Sodexo S.A. (SW) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Presentation] Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to La Seine Musicale, this exceptional venue that we're honored to be a partner with and where we're very pleased to welcome you once again to our annual shareholders meeting. First of all, let me tell you how happy I am that we can once again meet in person today. Last January, on an exceptional basis and for the first time in our history, we had to hold our annual meeting behind closed doors to comply with the government's health measures. That makes this gathering especially important, even though the public health situation still remains tense. I'm speaking to you today alongside Marc Rolland, who is our Chief Financial Officer; and Cindy Cario, Secretary of the Board of Directors, who is handling the general meeting secretarial duties. I would also like to inform you of the presence of the general meeting's 2 scrutineers: Francois-Xavier Bellon, who represents the holding company, Bellon SA; and Arnaud Bastien, who represents FCPE group Sodexo Peps, which is one of the mutual funds for Sodexo employees for the shareholders with the largest number of votes having accepted the role of scrutineer. I will now officially open this annual meeting, of which I am the Chair in capacity as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Interim Chief Executive Officer. The members of the Board of Directors who could attend are also present, either physically in this room or remotely. The audit firms, PwC and KPMG, both represented by Mr. Stéphane Basset of PwC will share their reports with us during this meeting. I now hand the floor over to Cindy Cario, meeting secretary, who will present the agenda.

Thank you, Sophie. Hello, everyone. First of all, I would like to remind you that this shareholders' meeting will be held in French and that simultaneous translation service in English is available. As usual, this meeting is also accessible to the deaf or harder hearing, thanks to sign language interpreters. We have made every effort to ensure the health and safety of everyone. It is in a strict compliance with a health protocol in force that we address you today without a mask. I also remind you that this meeting is being broadcast live from our website, www.sodexo.com, and it will also be available for replay in the coming days. I would inform you that the number of shares mentioned on the attendance sheet in the name of the shareholders present represented or having voted by correspondents amounts 124,218,876,071 shares, which represent 84.87% of the shares bearing voting rights. The legal quorum being 36,588,308 shares, the shareholders meeting can validly deliberate. If latecomers come to attend the meeting before 4:30 p.m., this provisional quorum will be modified, and the final quorum will be taken into account when voting on resolutions. I have before me all of the documents which attests to the regularity of the convening, and deliberation of this meeting and the documents that must be made available or communicated to shareholders have been made. So on the legal terms, conditions and deadlines, please also be informed that [ Bayleaf ] is present today in the room. The agenda of this shareholders' meeting as well as the draft resolutions where described in the preliminary notice of meeting published on November 3, 2021, the French legal gazette, BALO. The final notice of meeting was published in the BALO legal gazette and in the journal of legal announcements on the 26th of November 2021. Please note that following the publication of the preliminary notice of meeting, no request for the inclusion of points or draft resolutions on the agenda was submitted by the shareholders. As usual, in the interest of the debate, we propose that you exempt the Chairwoman from the exhaustive reading of the Board of Directors' report. The full report can be found in the fiscal 2021 Universal Registration Document, which is available on our company's website, and its main items and contents will be presented to you during the shareholders' meeting. I now give the floor to Sophie Bellon, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors.

Thank you, Cindy. I'll now give the floor to Marc Rolland, our CFO, for a summary of our financial performance over the past fiscal year.

