's and the nonexecutive members to assess each year the performance of the Executive Chairman. And according to the AFEP-MEDEF code, this evaluation confirmed the quality of our Board's governance. This assessment so confirmed the good functioning of our Board. And this assessment also helped us identify access of development in terms of strategy for the long term and management of the group's talents. I'm going to talk to you about the specialized committees, which assists the Board in its mission. The objective being to give recommendations that are more precise on specific topics. The Audit Committee. During the year, under the precedence of Philippe Petitcolin, the committee was composed with the people you see on screen. It met at 4 occasions during the year, with a [ independence ] rate of 75%. This committee tackled the following topics. It looked into the accounts of the group. It looked at the group's risk mapping as part of its 3 yearly overhaul and it monitored the group's internal control system and the reports drawn up by the audits. For the CSRD, the committee recommended to the Board, the appointment of our auditors as sustainability auditors after having assessed different options. Their mandate is for a 3-year period. Let's now move to the Appointment and Governance Committee, whose members are now on screen as well. During this year, we met 4 times in order to review the composition of the Board and its committees, assess the functioning of the Board, offering topics in connection with diversity and inclusion. We had a specific session, a meeting on management of our talent and the succession plan, and we looked at the trend the 3-period Europe with an external audit firm. We also have a Compensation Committee headed by Kory Sorenson, whose membership is shown on the screen. During the year, the committee reviewed the practices for compensation of the CEOs that are comparable and the practices in terms of long-term compensation. The committee also assessed the criteria of the variable compensation for our CEO. And finally, reviewed the policy of fair pay in the group and it being applied. Let's now look at the Strategic Committee. This is presided by Alexandre Ricard. He has a mission to shed light on the understanding on certain themes before being tackled by the Board itself or the committee itself. In this committee, we looked at climate change and the impact on the activity of wines and spirits and the road map, M&A for the group. Finally, the CSR committee, that is on screen also, was presented -- were presented the following topics: preserving our [ tequila's ], the road map of the group, analyzing new regulations and those of CSRD, which will be applied in 2025. And for the CSRD, it was decided that the CSR Committee and the Audit Committee would hold an annual meeting together on the sustainability. This joint committee will ensure an alignment of those with the governance and the management of risk in the group. This presentation is now over, and I inform you that we have a full amount that is provided to the Board of the meetings on the subjects tackled that are reported during the plenary session. I now invite Kory Sorenson, the Head of the Compensation Committee, to talk about the compensation of our CEO and by looking at EX POST and POST ANTE votes.

Thank you, Patricia. Hello. As President of the Compensation Committee, I'm going to present you with the compensation policy for the CEO. I got detail, the EX POST vote mentioned in the ninth resolution, and then the EX ANTE vote mentioned in the tenth resolution. You will find all of these elements on Pages 24, 29 of the invitation. The elements given are attributed to Mr. Ricard during '23 and '24, mentioned in the ninth resolution, include the annual fixed compensation of EUR 1.250 million applicable on July 1, 2021, and variable of 1,243,125 corresponding to 90.41% of the target. The details of each criteria is mentioned on Page 26 of the ANTE brochure. An attribution of 15,000 share of performance corresponded to 150% of the fixed remuneration, 8,620 shares submitted to internal performance and 6,788 shares with external performance conditions, an attribution of 1,444 shares with internal performance and EUR 314,062 for additional retirement. And then Mr. Alexandre Ricard benefits from a company car and healthcare plan. I'd like to say that Mr. Alexandre Ricard does not benefit from any compensation as Head of the Board -- Chairman of the Board. Let's now look to the compensation policy of the CEO for 2024 and 2025, that is the purpose of the tenth resolution. For the new renewal of the mandate of Mr. Ricard, there was a deep review of the compensation policy, and the last change was achieved in 2021. The annualized lead showed that different adjustments were desirable in order to better promote the performance on the short and medium and long term, ensure competitivity with the market and strengthen the alignment with shareholders. Thus, the Board of Directors offered the following evolutions and changes: an increase of the fixed compensation by 6% that hadn't been increased since July 2021, which is way inferior to the average increase of employees and with the inflation accumulated in France as well. For the compensation -- the annual variable compensation, the maximum on the financial objectives was reduced by 150% to 135% without any modification of the maximum target. The long-term compensation will have a ceiling of 100% with the annual fixed variable. The level of attribution will be presented to the Board by taking into account the performance of Alexandre Ricard each year and the performance of the group and the market practices. After the assessment of year 2024, we offer to give performance shares, which value corresponds to 6% of this threshold. Let's remind that such an attribution is under performance controls that are very demanding, not guaranteeing this 100% acquisition. So we see that for the plan attributed in 2021, that comes to an end in 2024. After applying the performance conditions, Alexandre Ricard lost 41% of his initial attribution. By the way, these performance shares and the attributions were strengthened this year. And concerning the condition for the external ones, 50% of the shares are acquired for a positioning of the CSR with a median where it was 60% in the past. The condition of the CSR will be triggered only if at least 2 of the 4 criteria are filled out. And finally, to better reflect the relative performance of the CSR, we offer to focus our panel on all of the spirits or alcoholic beverages and our comparison withholds the 9 following companies: AB InBev, Brown-Forman, Campari, Carlsberg. Translation brands: Diageo, Remy Cointreau, [ St-Remy ]. The other elements of the compensation policy that is on screen, remain unchanged. These adjustments help us to keep a global balanced compensation that is also competitive. Given all of these elements, we suggest to approve the ninth and tenth resolutions. Thank you.

