Société BIC SA (BB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Dear shareholders, welcome to Société BIC's 2025 General Shareholders Meeting. Due to medical reasons, I'm unable to attend this meeting in person. As this is my last event, as Chair of BIC's Board of Directors, I want to sincerely thank the Board and its members and the management team for their extraordinary commitment and dedication. Over the last 3 years, I have shared with them the responsibility of steering the company, leaning on strong foundations to build what I'm sure will be a brilliant future. As it will be the last shareholders' meeting, I would also like to thank, on behalf of the Board of Directors, Maëlys Castella for her active contribution to the work of the Board and for her commitment over the last 2 mandates. And obviously, Gonzalve Bich for his years of dedication, effort and achievements as a Director and CEO of BIC. These are undeniably challenging times for many companies, yet I'm very confident that BIC, with its iconic products and remarkable talent, will continue to find ways to shine. I wish Édouard Bich, as the new Chair of the Board, all the best in navigating those challenging and demanding times. Thank you for your trust and your continued support to Société BIC.

2025 Shareholders' meeting of Société BIC. I am Candace Matthews, Independent Director and Chair of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee. In absence of Nikos Koumettis, the Board of Directors has appointed me to chair this general meeting. And not being a French speaker, Laura Vanhoutte will translate in French. It is an honor for me to lead our discussions today and to be with you throughout this meeting, which will be broadcasted live on the BIC website and will also be available in replay after the meeting.

[Foreign Language]

Allow me to begin by introducing the directors present in the room with us today. The directors present are Gonzalve Bich, Director and CEO; Marie-Aimée Bich-Dufour, member of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee; Édouard Bich, permanent representative of Société MBD and member of the Audit Committee; Timothée Bich, Director; Carole Callebaut, Chair of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee; Maëlys Castella, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee; Hela Madiouni, Director representing the employees and member of the Remuneration Committee; Véronique Laury, member of the Remuneration Committee; and Sébastien Drecq, Director representing the employees. Some members of the executive committee are also present in the room. Laura Vanhoutte, Director, Corporate Securities and M&A, will act as Secretary to the general meeting.

[Foreign Language]

The following have been appointed to serve as scrutineers. Société MBD, shareholder and Director represented by Édouard Bich and Domitille [indiscernible], representative of Faison Capital, shareholder. I therefore declare the Annual General Meeting of our company open and handed over to Laura Vanhoutte.

[Foreign Language] For the record, this meeting was convened by prior notice of meeting serving as a notice of convocation published in the BALO newsletter on April 7, 2025, amended and supplemented by the corrective notice published on April 20, 2025. A Notice of Meeting was also published in the BALO newsletter and in the special company's journal, dated May 2, 2025. An attendance sheet was drawn up and signed by each member of the meeting. Upon entering the meeting, either in their own name or as a proxy. According to the provisional attendance sheet, 1,734 shareholders holding 34,563,239 shares, representing 83.83% of the capital, are present or represented. As 25% of the shares comprising the capital and carrying voting rights are present or represented, the meeting is therefore declared to be duly constituted and may validly deliberate on both ordinary and extraordinary business. I will provide you with the final figures before the resolutions are voted on. All documents required by law have been filed with me. They've been made available to shareholders at the registered office as well as on the company's website within the legal time limits. The agenda for the AGM will be reviewed in detail before the resolutions are voted on. Please note that this agenda was approved by the Board of Directors who met on February 18, 2025 and amended on April 23. I would also like to inform you that no shareholder has submitted any draft resolutions. Thank you.

Thank you, Laura. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, colleagues, friends. Today is a very special time for me. It is my last participation in an AGM as Chief Executive Officer, even though I still have the privilege of continuing in this role until the start of the next fiscal year. Many thanks for your attendance, whether in person or online to this AGM for fiscal 2024. We will begin with a brief presentation of the highlights and consolidated results for 2024 before we return to our supply chain strategy. Next, our new Human Resources Director, Alexandra Malak, will talk to you about our talents and our corporate culture, then I will show you a video presenting a review of the Horizon strategic plan before wrapping up on operational aspects of the video on our Tangle Teezer acquisition, and this will be followed by the section on corporate governance and the reports of the statutory auditors. And then we will move on to the presentation and vote on the resolutions. Let's start with the highlights of fiscal 2024 and also our outlook for 2025. I will summarize that briefly. As we approach the end of our Horizon plan, I am extremely proud of our achievements. They have enabled us to generate average annual growth of over 5% over the period, and this is in line with our initial ambition. We've also generated net cash flows of over EUR 200 million each year. In 2024, we showed our resilience in a macroeconomic environment that is fraught with unpredictability despite weaker consumption in the United States. Thanks to solid commercial execution and excellence in operations, our financial ratios have exceeded our expectations for the year. Adjusted operating margin came to 15.6%, up 90 basis points compared to 2023. Adjusted earnings per share increased for the fifth consecutive year, reaching EUR 6.15. And we generated strong free cash flow of EUR 271 million. Finally, the year ended with the acquisition of Tangle Teezer, which lays a solid foundation for continued value creation that will benefit all our stakeholders. Thanks to our performance, we're once again able to maintain an attractive remuneration policy for our shareholders. In accordance with BIC's capital allocation policy, the Board of Directors has decided to propose for fiscal 2024, an ordinary dividend of EUR 3.08 per share, corresponding to a ratio of 50% of the group's adjusted earnings per share for 2024. This represents an 8% increase compared to the dividend paid in fiscal 2023. We have also renewed our share buyback program this year for a maximum amount of EUR 40 million. Moving on now to our outlook for 2025. Revenue growth is expected to range between 9 -- pardon me, between 0% and 3% on a like-for-like ForEx basis. The adjusted operating margin is expected to be around 15%. And finally, free cash flow is expected to exceed EUR 240 million for the year. I will now hand over to Chad Spooner, our CFO, for the rest of the presentation.

Hello, everyone. My name is Chad Spooner, I'm the CFO of BIC. I'm delighted to be here with you today for this AGM. I will have an opportunity to talk with you at greater length during the Q&A session, which has been scheduled at the end of this meeting. For now, I will give the floor to François Taine, Vice President and Group Controller, and she will now present our 2024 consolidated results as well as our performance for the first quarter of 2025. Thank you and I will see you in a bit.