Thank you, Sophie. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, hello. I'm very pleased to be here with you this afternoon. Let me go through the financial performance of your group for fiscal 2021 to August 31, 2021. First, on revenue, as you can see on this chart, we've lost EUR 4.6 billion over the last 2 years as a result of the COVID pandemic. This is reflected at the level of the group by a 12% organic decline in fiscal 2020 and a further 5.6% decline in fiscal 2021. Both our business operations were impacted, even though Benefits and Rewards was more resilient than on-site services. However, we are encouraged by the solid rebound in the second half of fiscal 2021 with organic revenue growth of 18.1% for the group after the decline we saw in the second half of fiscal 2020 and in the first half of fiscal 2021. As you can see here, the gradual recovery in on-site services in the fourth quarter fiscal 2020 is the case in all segments. On-site services ended the year at 87% of the pre-COVID levels, while health care and seniors reached 100% of fiscal 2019 levels. By the end of fiscal 2021, the recovery in B&A was lower. This is impacted by a very gradual return to the office and the opening up of stadiums and convention centers right at the end of the year. The Education segment recovered strongly during the year to reach 85% of fiscal 2019 levels in the last quarter, even reaching 99% for schools. In Benefits and Rewards Services, the decline in business operation was much less significant as issue volumes remained reasonably resilient. However, revenues were impacted by the closure of restaurants during the lockdowns, preventing consumers from using their vouchers and services, therefore, limiting the merchant revenues. The opening and closing and opening and closing of restaurants during the pandemic can be seen in this chart. While Europe has fully recovered to pre-COVID level, Latin America remains impacted by severe competitive pressures, particularly in Brazil. On this slide, you can see the progressive recovery of the underlying operating margin each half year across all our business operations. This improvement is due to very strict control of costs, active management of the portfolio with the exit of certain services, countries and business operations as well as the positive impact of the efficiency program, which was launched in July of 2020. More particularly on on-site services, numerous contract renegotiations were achieved. Finally, please note that the usual negative gap in profitability, which is about 100 basis points between the first and the second half was absorbed by the sequential improvement in fiscal 2021. Our efficiency program called GET was carried out rigorously in the last 2 years, generating some EUR 280 million of savings in fiscal 2021. Out of the savings, EUR 91 million are for structural reductions in SG&A expenses. The rest is cost avoidance to protect the margins as the government aid and assistance falls away. In total, this program will have costs, which will generate additional savings. All in all, the program will have cost EUR 330 million, less than the objective, but for more savings than expected on the order of EUR 394 million. Also wanted to underline that from the beginning of the crisis, we generated free cash flow every half year. We have been helped by some government for sure with extended payment delays in social and fiscal charges. However, this performance is also due to very strict management of our receivables and cash by the teams throughout the group. The CapEx level was also exceptionally low during 2021 fiscal year at only EUR 211 million, i.e., 1.2% of sales. The reduction reflects the exit of several contracts, especially in leisure and investments. CapEx was maintained in Benefits & Rewards, in the IT systems as well as in digital technology. I maintain that when the environment gets back to normal, group CapEx to sales should run at around 2.5% of revenues. Thanks to strict management of free cash flow and a first-ever bond issue in the U.S. of some EUR 1 billion, we ended the year with record liquidity levels of EUR 6.4 billion. Along that, our net debt ratio returned within target range of between 1 to 2 to stand at 1.7 at the end of the period. This slide shows you the share price performance since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. You can see that we have substantially underperformed the CAC 40 because our industry suffered far more than the average companies in the CAC 40. The share price remains closely linked to the news flow on the successive waves and variance of the pandemic. Having said that, since our IPO back in 1983, the performance of the Sodexo share has remained substantially ahead of the CAC 40. Your share has been multiplied by a factor of 45, i.e., twice as fast as the CAC 4. Finally, I would like to just remind you of the breakdown of the share ownership. On the left-hand side, you see the breakdown of the shares with Belen S.A. having 2.8% employees holding 1.6% and 0.8% of treasury shares, general public, therefore, owns 54.8%, of which more than 2/3 is owned by French institutions and institutional investors, 2/3 being owned by non-French institutions. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope I have given you a clear presentation of the group's financial situation, which remains robust despite the vagaries of this pandemic and their impact on our activities. [Audio Gap] Relative natural resilience, thanks to the scope of its services. The very tight management of cash and cost control during this crisis and the efficiency gains we are making providing the resources and means to continue to invest to be able to capture the growth of the future. And now I'll turn the floor to Sophie for her messages.