Patricia, Kory, I'd like to thank you for your presentations. I will now invite Madam Caroline Bruno-Diaz from KPMG, in order to present in terms for the auditors, the report submitted during the general assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, hello. On behalf of the statutory auditors, Deloitte and KPMG, I'm pleased to report to you on our mission and the reports we submitted for the year that ended June 30, 2024. We have issued several reports. And in accordance with the custom of this meeting, I propose not to read them in full, but to summarize them for you. Let's start -- begin with our reports on the consolidated and annual financial statements. These reports have been made available to you in connection with the Annual General Meeting and appear respectively, on Pages 285 to 288 and 312 to 314 of the universal registration document. We remind you that our work have the objective to enter the reasonable and the sincerity, regularity faithful, truthful image of the accounts, so that there is no significant anomaly. The report on these consolidated and annual accounts mentioned the key points in our audit. Concerning the consolidated accounts, the key points of the audit was the brand valuation and tax risks. And with regard to the annual financial statement, the key point of the audit was the valuation of the value in use of equity investments. Our reports on the financial statements include for each of these key audit points, a description of the risks identified and our response to them. In summary, we have certified the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements of our company without qualification or observation. Our reports on the financial statements also include the conclusions of certain specific verifications required by law, which we have performed on the information required in the management report. In this respect, we attest to the accuracy and fair presentation of the information given in respect of remuneration and benefits paid to corporate officers and also the fair presentation of this information in the management report and relating to concordance with the financial statements of the information relating to payment terms. Finally, so we attest to the presence of the consolidated declarations of nonfinancial performance required in the French commercial code in the management report. Finally, in accordance with the ESF regulations, we have verified that the presentation of the financial statements, which are included in the annual financial report, complies with the single European electronic format. And now suggest to move to our special report on conventions that is on Page 315 in the universal registration document. In summary, no new regulated agreements were submitted for approval at the General Annual Meeting and no regulated agreement already approved by the Annual General Meeting in previous years continued during the year. We have also issued 2 reports, which appear on Pages 328 and 329 of the universal registration document, a report pursuant to the 15th resolution on the authorization to grant existing or newly issued performance shares to employees and executive directors and a report pursuant to the 16th resolution on the authorization to grant existing or future free shares to the group employees. We have no matters to report in connection with the information given in the Board of Directors' report on these proposed transactions. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, thank you for your attention. And I'll now hand over to the Chairman.

Thank you very much for this presentation. I now invite Madame Anne-Marie Poliquin, Secretary of this General Assembly, to present the resolutions that we are submitting for your vote.

Thank you, Alexandre. Hello, everyone. I am going to present you in a summarized way, I hope, the resolutions that are proposed for your vote. As Alexandre mentioned before, the full text of these resolutions is on Page 42 and after of the invitation that was given to you. This year, as last resolutions that are ordinary and extraordinary are submitted to your vote. We will start with the presentation of ordinary resolutions. The first resolution's purpose is to approve social accounts of Pernod Ricard for fiscal year 2024. The second resolution, we will ask you to approve the consolidated accounts for Pernod Ricard for the same year. The third resolution, it's purpose is to proceed the allocation of results and your offer to set the dividend for the year '23/'24 at EUR 4.70 per share. Given that an account on dividend of EUR 2.35 per share was already provided in July 2024, the result is EUR 2.35 per share would be separated in November 2024, with a record date on 6th November '24, and paid at the end of November 2024. Following the fourth resolution, we would like to suggest renewing the mandate as Director of Ms. Virginie Fauvel for a duration of 4 years. Voting for the fifth resolution, we would like to suggest renewing the mandate as Director of Mr. Alexandre Ricard for a duration of 4 years. Following the sixth resolution, we would like to renew the Director mandate of Mr. César Giron for a duration of 4 years. Resolution 7 and 8 aim to appoint our sustainability auditors in charge of certifying the informations published for the CSRD. Voting the seventh resolution, we would like to appoint Deloitte & Associates as sustainability auditors for 3 years. Voting for the eighth resolution, we'd like to suggest voting KPMG SA as a sustainability auditor for 3 years. Voting for resolution 9, we are submitting to your approval, the elements of the compensation paid and attributed to Mr. Alexandre Ricard, CEO and Chairman of the Board for 2023/2024. All of these elements are presented Pages 24 to 27 of your brochure. For Resolution 10, we are submitting to your approval the elements of the compensation policy applicable for '24/'25 to Mr. Alexandre Ricard, CEO and Chairman of the Board. All of this information is presented, Pages 27 to 29 of your brochure. Voting for Resolution 11, we are submitting to your approval the information pertaining to the compensation paid or granted to the executives for '23/'24. These elements are presented Pages 83 to 85 of the universal registration document. Voting for Resolution 12, we are proposing the approval of the compensation policy of the members of the Board for '24/'25. These elements are presented to you on Page 85 of the universal registration document. Resolution 13 aims to approve the regulatory convention as underscored by Ms. Diaz, where no regulatory convention was concluded or continued over the past year. Resolution 14, which we are suggesting to allow the company to operate on its own shares within the limit of 10% of its social capital. This would be granted for a period of 18 months, with a maximum purchase set at EUR 250 per share. These are now the extraordinary resolutions. Resolutions 15 and 16 give the possibility to the company to grant free shares. With or without a performance, these resolutions would be granted to the Board for a duration of 38 months. As indicated on the screen, Resolution #15 is granting free shares with conditions of presence and performance to employees, and to the executive of the company and its groups within the limit of 1.5% of the social capital and of having a sub threshold of 0.08% of the capital for the CEO. In Resolution #16, we would like to suggest granting free shares without any performance conditions to the employees of the group within the limit of 0.5% of the social capital. This will still be submitted to a condition of presence. Resolution #17, which is the last one, aims to allow the Board to accomplish the legal formalities that follow the decisions taken during this general assembly. This presentation of these resolutions being over, I would like to thank you, and I'm granting the floor again to Mr. Alexandre Ricard.