Thank you, Chad. Good morning, everyone. Let me now present BIC's consolidated results for 2024 as well as our revenue for Q1 2025. Let's start with our with an overview of our financial performance in 2024. Sales amounted to nearly EUR 2.2 billion, up 3.1% on a like-for-like ForEx basis, and plus 0.8% on a comparable basis. Adjusted operating profit amounted to EUR 343 million, representing a margin of 15.6%, up 90 basis points compared to 2023. This solid growth in adjusted operating margin was due to the favorable impact of pricing and mix, production process optimization, currency fluctuations and lower advertising expenses. Adjusted group earnings per share were EUR 6.15, up 8% versus 2023. Finally, free cash flow for 2024 amounted to EUR 271 million. Let us now review our 2024 performance by division. Let's start with the sales in the Human Expression division. Sales amounted to EUR 814 million, driven by strong sales execution and distribution gains in key regions such as Europe and North America. Our historic Ballpoint Pens segment as well as our iconic 4-Color pen driven in particular by new designs launched during the year, such as the 4-Color Olympic pen and the 4-Color pastel pen contributed positively to the division's growth. Next, revenue for the Flame for Life division amounted to EUR 810 million, down 1.8% on a like-for-like ForEx basis, excluding Argentina, and this is due to falling consumer trends in North America. However, this was offset by solid growth in the rest of the group. In Europe and Brazil, for example, our EZ Reach utility pocket lighter continue to gain momentum in 2024 following its launch in 2023. Finally, sales in our Blade Excellence division amounted to EUR 543 million, with strong growth in Europe, Brazil, the Middle East and Africa. Among the best-performing products in this range, we have the big hybrid Flex for men and our Soleil Escape range for women. And once again, this demonstrates our excellent value for money in the context of inflation. The table you can see on the screen shows the key items in our 2024 income statement, including revenue, adjusted operating income as well as adjusted net income. Now let's look at the change in net cash position in 2024. Net free cash flow, including our industrial investments of EUR 87 million amounted to EUR 271 million. We paid EUR 178 million in dividends, and we bought back EUR 56 million in shares. At the end of 2024, we acquired 100% of Tangle Teezer for a total consideration of EUR 201 million. As a result, at the end of December 2024, our net cash flow stood at EUR 189 million. Let's now turn to revenue for Q1 2025. First quarter revenue amounted to EUR 478 million, down 7% on a like-for-like ForEx basis due to a deteriorating business environment, particularly in the United States and also a high basis of comparison in the rest of the group where we recorded strong growth in Q1 2024. However, our recent acquisition, Tangle Teezer performed remarkably well with double-digit growth for the quarter. If we exclude the impact of the Tangle Teezer consolidation, revenue was down 10.9% like-for-like. I will now hand over to Alix Dolidon who will present the strategy of our group supply chain department and provide an update on the performance of the Blade Excellence division.

Thank you, François. Hello, everyone. My name is Alix Dolidon, and I'm the Vice President for Finance for the Group Supply Chain Department. And today, I am pleased to present the ways in which our group supply chain department, which we call GSC, has fully contributed to achieving the objectives of the Horizon 2025 plan. GSC is the operational backbone of the group, and as such, it drives BIC's global supply chain strategy. And our ambition is threefold: strengthen our efficiency, ensure sustainable performance and support growth. Our strategy is based on four key pillars. First, an end-to-end approach, which is designed with the customer in mind. We have established an integrated, agile, interconnected and consumer-focused chain to improve our responsiveness of service quality and inventory management. Second, regionalization. We bring production sites closer to our markets. And as we do so, we've reduced logistics costs and improve our industrial footprint while serving our customers more efficiently. Third, we leverage our global execution power, and we do this through cross-functional collaboration between our sites, we're able to pull expertise and standardize best practices in value engineering and industrial excellence. And finally, purchasing. Purchasing has now become a real driver for value creation. We're no longer just trying to reduce savings. 2024 was a true step forward as we transform our supply chain. Indeed, we have focused on three major things. First of all, being closer to regions. We've ramped up our strategy aiming to make our industry more local with a supply chain that is shorter, more agile and closer to the consumers. Secondly, we've ramped up the implementation of our BIC Up plan. This is a true driver for internal transformation for us. This program has enabled us to optimize our industrial processes and to generate real increases in performance. Finally, we have continued to improve our engineering on added value. This is an initiative that's been rolled out across the group, and it has already enabled us to generate more than EUR 10 million in savings since it was implemented and has also reduced our environmental impact. I'd now like to move on to a couple of examples from these initiatives. First of all, on making things more regional. In 2024, we shifted the production of our mini pocket range from Mexico to Tunisia to better serve the European, Middle Eastern and African markets. We also opened a new extension to our Saltillo plant in Mexico to strengthen our ability to service America. Now I'd like to talk about our BIC Up program. This is a true illustration of our desire to build an in-house culture of continuous improvement driven by the grassroots. This was launched in Manaus in 2019, and it's now operational in all of our plants for razors and paper in 7 countries. In 2024, more than 40,000 ideas were brought forward and shared amongst the teams, of which 25,000 were implemented, thanks to active participation of more than 8,000 staff. This amazing shared initiative has enabled us to ramp up innovation, improve quality and better control cost. Finally, our third strategic pillar is our financial engineering for value. I'd like to present two projects that were implemented in 2024. First of all, the Twin Lady and Silky Touch razors, they now have handles that are made up of 87% recycled plastic. This has a positive widespread impact for us. Next, the BIC Cristal pen has been lightened by 30% since 1950 without compromising quality for sustainable performance over long periods of time. Finally, these initiatives also have measurable impact on the performance for the group. Since 2022, our overall stocks and inventory are down 16% and we've been able to reduce our obsolete inventory by 35%. We've also improved on the environmental aspect. 95% of our strategic suppliers right now are committed to our responsible procurement plan. More than 92% of the electricity that we use in our plants comes from renewable sources. And finally, we've been able to reduce by 50% the usage of non-virgin plastics in our products since 2019. I'd like to wrap up this part of the presentation by putting forward the excellent performance of the Blade Excellence division in 2024. Revenue for the division is up 5%, and this reflects our aim to ramp up in the range of our offerings, thanks to the Soleil range and the Flex range. This shows the impact of our high added value products, such as the 3 and 5 blade variants hybrid and rechargeables. This has also enabled us to increase our market share, and we're very proud to, now in 2024, be the second largest player in the razor market in Europe. Thank you very much for your attention. I'd now like to give the floor to Alexandra Malak, our Head of HR.