Thank you, Marc. Dear shareholders, dear directors, dear employees, dear friends of Sodexo. The financial results that Marc has just presented are indeed solid ones. In this period, during which our operations rebounded, we exceeded our goals. The group's net profit was EUR 139 million compared to the net loss of EUR 315 million for the previous fiscal year. Our financial situation and balance sheet are sound. Our cash flow is very positive, and our liquidity reached an exceptional level of EUR 6.4 billion. And I would like to express my profound gratitude to our teams. In the context, that was still very difficult this year, they did an admirable job once again, once again. I have every confidence in our ability to deliver the goals that we set for ourselves this year. Organic revenue growth of 15% to 18% and an underlying operating profit margin close to 5% at constant ForEx rates. In the medium term, we're on track to regain and then exceed our pre-pandemic performance. And we propose to resume our dividend policy this year, too, with a dividend of EUR 2, including a recurring dividend of EUR 1.2 reflecting the dividend policy of a payout ratio of 50% of underlying net profit and a very exceptional nonrecurring element of EUR 0.80 reflecting the distribution of the cash related to the disposal program of around EUR 120 million. Some of our operations remain more heavily affected by the health crisis than others. The environment in which we operate remains significantly impacted by the pandemic. These past few weeks have seen a resurgence of the virus, which has led to new restrictions and even new lockdowns in a certain number of countries. This uncertainty weighs upon our sector. This new wave and the possibility of COVID-19 becoming endemic are indeed among the risks for which we are preparing. Being aware of evaluating and managing risks are clearly among the priorities of the Executive Committee under the supervision of the Board of Directors and, in particular, the Audit Committee. Apart from the risk connected to the pandemic itself, we are now especially vigilant and proactive on issues related to the retention of our clients, whose needs have changed significantly during the pandemic; also increases in food inflation and a rising cost of labor, which we need to be able to pass on or mitigate using substitution of productivity measures. And finally, we're also very attentive to managing our talent in the framework of a particularly tense employment market. In this volatile context, we have major advantages that allow us to look to the future with confidence and ambition. Our global presence do start off with our portfolio of activities and services, and our unique positioning are all guarantees of our resilience. Our family shareholding also guarantee stability and a long-term vision. Our leadership in the area of corporate responsibility and our direct daily access to over 100 million consumers give us a leading edge. Our teams, who have made exceptional efforts since the pandemic began, are highly engaged. Our services are essential. The fact that these past 2 years have only confirmed they're essential today and will still be essential tomorrow. That's something I believe firmly, and we evaluate our market potential at over EUR 900 billion. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated trends that play a large role in structuring our operations, and we've embarked upon a new stage in Sodexo's developments now. Last July, we announced that we were launching a search for a new Chief Executive Officer to lead our group into this new era. The search for Sodexo's future Chief Executive Officer is progressing, and we now have a short list of candidates that we are studying closely. Identifying the right person to head up Sodexo is, of course, one of the Board's top priorities. More generally, the members of the Board are now fully engaged in facilitating our transformation, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their commitment and support. In this respect, I would like to inform you of the candidacy of [ Jean-Baptiste Shatin ] as independent Board member. This will be part of today's voting process. He's with us here today. He would be able to provide the Board with the benefit of his lengthy experience in transforming organizations and handling mergers and acquisitions, financing and information technology. You can give your opinion on this nomination when you vote later on, on the resolutions. On behalf of the Board, I would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to [ Emmanuel Babeau ], whose term is coming to an end and who has decided to seek -- not to seek reelection due to increased responsibilities at Philip Morris International. Since 2016, Emmanuel Babeau greatly contributed to the discussions of the Board, in particular when they came to performance, strategy and financial topics. And he actively participated also in the Audit and Compensation Committees. So thank you, indeed, Emmanuel. During this period of transition, which we entered in late September upon the departure of [ Jenny Machuel ], I felt the position of Chief Executive Officer in addition to my responsibilities as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. But transition is in no way a synonym for inertia. The decision that I make and that I will continue to make during this period will lay the foundations for what lies ahead. We are already working to plan the group's