Thank you very much, Anne-Marie, for this presentation of the resolution. So I'd like to open our session of Q&A. So before we start our discussion, I'd like to inform you that we have received 2 questionnaires sent by the forum for responsible investment, [indiscernible] on the 8th of March and on the 18th of October last. These questionnaires have to do with ESG questions and our policy in terms of human right in some conflict or risk areas. Like last year, the Board meeting that was held this morning decided to answer them in writing and to publish these answers on the website of our company publication that took place before the beginning of this general shareholders' meeting. These elements clarified, I would like to declare the Q&A with the shareholders open.

We are going to start at the back of the room with number one.

Last year, we had spoken about the market of the cognac with 2 issues, a problem of stock in the U.S. and a problem of economic slowdown in China. Since we've had an acquisition by a competitor on [indiscernible], I'd like to know how you see the cognac market with the perspective of tariffs that are going to increase from Russia -- from the U.S. and China, but for different regions? I would like to have your vision in India. India indeed is a country of local alcohols. But over there, it's just the numbers for the figures. And in the coming years, you'll just have middle class that will be there to consume. I'd like to come back on the mistake with the PSG. In your CSR policy, do you have a safeguard of the Mediterranean of the sea of the water because the Mediterranean is the DNA of Pernod Ricard, that's where it's happening.