Thank you, Alix. Good morning, everyone. My name is Alexandra Malak. I'm the Head of HR and Working Environment at BIC. I joined the company in February 2025, but I know the group well because I spent 14 years between 2004 and 2018. During my years at BIC and over the last 3 months, I've been able to bear witness and appreciate just how unique our corporate culture is and how our staff make this company so unique. At BIC, we'd like to say that our staff are our first and most important asset. Their passion is visible in everything. Their creativity and their devotion to their daily tasks is truly part of BIC's corporate identity. We have products available in more than 160 countries, making BIC a truly global group and more than 90 nationalities are represented in our teams, which is quite unique as well. Our values are guiding light, a way to guide us in all of the choices that we make in our daily business. Beyond the iconic products that every consumer knows, BIC is an innovating company, a sustainable company that is always changing. Our staff and our culture, as I've already said, make us unique and we truly stand out. BIC is much more than a company where people like to work. It's a community where diversity and outlooks is valued and where we celebrate our shared heritage. We are fully committed to creating a working environment where everyone feels heard, respected and can contribute. Of course, our staff are those who can talk the best on our corporate culture, and this is where our attachment to the group comes from. So I would like to allow you to enjoy their words from their own mouths from our company. [Presentation]

BIC's corporate culture is, first of all, simplicity, integrity, being kind to each other and being kind within our teams. This is true for managers and also for staff. [Presentation]

One of the things that surprised me about working at BIC is something that surprises everyone, which is just how much people understand about the overall company. They don't just stick to their own silo, and you can find people and marketing to understand what you're doing. [Presentation]

What might surprise people working at BIC is how demanding everything is from a safety perspective. Everything runs through health and safety and anything that can be done to stop -- to avoid incidents that leads to work stoppages is done. [Presentation]

First thing I'd tell someone who is considering joining BIC is this is a place where you can build up your career, not just for your own development, but you can also help colleagues across sectors and across the company. [Presentation]

It's important to learn from other people's experience. This is vital. And also you can get involved in the work that you have to do, you can share ideas and you can be truly part of a team. You always need to remember that it's a team game. [Presentation]

We are now going to check out a video in which Gonzalve Bich is going to show a report based on our Horizon strategic plan.

[indiscernible] our Horizon plan with a bold ambition to future-proof BIC by evolving into a more agile, consumer-focused and purpose-driven company. Today, we celebrate how far we have come on that journey. We've transformed from a manufacturing-led business in to a global organization driven by simplicity, efficiency and insight, powered by the dedication of our teams and leadership across the world. This shift has helped us stay ahead of changing consumer needs while staying true to our mission. Thanks to this transformation, we've delivered remarkable results. An average annual net sales growth rate above 5%, in line with our mid-single-digit growth ambition and a sustainable free cash flow of over EUR 200 million for 6 consecutive years. I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved. Looking back on Horizon, a key pillar of our journey is innovation. Across all 3 categories, we sharpened our consumer focus, built strategic capabilities and deepened retail partnerships to drive faster, smarter growth. In stationery, we expanded our purpose to human expression, moving beyond simple writing tools into creativity and digital writing. I'm proud of the success of our value-added products such as the iconic 4-Color pen, which grew an impressive 35% in net sales since 2021. In Lighters, Flame for Life now guides our approach to every lighting occasion indoors and out. Our added value range, including decors, utility lighters and the standout EZ Reach utility pocket lighter now account for nearly 50% of our net sales in the U.S., up 6 points since 2019. EZ Reach alone has captured over 6% of the U.S. pocket lighter market since its launch in 2020. In Shavers, we embraced Blade Excellence, growing our core consumer-driven products through trade-up into 3 and 5 blade refillable and nonrefillable segments. Innovations such as the FLEX 5 hybrid shaver nearly doubled its U.S. market share in 3 years, helping us reach 5% in total segment value by 2024. Today, added value shavers represent close to 70% of our total Blade Excellence net sales. These are proof points that Horizon has driven transformative results. Sustainability is at the heart of BIC's long-term vision. We're committed to delivering high-quality, affordable and trusted products while reducing our environmental footprint and creating lasting impact. Launched in 2018 and inspired by my father's legacy, our Writing the Future Together program drives progress across 5 pillars: sustainable innovation, climate action, workplace safety, responsible sourcing and really close to my own heart; education, through improving the learning conditions of 0.25 billion children globally. Since then, we've made real strides. 85% of our plastic packaging is now reusable, recyclable or compostable and 92% of the electricity used in our factories comes from renewable sources. Our innovative product launches reflect our progress, too, from our Twin Lady/Silky Touch razors now with 87% recycled handles to our first reloadable utility lighter, BIC EZ LOAD, which can light up to 15,000 flames. In 2024, we've already improved learning conditions for over 210 million children. And in 2025, we're partnering with Take Action Global to design an engaging program to raise awareness on climate education through creative expression and activating and connecting young people in a positive and joyful way. As we advance our sustainability goals, we've also transformed how we engage consumers, elevating e-commerce and omnichannel into a key growth driver. In a digital-first world, meeting people where they are isn't optional. It's essential. Through Horizon, we built a centralized best-in-class global digital shelf ecosystem powered by an advanced technology and an expert team. We've scaled retail media, expanding from the U.S. and Europe into emerging markets with market-leading agency partners. Over the past 5 years, we've doubled the contribution of digital sales and consistently outpaced market growth, growing our e-commerce sales by double digits every year. In the U.S., for example, e-commerce now drives 40% of our stationary sales, up from 25% in 2019. Since the beginning of Horizon, we focused on strong commercial execution, bringing further market expansion across multiple channels. Our teams relentlessly aimed to drive further distribution gains across key geographies and particularly in high potential regions like Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa. We successfully strengthened our brand visibility through impactful advertising campaigns and strong in-store visibility, including our legendary Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart campaign for EZ Reach Lighter and partnership with singer, songwriter; Charlie Puth for the iconic 4-color pen. In parallel, we have driven sustainable growth and efficiency in portfolio simplification and SKU optimization to enhance our commercial performance, profitability and customer partnerships. Since 2019, we reduced SKUs by more than 40% and almost doubled our net sales per SKU as we found new ways for our existing products to add value. While enhancing our commercial capabilities, we've also transformed our entire operating footprint into a smarter, more agile and integrated supply chain. Finally, at BIC, our entrepreneurial spirit has always driven us to explore new opportunities. With the launch of Horizon, we accelerated this mindset through a decisive and targeted M&A strategy aimed at driving growth by expanding into adjacent fast-growing segments. Our goal is to build long-term trust with consumers by offering quality products that deliver simple solutions to elevate everyday experiences. Our recent acquisition, Tangle Teezer shares a common DNA with BIC. As consumers seek high-quality, high-value brands, both Tangle Teezer and BIC bring joy and simplicity to everyday life through innovation and industrial excellence. As I reflect on my time at BIC, I'm proud of the legacy I leave and the contributions I've made, most notably the Horizon strategic plan, and I remain excited for the future of BIC. We are better positioned today, thanks to our relentless focus on executional excellence and working to achieve our Horizon plan goals, and I want to thank each and every team member who has played a role in that progress.

Thank you for your attention. I'd now like to introduce Tangle Teezer, a new addition to the group from last December. Tangle Teezer is a pioneering company in tangle removing hair brushes based out of London and in U.K. This acquisition is fully in line with our Horizon strategy as it enables us to work with a company at critical mass that's growing strongly in a profitable way with a huge development potential. And above all, we share DNA related to our corporate culture on innovation, operational excellence and industrial excellence. But I'd rather let you watch a video that's been prepared by them. Enjoy. [Presentation]

I would now like to move on to the governance part of this meeting. Starting with a few words on how the governance is organized and the work of the Board of Directors in this respect during the 2024 fiscal year.