Thank you very much for your questions, I would like to answer them myself, to all 3 of them. I'm going to start with cognac. Well, if cognac is going through a hard time over the short term, the potential of the cognac segment remains unchanged. Cognac is the spirit segment that is probably the most cyclical within the spirits. We have seen increases and decreases that were quite significant in the past, in the far past, but not in the past that was so long ago, and I'm thinking about 2013 with one key difference, and you've mentioned it, is that cognac is going through a hard time in its 2 main export markets. At the same time, we've never seen this in the past. Sometimes, there were issues. And I remember during the global financial crisis, it was more the U.S. and China was growing at the time. Then in 2013, the issue was with China, whereas in the U.S. things were doing good. And here, for reasons that are radically different, and that's actually a good thing, cognac is suffering on both of these markets. On the U.S. market, cognac is just suffering because, number one, the prices have increased significantly during the period that we call the super cycle post-COVID. And there was even a problem in cognac resources. There wasn't just enough cognac. So the prices have just increased so much. And the second point, which concerns not just cognac in the U.S., and I mentioned it during the presentation, is the destocking at every step in the value chain in the U.S. because you need to realize that the rates have significantly increased. Today in order to finance a need for working capital and sell stock for the products of our industry, it can cost up to 8% or 9%. And I'm not going to give the figure, but many of our customers are doing less margin with our products than this financing cost. So it's going to quiet down as the rates decrease. And lastly, still in the U.S., the U.S. consumer right now is under pressure following 3 years, well, 2.5, of very strong inflation. So the spending power of the U.S. middle class, which is at the heart of our style of consumption, is really under pressure. And it's underway, but the way this spending power catches up, we will once again have a growth dynamic for cognac, but also across all of the spirits in America. Some of you know this. For instance, in the U.S., there were 2 recent strikes at Boeing with request to increase wages by 40%. And one also with the dock workers, which worried us, because we need to import our products, and they were asking for a wage increase by the same amount. So it shows how much the spending power in America is under tension. So low cycle in the U.S., we feel that it's going to come back. The question is with what speed and when? For China, the reason is much different. The macroeconomic environment in China is really very depressed. There is a real estate crisis with an intensity that is as strong, if not stronger, than what the rest of the world experience with the subprime crisis that is currently happening in China, and there is a level of unemployment for the young generations that is very high, around 20%. So there is absolutely no confidence in China. And when the morale is not, their consumption is just not picking up. And there as well, we have seen similar cycles in China. So the question is when will we have cycle that goes back up? And with what intensity you've got the recoveries that are V-shaped or U-shaped and the Chinese are always surprising from this perspective. So I believe that our competitor, Campari, that you're mentioning, who purchased the Courvoisier brand, which is the fourth cognac brand, after the 3 main cognac brands is also doing this over the long duration. The current site goal for cognac is a depressed one, but is not going to remain depressed forever. And I have good reasons to believe that they are preparing for the recovery by reworking the platform of the Courvoisier brand. So over the short term, it is a little bit hard for them. And for all of the stakeholders in the cognac industry. But over the long term, the growth potential is similar to what we've seen in the past. On the second issue, India. Well, thank you for raising the question. I have mentioned it during the presentation. For India, during the last fiscal year that we wrapped up on the 30th of June, exceeded China in terms of business and revenues to become our second largest market. Today, it's true that when we go to India and when we go to China, it's a sort of split in terms of morale of consumers of economic environment. India is seeing a remarkable growth in its wealth, and it's going to continue to experience this growth around 6%, 7% and possibly even 8% of its GDP over the medium term, of course. And secondly, there's a real demographic potential in India, with indeed, the growth of the middle class. Just one figure that is specific to India. Every year, the population that is with an age of drinking is growing by 25 million people per year. They're not all going to be drinking, but it is a pool of additional consumers that grows every year. So a GDP that is growing very dynamically, demographics that are very positive. And thirdly, a growth of the rate of urbanization. In India, we really operate in urban areas. So India is an asset for Pernod Ricard also because our market share over the segment in which we operate, which is our local market share, that's what we call the premium admix whiskeys, that are local brands, is 48%. So we have 48% of market share in India, and we are seeing a constant phenomenon over several years that has still not changed. And we believe that it's going to continue continuously for the upcoming years of premiumization. So more you grow the premium, the more you see the potential for growth. And I would wrap up on India by saying that maybe 1 day -- so we've been talking about this for 15 years, but maybe 1 day, there will be free trade agreements. There are 2 that are of interest to us. The first one would be a potential free trade agreement between the U.K. and India. And why is it of interest to us, because India is today the first whiskey market in the world, and we've got a certain number of brands that are strongly growing in spite of very prohibitive tariffs in India. I'm thinking about Chivas and Ballantine's here, in terms of brand. And from a European perspective, it's of interest to us because we've got a great whiskey brand that is Jameson, that has just gone above the threshold of the 0.5 million crates in India. So we are very enthusiastic about India that is confirming its status of a real growth engine for the Pernod Ricard Group. Your third and last question, the PSG kerfuffle. We are working on partnerships throughout the world very regularly. And in this case, the partnership was destined not for France, but for international, and it concerned one of our whiskey brands and one of our champagne brands. This was more a time issue of missed communication. And following this, we reacted very quickly. So it remains just a kerfuffle. And I decided to stop this partnership with an immediate effect, and that's what happened. In the meanwhile, from this perspective, let us be very clear. This does not mean that we are reneging on our roads that are Mediterranean. I can confirm that to you. We are profoundly proud our headquarters of Pernod Ricard France is in Marseille on the docks and it's a symbol, it's just a few dozen meters of where the -- when the Ricard brand was created. The boats would arrive with [indiscernible] on board. So we are in Marseille. I go to Marseille personally regularly. I was in Marseille 1 month ago for reason, and I'm going back to Marseille in a month's time. We have the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute, and my cousin, Patricia Ricard, is presiding this institute, and it was created by my grandfather, Paul Ricard in 1966 to work in order to protect the sea at the time that being the scandal of the red muds. And this institute is the oldest private European Institute. It is very active in order to protect not just the Mediterranean sea, but all of the oceans because it has a direct impact on the climate, which, of course, has an impact on our Terroir. And I hope that, that answered your 3 questions. Maybe here, number 6, please.

Mr. [indiscernible] the Association for [ PetroMoney ] and individual shareholding. My first question is on champagne. Perrier-Jouet created an aisle of biodiversity and implemented a culture -- regenerative culture. And I think I understood this holistic approach was going to be extended to other vineyards. So is there going to be a special wind could be made from that. And I'd like to take advantage by the way to congratulate, François-Xavier Morizot, Vice President of Perrier-Jouet for his nomination as new Commander of the order of [indiscernible]. My second question, there is a vineyards collective that has launched a petition against the obligation on these little for caps on bottle. Could this have a negative impact on your champagne activity? And my third question is on AI. To what extent will AI -- or how is it going to help you to maintain or bring down your [ clearly ] promotional fees? And 2 observations. The first, you mentioned you have 13 bottles. The #13 is good luck. So I hope that it will be true. And behind you, you show a skeleton or maybe diagram. So if we look from the right side, Mr. Ricard, or from the left side, for those who are here, and if I count 50, we should reach about a peak behind Madame Helene de Tissot. And is it for the 50 years, what we call a record or for the 50 years, is it a warning of a possible decline?

Well, thank you very much for all of your questions. Maybe for the first question, and then I will let Noemie answer on Perrier-Jouet within biodiversity first.

Thank you very much for your question. Indeed, we are extending our agricultural programs for regeneration and all of Perrier-Jouet. We have this ambition for 2030 with a special vintage, we haven't thought about it yet, but why not, why find inspiration from your idea. And in the meantime, we aim at ensuring the resilience of grape. So this is really the first objective, the first aim, and we hope we can continue this expansion despite of climate conditions.

Thank you very much. Maybe now for the Vineyard Collective, the Head of Perrier-Jouet will give you the answers.

So the collective asked the possibility not to put a cap. So that's the packaging element, something, it's a distinctive element for champagne, something we should get rid of. I am in favor of the second solution, in fact.

So for AI, thank you very much for asking this question. I said previously that we have 3 great digital programs with AI. One, which is located for these different promotional fees, but then promotional as such. And then the third and last on the commercial level. For the pre-promotional, we have a matrix program, and the way in which we built this algorithm that is live now by collecting all of the data from all of the promotional investments we have around the campaign. This is the level of investment that we have because we have touch points, points of contact and the channels through which we communicate on these advertising platforms. It varies from a brand to the other, country to the other, we could have 2, 3, 4, 5, there are traditional media, there are social media. There's what we see on buildings when you walk or you travel, and there's -- what's paper press, there's -- in the newspapers, what you have on the radio, et cetera. So we record all of the data connected to all these investments on a [ Lambda ] campaign. And then what we do, we record what comes after the campaign in terms of increase of the revenue connected to the campaign. This helps us compare AI campaign where we don't use AI, and the campaign where we start having real data that help us optimize the type of investments per touch points. In some cases, we decided not to invest in some places to put everything elsewhere, there are levels of investment below which it's not interesting because it's not very visible, other levels that if you overinvest the return on investment will not be good either. So I'd like to share with you, well, the last figure I saw that concerns matrix in Japan, the uplift. So the return, we call it ROS, return on spend, return of the campaign of metrics in Japan, increases it by 7%. So if you invest EUR 1 with metrics without -- and without metrics normally you would have EUR 1 of return. In this case, with matrix, it's EUR 1.07. So this is something that is quite powerful and continues to grow because with each campaign we record criteria, we record the impact. And let's underline the fact that it's a help to decision-making. At the end of the day, the marketing teams makes the final choice. But it is a crucial element that is very important for decision-making that helps create a lot of value. Concerning your last question, the 13 bottles correspond to our 13 strategic international brands. And by the way, this year, we are starting a year that is critical because we are reviewing our strategic triennial plan. And maybe by the end of the tax year, the fiscal year, maybe these 13 brands will evolve slightly. But behind me, this is just by chance that it -- and I hope it will yes, be good luck. Absolutely. Maybe 8.

Hello, member of Board of the Executive Committee, Madam, de Tissot, Mr. Ricard. I must confess that I'm full of emotion today speaking in front of you, I'm only 20 years old. And originally, I wanted to ask you a question on the relevance of dividends and with the current valuation and why not have more investments in repurchasing of shares? But at the end of the day, what I see -- what seems important today is to thank you all because for us, you are a source of admiration. Thank you. Thank you for everything you do, what you did in the past as well and what you will do in the future. We admire you.

Well, first of all, thank you very much. This is very touching and moving to me, especially coming from such a young man. And I would like to seize this opportunity once again to thank all of Pernod Ricard teams because the environment is a complicated one. It's cyclical, the low cycles historically and empirically have lasted 18 to 24 months with -- we've had 18 months so far. And when I see the 20,000 employees of the group, with this level of commitment that really try to get every cent possible for our growth, every cent in additional revenue. In an environment that is an arduous one because we mentioned it during the presentation, the operational efficiency and management of costs that is very well disciplined and harsh. Well, your speech, really your words, I'm going to share them with all of the employees around me because I am preparing my end of year speech before Christmas. And concerning your question on dividends, repurchasing of share, I might give the floor to Helene to answer in more details.

Thank you. I'm very moved us well by your question. And I will share your question with my children who are almost your age tonight because it's very inspiring. So thank you very much for asking these questions. It's also for us very positive because we work every day for our values and for our shareholders and to have these young generations, it's extremely inspiring. I'll stop at that in terms of emotion, and I'll come back to the financial policy because your question is very clever. And what we repeat with trust, it's a financial policy that I will say is structured or consistent in time to give you a visibility of what we want to prioritize in terms of investments to serve the different interests of our stakeholders. So the first priority is the CapEx and strategic stocks to protect the future growth of the business because we have a great brand portfolio for cognac and whiskey. And if we neglect the protection of the future, the future revenues are in danger. The second composition of this financial policy, the second pillar is the active management of the portfolio. And we see this beautiful sculpture behind us, the consistent reviewing regularly and actively our brand portfolio to make sure we have the best portfolio for our consumers in their geographical diversity. And the third dividend on which we have clarified our policy in the last few years, I believe the policy being to distribute 50% of our net income and results that improve year after year. And the fourth and last priority when all of the priorities have been served, is to eventually do share repurchasing. But having them in this sequence and respecting these priorities, I think, is also important in terms of predictability and also to protect the future growth by sharing value with our shareholders.