[Foreign Language]

The Board of Directors is responsible for defining BIC's strategy. The Board continued to monitor the implementation of the Horizon strategic plan, which is scheduled to end in 2025, ensuring that the objectives set are achieved and that the priorities are continuously adapted to market developments. In line with the group's external growth strategy, the Board oversaw the acquisition of Tangle Teezer and discuss the main guidelines for the group's long-term development. As a part of its strategic discussions, the Board paid particular attention to social, environmental and sustainability issues, notably through its review of the requirements of the CSRD directive.

[Foreign Language]

In terms of governance and in connection with the announcement of Gonzalve Bich's departure as Director and CEO, the Board of Directors organized the succession and transition plans. In this regard, an ad hoc succession committee was set up to support the management transition. The Board also reviewed the terms and conditions of the compensation elements awarded to Gonzalve Bich in connection with his planned departure. Finally, in accordance with its fiduciary responsibilities, the Board continued its work on the risk management strategy, financial and legal aspects related to the group's business and all matters related to the compensation of corporate officers.

[Foreign Language]

In 2024, the Board met 10 times with an attendance rate of 96%, demonstrating the commitment of our directors.

[Foreign Language]

Throughout the year, the Board of Directors benefited from the expertise of its three specialized committees. Maëlys Castella, Chair of the Audit Committee; and Carole Callebaut, Chair of the Remuneration Committee, will now present the reports of their respective committees before I present the report of the nominations, governance and CSR committees. I now give the floor to Maëlys Castella for the Audit Committee report.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Candace. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, as you can see, the makeup of the Audit committee remains unchanged from last year. The Audit Committee is made up of four members, including two women and two men. And 75% of the members are independent directors. During 2024, the Audit Committee met six times with an attendance rate of 92%. This year, our work focused in particular on reviewing the 2024 annual and consolidated financial statements, the results of internal control and audit assignments as well as the review of cash flow mechanisms, in particular, liquidity, bank financing and the ForEx hedging policy. We've also monitored the Tangle Teezer acquisition project. Tangle Teezer is a key hairbrush brand. You've seen the video. We've also reviewed the completed transactions. We've also monitored the share buyback program, performed a review of risk management and review the organization of the finance function. We've looked at insurance coverage and costs, performed the review of cybersecurity management for the group. I now give the floor to Carole Callebaut, who will present the work of the Compensation Committee.

Thank you, dear Maëlys. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Compensation Committee is composed of four members, 67% of whom are independent, and we have 100% women on this Compensation Committee. Thank you. And the Compensation Committee met four times in 2024. We have assisted the Board in important decisions. Regarding the terms of departure for the CEO, we've worked on the compensation policy for the Chairman and the members of the Board of Directors. And also, we reviewed the Say-on-Pay section of the URD. Regarding the compensation policy being submitted for your vote, the Chairman of the Board remains the nonexecutive Corporate Officer. He receives only fixed pay, and this has remained unchanged since 2018. So fixed pay comes to EUR 300,000 in 2024. With regard to directors, the policy adopted in 2022 remains applicable in 2024 with a budget of EUR 550,000. For 2025, we are proposing an increase in the Chairman's remuneration to EUR 400,000 per year, applicable pro rata temporis to the outgoing Chairman, Nikos. And the policy for the new Chairman will be communicated upon their appointment. Now attendance fees. This budget takes into account increased responsibilities for directors. It includes a variable component for committees as well as remuneration for a lead director to be appointed, and the total budget is being increased to EUR 750,000 for fiscal 2025. Regarding the CEO, as the company's sole Executive Officer, the CEO received the following in 2024: Fixed compensation of EUR 166,531; variable compensation, which will be paid subject to your approval and represents 86.96% of the fixed compensation at December 31, 2024; and also a performance share award with a vesting period of 3 years. With regard to the financial targets for the variable portion, only the target relating to the cash conversion cycle has been exceeded. In addition, the Board approved 100% of the CEO's individual targets for 2024. The annual bonus for 2025 will be calculated based on those same financial criteria on a pro rata basis. Now following his announced departure, the Board has decided to activate the CEO's noncompete clause for an amount of USD 1.8 million over 12 months. A pro rata right to retain free shares has been granted as well as a consulting contract worth $350,000 for a period of 6 months following the CEO's exit. Thank you for your attention. I'll now give the floor back to Candace.

[indiscernible] and CSR Committee is composed of three members and met six times in 2024 with a 100% attendance rate. As every year, we review the composition of the Board in terms of diversity and expertise and ensured compliance with governance rules. Our work also focused on reviewing the performance of the Chief Executive Officer and setting his personal objectives for 2025.

[Foreign Language]

In 2024, we specifically worked on preparing the succession plan for the Chief Executive Officer. This work focused notably on managing the transition process related to the end of Gonzalve Bich's tenure reviewing in conjunction with the Remuneration Committee, the compensation elements awarded to him in connection with his departure and setting up an ad hoc succession committee to support the transition phase. The committee also reviewed the short- and long-term succession plans for the Chair of the Board.

[Foreign Language]

As the Board of Directors assigned us a CSRD's missions, the European directive on sustainability reporting, the committee attended several training sessions on the subject, reviewed the work of the Group Sustainability Officer, and Sustainability Auditors on a quarterly basis, while also monitoring the progress of the group's sustainable development program. The committee also conducted its annual review of social, nondiscrimination, diversity and gender equity policies. Finally, it supervised and analyzed the results of the board's self-assessment. This concludes my presentation, and I will now hand it over to Laura Vanhoutte.

[Foreign Language] In terms of governance, we proposed a renew -- that you renew the term of office of Gonzalve Bich as directed for a period of 3 years. Gonzalve Bich has been the Director and CEO since May 16, 2018. Subject to the vote of the AGM, the Board of Directors will renew Gonzalve Bich's term of office as CEO. However, as a reminder, the company has announced a transition process relating to the completion of Gonzalve Bich's term of office, which aims to appoint a new CEO by September 30, 2025. His term of office as CEO and Director, will land at the same time. We then propose that Édouard Bich and Esther Gaide be appointed as directors. Nikos Koumettis, Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2022, has informed the company that he does not intend to seek renewal of his term of office as Director. In this context, the BIC family has proposed to the Board of Directors, the candidacy of Édouard Bich as Director with a view to his appointment as Chairman of the Board and the Board meeting to be held after this AGM. Consequently, the Board recommends that you appoint Édouard Bich as Director in his personal capacity for a term of 3 years. Édouard Bich is, in particular, the permanent representative of Société MBD, a Director since 2006. Édouard, I would now let you introduce yourself in more detail.