Maybe number 7.

[ Jon Delicia ], Individual shareholder. In your presentation, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned the disposal of your wine sector. Being a small producer of [indiscernible], I was slightly worried and I'd like to understand your strategy when it comes to wines in France.

Thank you very much for your question. When we were starting the reflection on this disposal of our wine sector, we were buying a majority share alongside the Fayard family in [ Côtes-de-Provence ], that is called Château Sainte Marguerite. When it comes to wines, this part concerns 3 origins. The Australian origins which in fact is going through a major crisis and we think it is going to last. The New Zealand origins and the Spanish one. This wine sector for us or division represented less than 7% of our global activity, and had -- it was time to ask ourselves the question, up or out? So either we would seriously get into the wine activity at a large scale or we would exit it and leave. But we were neither too big, too small or we were in the middle. We were in between in this activity. And what was something that was of average range like Jacob's Creek. Then our first wine market for Pernod Ricard is the Unites States. And concerning wines in the U.S.A., there are 2 trends, 2 deep trends. The trend that concerns a high-end premium wines, I'd like to say above $12 or $13 a bottle, this is quite competitive, but it is a segment that is destined to have a growth in time. And the other segment, that is lower average range where our brands operated, Jacob's Creek, namely, we believe it is a segment that is going to suffer for a long period. And we see, by the way, and I'll close on that, that the new generation, the Gen Z is abandoning wine. It's also abandoning beer to turn to those more occasionally, to turn to spirits and premium ones. So the decision for us was very clear. We need to refocus on spirits, premium spirits, and divest the mainstream wine, although some of ago, it is very high-end wine for us and this is visible on the marketing, commercial side. And so I hope this has answered to your question. Any other question? We'll bring you a microphone.

Hello, Mr. President. I'm an individual shareholder. A few observations and a question. The observations, congratulations for maintaining revenues. Congratulations for having maintained revenues in these difficult conditions. You can't have a worse situation on the outside, wars everywhere and here, crazy dissolutions. So it's a prowess. And I also recognized and having been successful in India you sort of say it as if it was easy, but it must be very difficult because now they're more numerous than the Chinese. So all of that is very well. But how come the stock exchange is not very kind with the price of your shares. We can also say that before it was too much, now is not enough. I also see another question. Last year, you said that the debt had increased by EUR 2 billion. Maybe I'm slightly mistaken but roughly. And here, it has continued to increase from EUR 10,673 million to EUR 10,951 million. So my question is, are these investments that necessary at that level? Are you wanting to decrease them at some point, especially when you talk about a strong inflation. Always makes me laugh when we talk about that. Given our age difference, you might not remember the inflations at 10%, 12% when it wasn't 17% here. So strong inflation right now. Yes, there's too much of it, but be that as it may. So if you could answer me on that. One small last observation when something is explained to me, I like to understand even if I don't want to be disagreeable, I don't understand the performance shares. Everything that we said on your compensation is not understandable. That would be 8,620 performance shares. I don't need an answer. But next year, please try to have somebody who makes a clear presentation in this area.