Good morning, one and all. Dear shareholders, as announced on April 23, and following the recent announcement of the succession plan for Gonzalve Bich, my cousin, the BIC family wishes to reiterate its long-standing commitment as well as its active role as the majority shareholder of Société BIC by strengthening its position on the Board of Directors while remaining fully compliant with the recommendations of the AFEP-MEDEF Code. Therefore, the BIC family has decided to propose my appointment as an individual director to the Board of Directors to succeed Nikos Koumettis, as Chairman of the Board at the end of this AGM, subject to your approval. Allow me to briefly introduce myself. I am a grandson of Marcel Bich, the founder of Société BIC. I am a French national. I am 60 years old. I hold an MBA in finance from Wharton University in the U.S. I then worked in the Finance department of P&G in France. Since 2006, I have been the permanent, the standing representative of Société MBD, the holding company of the BIC family, and a member of its Board of Directors. Subject to my appointment as Director, this position as permanent representative of MBD will be taken over by Marie-Aimée [ Bich-Dufour ], a member of the BIC's family third generation. As an individual director, I will continue to contribute my financial expertise as well as my in-depth knowledge of the group to the Board of Directors. I will, therefore, join the Board of Directors as a member representing the BIC family and on the recommendation of the appointment governance of CSR Committee, the Board of Directors will appoint me as Chairman of the Board at the end of this AGM, replacing Nikos Koumettis. This process is fully part and parcel of BIC's history and values. As a member of the founding family, my appointment would be part of a long-term process. We've always had a member of the BIC's family at the head of the BIC company, whether it's chairing the Board of Directors or directing the company, working hand-in-hand with experienced managers. This principle guarantees stability and long-term vision, and a strong presence in the values that have made this company so successful. It shows the alliance between being rooted in the past and also open to the future, straddling the line between legacy and the future. As it stands, as we hand over the general management and as we undertake new challenges, my role will be to provide the new CEO with a clear and stable framework so that we can move into the next step for the development of the BIC Group. I will be particularly cautious when it comes to BIC's transformation so that we remain true to who we are. An innovative family company that is forward thinking. That is what we are. I would now like to formally thank on my own behalf and on the family's behalf and on behalf of MBD, three people: Maëlys Castella for her active participation in the works of the Board of Directors over the two mandates, especially as Chairwoman of the Audit Committee. We'd also like to thank Nikos Koumettis for his 3 years at the head of the Board of Directors. Under his initiative, the Board of Directors at BIC has moved into the next stage when it comes to engagement and effectiveness. This is visible through the improvement in the dynamics behind decision-making and also through the successful -- the successful rollout of the succession plan after Gonzalve Bich. I'd also like to take the opportunity of this AGM to thank Gonzalve Bich himself for his 20 years of commitment to the company, 7 of which were spent as CEO. Throughout all of these years, through these initiatives, especially the Horizon plan, Gonzalve has contributed to the success of the BIC company and has transformed the company in a way that prepares it for the challenges of the future. And Gonzalve, you recently launched your family foundation, the Nibbles Foundation. It's a charity to support autism, which is a cause that you are particularly careful about. I find that this is an exemplary and inspiring lead. I hope that you and your wife, Rebecca, will be able to achieve everything you hope to. Finally, dear shareholders, the BIC family would like to once again underline its unwavering commitment to the big company to its founding principles to creating value in the long term for all of its stakeholders. Thank you.

Thank you, Édouard. After 6 years on the Board of Directors, Maëlys Castella has not sought renewal of her term. To succeed her and upon recommendation of the CSR Governance and Nomination Committee, the Board is recommending Esther Gaide to replace as an independent director for 3 years. The Board underlines her strong experience in M&A, finance and Investor Relations. So long as the response to the resolution is favorable, she would chair the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee. Esther, the floor is yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders of BIC Group I'm delighted to meet you here for your Annual General Meeting. I'm honored that BIC's Board of Directors selected me following recommendation of the Nomination Governance and CSR Committee so that my application is put to your vote today. If you approve my appointment, I would join the Board of Directors as an Independent Director. Let me first introduce myself briefly. I'm a French national, born in 1961. I studied at the ESSEC Business School, and I'm a chartered accountant. I will be very happy to contribute my experience and skills in the fields of audit and finance to the Board of Directors. I started my career in external audit with PwC in Paris and in London. And then I joined Deloitte in Paris and Los Angeles. I then worked in the financial department of the Bolloré Group, at Technicolor as well, Havas and finally, Elio. Throughout my career, I have developed technical expertise in the fields of audit and finance, especially when it comes to finance monitoring, cash flow generation, debt restructuring and M&A. I left my job as the Financial Director of Elio in April 2023 to give my full time to being a member of the Board of Forvia, iIliad and I hope soon of BIC. I am fully aware of the duties that come with being an administrator on the Board of a publicly traded company, and I'm excited to share my experience and to be part of the next adventure at BIC. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Esther. After this AGM and if the votes are favorable, the Board of Directors will be made up of 12 directors, 4 of whom will be independent, with 2 representatives of the employees. As part of these changes and to guarantee balanced governance in line with good practice on the market, the Board will meet shortly to appoint a lead independent director. I'd like to now give the floor to Virginie Palethorpe representing Grant Thornton to read the statutory auditor's report.

Good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure for me on behalf of the statutory auditors, EY and Grant Thornton to share the report of our actions of statutory auditors for the financial year ended 31st December, 2024. Our report as part of the ordinary general assembly regard the corporate accounts, the consolidated accounts and also regulated agreements. For the extraordinary component of this AGM, our reports are on delegation of competence and powers given to the Board of Directors to undertake certain capital transactions. Regarding the corporate accounts for BIC Group, we have reports on the annual and the consolidated accounts that you will see on Pages 297 and 322 of the universal registration document. We have issued an unqualified opinion on the consolidated accounts and the corporate accounts. In 2024, key audit items identified as needing attention given their weight in the accounts and given their high level of judgment required in their assessment are related to the recoverable value of goodwill in our report on the consolidated accounts and assessment of the participation for the annual account. We also undertook specific checks required by law and by professional standards, and we have issued an unqualified opinion on the precise nature of the accounts as published in the management report alongside the accounts. Furthermore, we have issued an opinion on the regulated agreements that can be found on Page 3 to 6 of the URD. We were able to view an agreement signed during the past financial year, which is put to your AGM. This agreement between your company and Gonzalve Bich, previously authorized by the Board meeting on the 11th of December 2024, is related to the succession plan for Mr. Gonzalve Bich, following the announcement of him leaving as CEO and sets the financial conditions of his departure. No payment was carried out in 2024 as part of this agreement. We would also like to remind you that we were made aware of no previously agreed on regulated agreement that would have been applied during the financial year. Regarding the resolutions put to the general -- extraordinary AGM, sorry, we have three reports on authorizations and delegations of powers to the Board of Directors to carry out various operations on the company's capital. The reports for Resolution 16 and 17 require no further observation on our part. Regarding the report on the 18th resolution on delegation of powers to the Board of Directors to issue new shares. The conditions for the pricing of the shares has not yet been set. So we have no opinion on that. Regarding now our sustainability report. In line with the CSRD Directive, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, BIC Group published, as part of its URD, its first full report on sustainability related to environmental, societal and corporate governance issues. Based on the double materiality process, this information enables a reader to understand what the group is doing when it comes to sustainability and also the ways in which these challenges face -- the way in this -- in the way in which these changes impact business. Grant Thornton as the sustainability auditor has issued a report on this report. Our work included verifying the compliance of the double materiality testing done by the company and in line with the directive. The compliance of the produced information with the ESRS standards and also the green taxonomy reporting for the European regulations. Based on our work, we saw no significant issues or gaps in the information and in compliance with the information reported in line with that directive. Our work has led us to issue a number of observations that have no effect on our approval. First of all, regarding double materiality, which is the process through which you assess the impacts and material risks related to actions. Our work is based on the scope within the supply chain that was predefined. On compliance with the information produced by the company to European reporting standards, we'd like to draw your attention to uncertainties and limits that the group has faced given the unprecedented circumstance of the first application of 3.1 of the sustainability report. This is related to the scope, the design of the greenhouse gas emission Scope 3 reporting plan and also the justification behind the nonreporting of certain data points that are seen as acceptable given that this is the first year of reporting. This brings me to the end of my presentation. Thank you very much.

I'd now like to give you a summary of the resolutions that are being put to your vote before we move to Q&A, for which priority will be given to shareholders. In summary, we are suggesting the following resolutions. We are putting to your approval, the consolidated and corporate accounts for FY 2024 in full knowledge of the various reports and the statutory auditor's report. We're also proposing a payout of EUR 3.08 per share. The information related to these 3 resolutions were laid out by François Taine at the beginning of the meeting, and we are putting to your approval, the new regulated agreement related to the departure of CEO, Gonzalve Bich. For Resolution 5, we're recommending you renew authorization to the Board of Directors, the authority to carry out operations on shares for a full amount of EUR 1.3 billion at a maximum price of EUR 300 per share. As part of that, as part of the authorizations given in 2024, the company purchased 907,577 shares at an average price of EUR 61.36 and canceled part of them. Regarding governance, we are requesting you renew for a 3-year term, the mandate for Gonzalve Bich, and that you appoint, Édouard Bich and Esther Gaide as members of the Board for 3 further years as well. We're also seeking your approval for the ending of Nikos Koumettis' terms as a member of the Board and Chairman of the Board. Resolutions 10 to 16 are related to compensation for corporate offices as laid out by Carole Callebaut, you can find these in Chapter 4 of the URD 2024 and also in the pamphlet and it's addendum. This compensation is put to your approval in line with the requirements in the corporate law. Resolutions 10, 11 and 13 are related to compensation for Gonzalve Bich and Nikos Koumettis for 2024. Resolutions 13, 14 and 15 are related to approval of the compensation policy for executive corporate officers, the Chairman of the Board and members of the Board for 2025. Resolution 16 is related to overall compensation for members of the Board for 2025 with a cap at EUR 750,000. Moving on now to the extraordinary resolutions. We are requesting as part of Resolution 15 that you renewed the financial authorization given to the Board of Directors to cancel shares. Resolution 18, is related to delegation of powers to the Board of Directors to increase capital, to attribute shares without the preferential subscription right, and this is for the employee shareholder plan. Resolution 19 is delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to increase share capital through issue of shareholders with suppression of the preferential subscription rights. Given the delegations that were presented, the Resolution 20 sets the overall limits to the increase of capital that can be carried out throughout the year at 10% of overall market cap. Resolutions 21 to 23 are related to various changes to bylaws. For Resolution 21, in line with the attractivity law from the 13th of June 2024, we are recommending we change Article 11 of the bylaws to authorize decisions through a written process by the Board of Directors in which -- in the case where a remote or in-person meeting will not be possible. We're also requesting as part of Resolution 22, to modify Article 14 of the bylaws which is the mechanism through which the CEO is appointed, so that, that CEO can be appointed amongst members of the Board or nonmembers of the Board. Resolution 23 is related to modifying Article 10 BIS of the bylaws for the members of the Board of Directors representing employees. And this is to allow for changes in the number of representatives as the number of employees may change. And finally, the 24th resolution is common. It's delegation of authorities to carry out all formalities. Before I give the floor to Gonzalve Bich for the Q&A session, I would like to underline that we have received no written questions from shareholders of the company.

Thank you, Laura. We'd now like to open up the floor to Q&A.

Gentleman on my right.

Good. My name is Mr. [indiscernible]. I'm an individual shareholder. I have 2 questions. First of all, recently, on trading sites, we've seen that a name that will remain unuttered bought up 5% of shares of the company. Were you aware that this is going to happen? And do you know what the intent might be behind that? Furthermore, what is your relation with EDF right now?

Okay. Maybe we can start with that second question on EDF. To be perfectly frank with you, I don't really know. So I need to ask Gary. We will get back to you that is a very specific question that requires very specific answers that goes beyond the scope of this AGM. Indeed, we were notified that there was a purchase of our shares. We think this is very encouraging for the Horizon plan and for the future of our company. And we're happy to have them with us for the long term.

Gonzalve, for the gentleman's question on EDF, we will follow up with you on the website. It's a quite technical question, and we want to give you a precise answer when we can.

Hello. I'm an individual shareholder. I have a couple of questions. First of all, regarding the trade war between the U.S. and the EU, what are the potential repercussions on your group's activities? I see that you have plants close to your key markets? Maybe the answer lies in the question. Second question regarding CSR, corporate social responsibility, CSR outcomes, do they have an impact on variable pay? Maybe this is factored into long-term remuneration?

For your twofold questions, Carole can address part two. Regarding part one, your group is fully international. We have a strong presence in the U.S. market as well as in the rest of Europe. That's from a commercial point of view. From an industrial point of view, our presence is mostly in the U.S. -- in Europe, pardon me. We only have two sites left, which account for 50% of the lighter segment. From a commercial perspective, from a sales perspective, our focus is on consumers. We don't care where our consumers are found, wherever they are, whether in the U.S., in Florida or in France, they are key to our strategy, and we want to make sure that our products are affordable for our customers. Purchasing power has dropped. There is a cost of living crisis, and therefore, affordable products is what our consumers want. Thank you. It's a priority for the company. Therefore, we have factored that into the performance plan for managers since 2021. And also in terms of our long-term incentives, we look at the rate of compostable, recyclable, reusable packaging. But that's a key factor in terms of paying for our managers.

Thank you. My name is Mr. [indiscernible] for APAI, the association for Individual Shareholder's wealth. I understand that BIC is on the cutting edge of all things, ballpoint pens. Now I am proud to see that we have 100% female committee and also noted that the attendance fees budget has been increased. What was the rationale behind that increase? A corresponding increase in responsibilities. I am struggling to understand, it's a collegial responsibility. So how come the budget is increasing since the burden is shouldered by the entire group. Now regarding your presence in the U.S., has the U.S. Embassy sent a letter asking you to pay close attention to two important aspects; first of all, affirmative action, and secondly, requesting that you put an end to gender parity promoting efforts?