Thank you, and thank you for your questions. I'm going to take the first one, and I'll let Helene answer the question about the debt. Concerning the price of the share you're preaching to the acquirer, I think it's too low. I think that it's clearly not enough, and it's a frustration that is absolutely very strong. What is happening for the price of the share? Well, first of all, it's entire industry that is under pressure in terms of share prices. There has been a de-writing of the sector. All of the spirits industry has seen its multiples of valuation decrease. And this is linked to three phenomenon. The first one is quite mechanical, and it's interest rates. The more the interest rates climb, and over the past 18 months, they have climbed a lot even if we're finally seeing a decrease of the cycle, which would be a good sign for the price of the share in the upcoming months. And secondly, you have the U.S. Today, investors before they reposition themselves to buy on the sector, they wait to have some visibility on the potential of the U.S. market because today, between the destocking of the industry, the fact that the market is quite level. A lot of people wonder if the market is going to pick up its former growth. And if so, when? And until you have this concrete visibility that will give this level of trust to the investors, you won't have a real buying trend that will allow the rate to grow, the price to grow. We're tracking this very closely. And what we're really looking at is the consumption dynamic that underpin this, and this leads me to your topic about inflation. The real issue in the U.S. today which is linked to inflation is the spending power. The average basket for the middle classes in America has absolutely blown up compared to their revenue. And until this catch-up, which is underway until it's finalized, we will have this rather steel market in the U.S. but the underpinning is there. We believe that the market will come back to its historical growth rate. For 20 years, the market has grown by 4% or 5% according to the various years. We're convinced we'll come back to such growth rates, the real question is when. And the answer is as soon as the spending power will be back. I've often been told when I was a student at the University in the U.S. And when once in my life, I met Warren Buffet. I'd heard to never, never ever underestimate the U.S. consumer. But they need spending power and it's true that over the past 2.5, 3 years that were remarkable in the U.S., this historical rate of 4%, 5% has doubled at 9% or 10% on that market for 2.5, 3 years. People were, maybe it's a little bit of a caricature, they were paid to stay home and drink, basically, within the framework of COVID. So this is what we're seeing in the U.S. market. And last element is China, of course. China and the macroeconomic environment in China, which is exacerbated by the risk, which is today more than the risk because it's almost confirmed of potential tariffs on imported cognac. So it's been a year that was where our two main markets, and it's the first time we've seen it with Pernod Ricard for a long time are not doing well at the same time. Generally, you have one picking up for the other for radically different reasons that I've just explained. And on top of it, in both cases, there is a threat of tariffs. So on the tariffs from China, we have indicated and that is the work that all of my employees are doing within Pernod Ricard that we would be putting ourselves in fighting order to be able to absorb them in different forms. We're working on this at every line. So I am hoping that this answers your question on the price of the share, which frustrates me as much as you do. Well, a question that doesn't frustrate me and it's very important. We link the cash generation to the performance of the group and I think that your illustration on the evolution of the debt, which continues to grow, does translate this necessity to support the performance of the revenues and of the profitability with a strong cash generation in order to be able to deliver and finance our various priorities in terms of financial policy and to manage as closely as possible. The evolution of our debt, the way in which this is looked at by our stakeholders is essentially a net debt over EBITDA ratio but the evolution of net debt is a component of this ratio to really see the proportion of debt and the use of the balance sheet compared to our performance of the EBITDA. So what you're underscoring is a situation this year, which is quite atypical because our ratio of debt over EBITDA, which is increasing at 30th of June is the result of two phenomenon. The first one is the impact of the exchange rate on our recurring operational income, which is lower on the growth of our revenues with the markets that we have spoken about and with a scissor effect with regards to our cash and strategic investment because we are right now in the full deployment of the investments on which you've asked for justification of them. These investments started a few months ago, if not 18 months, which are key for the future. And what are these investments? It's the building of new distilleries. So very concretely, we're building new distilleries in Ireland and in the U.S. for Jameson to multiply its capacity. And we've seen the dynamic of Jameson is excellent in India. But not just India, but also to ensure our own supply behind our portfolio of American whiskey. So the evolution of debt over that you're looking at over this year. It's a little bit more under pressure than in the past because of these two elements. This also means that in the future, with our ambition to go back to the growth of our revenue and with our strong will to protect our margin and with an EBIT that is going to normalize all of this is going to help to deleverage and remove some of the debt from the company even if the balance sheet is very strong and I should have started with that, and this was confirmed by the rating agencies and the outlook that they've given us. So the normalization of the EBIT is going to deleverage the company, but the investments that I've spoken about are quite exceptional. We don't build a distillery every year or even every 3 years. It's every 10 years when it's justified. I hope I answered your question. We can take a few more questions. So number 5.

So I'm delighted that I'm not the youngest. My question, first of all, is what is the target for the shareholder price that you're aiming for to reflect the right value of the company? How do you want to contact a young public that is not interested in wine, at least as far as I'm concerned. Secondly, the Elliott Fund is coming back to the forefront, at least the low price seems to make me think about that. That will be all of your questions. The question about the young audience. So what is your strategy to impact and bring younger people to be interested by your brand portfolio? Hélène, do we have an objective of price of the share.

I prefer the question on the young public. The objective of the price of the share, I have mine, which I'm not going to share with you. It's very complicated. We need to understand the dynamic. Alexandre has explained it, and we need to track what are the recommendations that are emitted by all of the analysts to see as what is seen as a short-term potential even if our focus is not just the short term, it's also the medium and long term. And I would say on this, what is very important for us is to continue to explain and demonstrate the confidence and the credibility of our road map in terms of growth of our revenues and our profitability over the medium term. We've mentioned it earlier. Our objectives are known, and we're going to bring more demonstration and illustration within the framework of our new strategic plan on that. For the young public, I'm going to talk about it. It's not my field in marketing, but it's of interest for me. Marketing for young people, but not limited to that. It's a very interesting question because without making differentiations between generations. It's important to recruit new consumers and have new consumers in some countries. It's not just young consumers. It can be consumers who are mature but discover our products and want to buy products that are better quality with higher prices because the personal situation allows them that and to remain tapped into the young generation is very important. An example that I want to use on a public that is not that young because we have a lot of conviction on who our consumers are, and we can be confronted on reality for the ready to drink in the U.S. It can be seen as a way to discover the world of spirits that is particularly relevant for the youngest population because it is indeed very practical to buy ready-to-drinks when you just want to spend an evening on the beach or have open air activities with also a consumption of spirits. And the reality shows that the U.S. population that is very fond of these products is much more balanced. So there's hope also for those who are not as young, just like me, to discover new products, and our marketing is there to really talk to all of the generations and the moments of consumption that are the most relevant for our needs. I hope you have started to be -- to see us more and more present and anchored in moments of experience that are well targeted. Thus, the multiplication of a lot of partnerships, we are seeing and with the festival, namely Tomorrowland, Coachella and others where, indeed, we are there to meet our consumers and with key ready experiences that consumers appreciate. For your last question, Elliott. We have -- we don't usually comment on the rumors, but I have read about them, of course, is as you have, but we have a continuous dialogue and responsible one with all of our shareholders. So we have time for a last question, I'm told.