I'll address the second part of your question quickly. And then I will ask someone else respond to your question regarding attendance fees. The Board has received no such letter from the U.S. embassy. There are three reasons why the attendance fees budget has been increased. Yes, increased responsibilities. As you can well imagine, we're in the middle of a transition phase. A new CEO, a new chairperson and considering the global environment, we have our work cut out for us. So yes, we do have a collegial approach. We are working together as a group, but it still means a lot of work. And so Board members are extremely motivated to support the company. Like I said, there are several reasons. We decided to include variable pay in our attendance fees. In other words, when Board members attend the meetings, they get attendance fees. This is an encouragement to make sure that all of those directors actually physically attend the meetings. A lot of other companies have been doing that for a long time. We didn't. But this is part and parcel of compliance with good governance rules. Also, the Board has decided to appoint a lead director. Now for the old-timers among you, I'd like to remind you that there was a lead director in 2022, 2023, if memory serves. And this person is the keeper of the flame. I'll make sure that there are no conflicts of interest that pays attention to administrative issues. So like I said, there are several reasons behind this increase in the budget allocated to [indiscernible]. I hope I've answered your question to your satisfaction.

I'm an individual shareholder. A couple of observations before I ask my question regarding the makeup of the Board. I see a lot of diversity in terms of age and that's a good thing. It might not be a good idea to have more young blood in the mix because you're addressing pretty young market segments, pretty young demographics. So how about having Board members under the age of 40. Now regarding pay, I'm delighted that you're paying your people well. But the CEO is getting paid higher rates, so you're getting more money than the [ NGCO ]. And yet their net profit is twice our revenue. I have a couple of questions. First of all, cover for our headcount, there are two countries where we have a strong headcount, India and Brazil. And yet, jobless benefits or retirement, retirement benefits are lower in those countries than they are in France or the U.S., how come? Lastly, recently, there's a rapper that I didn't know. His name is Werenoi and we heard about this death. And in France, this rap singer happens to be the biggest artist on Spotify based on figures from 2023 and 2024, hence, my question. We have a strong advertising presence in France and in the rest of the world, I assume. So are you able to target advertising efforts on socials? And does that generate significant cost savings?

Let me turn to my HR team, who wants to take this one regarding Brazil and India.

It's hard to give you a very specific answer. However, most of the time, when we look at health coverage, contingency funds, retirement pensions, et cetera, we try to provide the best possible coverage to our local headcount. Regarding Brazil and India, I'm afraid I don't know the actual rules and regulations enforced there. But in every country, we try to comply with best market practice. In Brazil, in particular, we have a long-standing presence. So I'm pretty sure that we are perfectly above board. Well, I'm not so young. So I don't know this rap singer, I'm afraid. Regarding our advertising budget or A&P, by and large and also targeting socials, there was no such thing as digital technology when I joined the group. So 10 years ago, minus -- less than 20%, and now I have to say that 80% of our A&P budget is digital. We try to be agile, depending on how successful our advertising campaigns are. We're able to turn things on and switch things off on a spot.

I'm an individual shareholder. I have a question regarding your advertising strategy. 3 years ago, you had a deal with Snoop Dogg, [indiscernible] is simply the greatest rapper of all time. And this is particularly true since last year, during the Paris Olympics, so he was seen pretty much everywhere. He had across-the-board visibility. And so in 3 years' time, I'm pretty sure that you will have a strong presence at the Olympics in Los Angeles. So here's my question. Is this -- what's your approach regarding this artist, short term and long term? And also, how much did that specific contract cost? This could be of interest to other shareholders as well. Also, are you setting your sights on other artists with the same presence, the same talent, and the same international reach? Also, are you targeting other artists from countries such as China or India, rather, where there's a lot of smokers. How about targeting Chinese and Indian artists and that could help you advertise and showcase the quality of your products, maybe there's a lot that can be done. Lastly, regarding the advertising strategy, the more you spend -- not necessarily on digital platforms, the more you spend on celebrities and celebrity endorsements, the more money you make.

Thank you very much for your questions and also for your observations. Snoop and his assistant Martha, you got to remember that Martha is a linchpin in Snoop's team. So 5 billion views. So a very successful campaign. Obviously, the price of the contract is confidential information, so I'm afraid we can't disclose that information [indiscernible] Snoop and Martha have gone over and beyond their commitment to us. Their presence on social was significant, but also the Super Bowl, the day before, that wasn't part of the contract and yet he advertised our services. And -- so I sent him a text message to thank him. So I can tell you whether we will continue to work with them over the very long term because we need to continue writing this narrative, and this narrative has to have an international reach. So in 5 or 10 years' time, I'm sure there will be regional celebrities. We're working with rugby players, Zimbabwe or in South Africa. So our approach is targeted. It all depends on our market share in each country. So if you have 2% market share, your communications policy will be different than if you have 75% market share, but our teams are very professional, and they also have a very humane approach, and we make sure that the advertising campaigns actually reflect the quality of our products and services. One last question. Go ahead, sir. I can't really see you, sir, apologies.

The group's performance is remarkable, truly. And so I don't understand why the CEO is leaving? Why don't you stay on at the helm of this company? You're doing such a great job. What a loss for the company that you're leaving.

Thank you for your kind words.

Hello. I'm an individual shareholder. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Criticism and praise go hand in hand. Now regarding your 2024 performance and prospects for 2025, I understand that quarterly results are transient. But could you please drill down on 2025. Could you please pull out your crystal ball and tell us what will happen in 2025? You promised profit margins. But could you be a little more specific, please, as much as can be?

Thank you for your question. If you have a crystal ball, please share it with me. I wish I had one. I would find that very helpful. As I said during the Q1 results presentation, things are tough for an international group such as ours. Consumption is lower than it used to be. Obviously, we can drill down on specific countries. But overall, at a global level, consumption trends are down. But there is a -- there's a reason why I think we will achieve our targets. First of all, our teams. Henry can tell you about the back-to-school season in France, he can talk about it for hours. He's giving me a huge thumbs up. We are showcasing our products ahead of the back-to-school season, and we are giving proud of place to our products. We forever seek to improve visibility of our products on shelves and also brand awareness among consumers, I want the average guy on the street, when they go to the supermarket with their children to stock up on pens and stationery ahead of the new school year, I want them to have our products top of mind. So it depends on the year. It could be a bus or it could be a train, but we will have some sort of advertising stunt to showcase our products. Now we have partnerships with our key strategic customers, and this is going from strength to strength. This has been going on for 5 or 6 years. It's key to maintain brand awareness. Also, we innovate product-wise. And in 2026, 2027, 2028, this will hold true as well. Also, Tangle Teezer is our newest acquisition, and this will also blow wind in our sales. And this is why we are confident we will achieve our targets for 2025. Thank you for your question. Laura?