I would like to come back on what was said previously. You explained why the results weren't there in the U.S. and China and you gave us some reasons, but I'd like to come back on what is going to happen tomorrow. You mentioned an increase of custom fees, which means apparently that the results before they come back to the level we've known, it might be slightly difficult. But I think I understood that you in this age that certain number of measures in order to adapt to these increases in the customs tariffs. So if you work on the price, this means it's going to decrease the margins. If you decrease the margins, you are thus going to decrease the EBITDA. And then we'll be back to a level of debt that was as high as the one we know, debt on the EBITDA at 3.1%. This is my first question. My second question, and you've answered it. It concerned the wines and what was the reason to abandon or to give it up. So now you already answered to it, so this is fine. And if you want to come back to the first question, this also is about the evolution of the share. You said that the share will only come back if investors have a visibility. So what will happen on customs tariffs? I think we will have for a certain time, the fact that the visibility will remain uncertain. And so could you shed light on these questions.

Thank you for your question. When it comes to customs, tariffs, custom tariffs. So as I've said, for China, we are working in order to absorb these costs, so we have a plan that is extremely clear and we are working on all of the different lines on our operational accounts, we are working in a concrete manner on these tariffs. But be careful in the past when there were issues or commercial problems between different regions after some time, things were solved, but we don't believe that this will be completely solved, so let's not exclude it will be the case. For American custom fees, we have had a time. We called it Trump 1, since now it's era for Trump 2. We had tariffs for customs so that we're in the same way. We put in place a number of actions that helped us and solutions that helped us absorb these higher tariffs. I'd like to come back on your last point, since this is key, the share price. Indeed, investors hate not having any visibility on the future. But what everything we're doing now, whereas growth is difficult, if we position ourselves through our actions, the evolution of the organization, the adaptation, et cetera, the fact that we are going to show that we can absorb tariffs, et cetera, we position ourselves in order to, when we exit this bearish cycle, we can be the best pick in the sector. So you saw during the presentation, we insist heavily on the unicity of Pernod Ricard around a diversified portfolio and not only on cognac, it works well when it's good, but sometimes it doesn't work when things are going badly but we diversify the geographies as well. Yes, China and the U.S. are not doing very well. But when we will change this and there's a decoupling. It's like when you have four engines, if one stops working, it doesn't matter that you still move at the same speed. But if the two main ones break down at the same time, then it's more troubled. But of course, we -- the fundamental work we carry out is to show that in case of a difficulty, we can be extremely resilient and that when we come back to a bullish cycle, we can grasp all of the advantage -- advantages. So now what I suggest is to move on to the voting on our resolutions. This year, again, the votes will be done on a tablet. We will see a film to explain how it works when it comes to electronic votes. [Presentation]

So what I suggest now is to move on to the voting on the resolutions and knowing that the definitive quorum is of 81.30%. First resolution, approval of the parent company financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Second resolution, approval of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024. Voting is open. [Voting]

The resolution is adopted. Third resolution, appropriation of net income for the year ended June 30, 2024, and declaration of dividend. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Fourth resolution renewal of Virginie Fauvel, term of office as Director. Voting is open. [Voting]

Vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Fifth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Alexandre Ricard as Director Board member. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Thank you. Sixth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Cesar Giron as Director or Board member. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Seventh resolution, appointment of Deloitte and Associates as statutory auditors in charge of certifying sustainability information. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Eighth resolution, appointment of KPMG SAS statutory auditors in charge of certifying sustainability information. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. Ninth resolution, approval of the fixed and variable components of the total compensation and benefits of any kind paid or awarded in respect of the '23, '24 financial year to Mr. Alexandre Ricard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Voting is open. [Voting]

Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted. Tenth resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to Mr. Alexandre Ricard, CEO. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 11th resolution, approval of information relating to the remuneration of each corporate officer. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 12th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to Board members, directors. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 13th resolution, approval of related party agreements governed by Articles L 225-38 and sequence of the French Commercial Code. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 14th resolution, authorization for the Board of Directors to trade in the company's shares. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 15th resolution, authorization for the Board of Directors to grant bonus performance shares either existing or to be issued to employees or executive directors of the company and group of companies or to certain categories of them entailing the waiver by shareholders of their preferential subscription rights. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 16th resolution, authorization for the Board of Directors to grant existing shares or shares to be issued to group employees or to certain categories of employees without preemptive subscription rights for existing shareholders. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 17th and last resolution, powers to carry out legal formalities that are required. Voting is open. [Voting]

The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. We have no longer anything on our agenda. I thus close this session at 16:32, 2 minutes late. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, a great thank you for your attention.