The Q&A is now over. I suggest we now vote on the resolutions. Let's now look at the final quorum. 1,777 shareholders are present, represented or they voted by mail. This represents 34,582,101 shares with voting rights, representing a quorum of 83.88%, which is the legal quorum for all resolutions. We will now watch a short video explaining how to vote using your tablets. [Presentation]

Let's now vote on the resolutions. Resolution 1, approval of the company financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. Please vote. [Voting]

Time's up. Resolution approved by 99.99% of the vote. Resolution #2, approval of the consolidated accounts for FY '24. Voting is now open. [Voting]

Voting is now closed. The resolution is approved with 99.97% of the vote. Resolution #3, allocation of profit for FY 2024 and dividend. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting is now closed. The resolution is approved with 99.99% of the vote. Resolution 4. Approval of the new regulated agreement related to the departure of the CEO, Gonzalve Bich. Please vote. [Voting]

No more votes. The resolution is approved with 79.02%. Resolution 5. Authorization to the Board to adopt transactions carried out on the company's own shares. Please vote. [Voting]

No more votes. The resolution is approved with 99.97% of the vote. Resolution 6. Renewal of the term as Director of Mr. Gonzalve Bich. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. The resolution is adopted at 92.59% of the vote. 7th Resolution, appointment of Édouard Bich to the Board of Directors. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting is now over. Resolution is adopted with 89.7% of the vote. Resolution #8. Appointment of Esther Gaide to the Board of Directors. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted, 99.61%. Resolution #9. Voting for Mr. Nikos Koumettis. [Voting]

No more votes. Resolution is adopted, 98.88%. Resolution #10. Approval of information related to compensation for corporate officers mentioned in Article L. 22-10-9 of the French Commercial Code for FY 2024. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted with 92.13% of the vote. Resolution 11. Approval of fixed, variable and exceptional components of the overall compensation and all payments in kind paid to or allocated to Gonzalve Bich for FY 2024. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. 11th resolution is approved with 80.3% of the vote. Resolution 12. Approval of fixed, variable and exceptional compensation as part of the overall compensation and payments in kind paid to Nikos Koumettis, for FY '24, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Please vote. [Voting]

The resolution is approved with 99.8% of the vote. Resolution 13. Approval of the compensation policy for executive corporate officers for FY '25. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. Resolution is adopted with 90.02% of the vote. Resolution 14. Approval of compensation policy for Chairman of the Board of Directors for FY '25. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 98.73%. Resolution 15. Approval of the compensation policy for members of the Board for FY '25. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. Resolution approved, 99.8% of the vote. Resolution 16. Setting overall compensation for the Board of Directors for FY '25. Please vote. [Voting]

No more votes. Resolution is adopted, 99.81% of the vote. Resolution 17. Delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to reduce share capital through canceling self-held shares. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 99.99%. Resolution 18. Delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to increase capital through issue of shares, new ordinary shares or securities for the employee shareholder plan without the preferential subscription right for shareholders. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. Resolution adopted, 98.67%. Resolution 19, delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to increase capital through issue of ordinary shares or bonuses in kind, containing capital as part of the payments with the suppression of the preferential subscription right for shareholders. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. Resolution is approved, 96.76%. Resolution 20. Setting overall cap for issuers as part of the conferred delegations. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. Resolution adopted, 97.11%. Resolution 21. Changes to Article 11 of the bylaws related to deliberations at the Board of Directors. Please vote. [Voting]

No more voting. Resolution is adopted, 99.99%. Resolution 22. Changes to Article 11 of the bylaws related to the appointment of the CEO. Please vote. [Voting]

No more votes. Resolution adopted, 99.67%. Resolution 23. Changes to Article 10 BIS of the bylaws related to employee representative directors. Please vote. [Voting]

No more votes. Resolution adopted, 99.99%. 24th and final Resolution. Powerful formalities. Voting is now open. [Voting]

Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 99.99%. This brings us to the end of the resolution votes. I'd like to thank you for your attention and give the floor back to Gonzalve Bich.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, thank you for your votes. I'd now like to share a few words that are important to me, before I give the floor back to Candace Matthews, who will wrap up the AGM. Today, I'm full of emotion because this AGM is indeed my last one as CEO of this fantastic company that was created 80 years ago by my grandfather. BIC is more than just a company that I've been working in for 20 years. It's my name, it's my legacy that I try to bear humbly and proudly. As every day, today, I am very proud of how far we've come. I'm exceptionally proud and I would like to thank you. Nothing of what we have achieved would have been possible without your engagement, your trust, without you being demanding and without you being passionate. This company is and always has been a shared adventure. It is your talent, your energy, your beliefs that have enabled us to write this beautiful page in the history of our shared story. Our staff, our partners, our investors, our clients, our consumers and of course, our families have supported us. Everyone has supported us in their own way, and everyone has contributed to what we are today. I would like to share with you a personal memory of a conversation with a loyal consumer of our products. She simply said, what I like about you and your products is that you understand what we really need, not what other brands think that we want. This is a powerful but modest statement, and that has really been a source of inspiration for me. It's a reminder that any strategy, any innovation, any ambition only makes sense if it's connected to what people need, to the concrete expectations of the people that we work for, our consumers. Being close to the field and being close to the people that we sell our products to, must continue to guide our decisions today and tomorrow. These last years, we have strengthened our international presence. We have been bold in innovation, but we've always been responsible. And we have created solid corporate culture based on trust, on individual responsibility and on the desire to push ever further together. Today, I would like to look towards the next chapter of BIC. I am fully confident in the future of our company because for more than 20 years, every day, I have borne witness to the shared intelligence that we have because I know that our teams will continue to be agile, whilst remaining true to our values because our passion for what we do is intact, no matter what circumstances we face. To conclude, I would like to share with you just how thankful I am and how confident I am. I'm thankful for having shared this part of the adventure with you. And I'm confident that the company will continue to move forward to innovate and to inspire people through the values that have made it successful. I'd also like to thank my management team and the Board of Directors for their engagement, their trust and their unwavering support throughout the years we've worked together. Their belief in our shared vision has been key to me. More than anything else, I would like to thank the 13,000 people who work for BIC around the world. Your talent, your commitment to build and to grow the BIC mark and to turn it into a go-to partner every day for billions of people around the world have touched me and inspired me. I am taking away with me a strong memory of your passion and your perseverance as the sources of our success. You are the soul of this company, and it has been an honor to work with you. Continue to aim high together. I'd now like to give the floor to Candace Matthews to wrap up this AGM. Thank you.

Thank you, Gonzalve. And I would like to thank you warmly for these years of strong collaboration and for your invaluable contribution. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to conclude the shareholders' meeting. Thank you for attending today. I propose that we adjourn the meeting. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

[Foreign Language]. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]