future now. With all of the executive committee members and all of the senior managers in Sodexo, whom I would like to thank for their remarkable commitment. A big round of applause for them, please. Thank you. It's good to know we can rely on your support in these hard times. Of course, being a leader in our sector means continually increasing our competitiveness in terms of both our offering and our organization and accelerating our transformation. Our goal is indeed to generate solid, profitable and responsible growth over the long term. Our teams are now more focused than ever on our business fundamentals: client retention; growth opportunities; operational excellence; employee engagement; and above all, consumer satisfaction, which depends on getting to know the users of our services better and interacting with them more and more directly. To this end, we are continuing with our digital transformation all throughout our value chain. It's a prerequisite for continuing to be innovative and reinforcing the perceived value of our services because the consumer expectations have changed since the pandemic began. Their decision-making power has increased even further and resolutely pivoting now towards a B2B4C model. This is of major importance for us. In this context, my first priority is to accelerate the transformation of our food model at a time marked by new consumer behaviors and disruptions, especially digital disruptions. So as for food choices, organic, local and vegetarian options are becoming increasingly popular. Production modes are evolving. We've got several projects underway in areas of fundamental as responsible purchasing, centralized production and logistics optimization. And we want to offer our clients and consumers an increasingly fluid, free-flowing experience in terms of ordering, payments and delivery. By taking stakes in or acquiring firms such as Nourish and Food in the United States, Meichan in China, Zita in India and Brazil, FoodChéri in France and Fooditude in the United Kingdom, we're moving in this direction, just as we are with our global partnerships with key delivery players. We have the unique ability to make available multichannel offerings composed of varied and flexible on-site food services, including retail solutions, click-and-collect delivery services and the restaurant path in a certain number of countries, and we are stepping up our efforts to offer consumers even more options. My second priority is to boost our growth in the United States, which is our biggest market, representing 39% of our revenues. Our strategy in North America is starting to bear fruit. We've improved our client retention in the health care and university segment, and our operating margin in new contracts is progressing. We've also made great progress in transforming our food services. We've expanded and diversified our offering with, among others, the development of the Good Eating Company, which offers quality customized food services at workplaces. The acquisition of the restaurant Aggregator Foodie also and as well the opening in October of our first off-site production hub in Boston, which delivers to local businesses, hospitals and universities and is complementary to the model used by Nourish on the West Coast, which we acquired this year. Also, the market in the United States is highly competitive, of course, but it does present conscious opportunities in the healthcare and senior segments, for example, since in these markets, many services, including food services, are still largely self-operated. That is not managed by an outside company by way of contract but directly operated by the entities concerned. So our challenge is now to accelerate and take advantage of these opportunities by improving our sales volumes further, in particular by strengthening our sales teams but also progressing in terms of our ability to manage increasingly complex contracts. My third priority is to more actively manage our portfolio, prioritizing our investments even more. Our partnership with the French firm, Grandir, launched this year to combine our childcare services with the expertise of a recognized sector leader is a good illustration of this orientation. And the Board of Directors decided to explore strategic alternatives for our Benefits & Rewards Services operations. The group will retain control but is studying a certain number of options to give Benefits & Rewards services the resources necessary for accelerating their growth and diversification projects. More generally, we need to systematically orient our resources toward the most promising markets, in line with our strategic choices and in line with our corporate mission. Being selective will allow us to continue to grow in a profitable way over time. My fourth priority is to enhance our organization's effectiveness. We want to maintain the agility, simplicity and pragmatism that we were able to harness during the pandemic. Striking the right balance between the central organization and the local level requires permanent adjustments from any firm. This is, of course, even more true for an organization like ours that operates in markets as diverse as ours in so many different countries, and we want to give our teams that are closest to the field more freedom in terms of implementation. The pandemic has only strengthened my conviction that our value lies, first and foremost, in our contact with our clients and the 100 million consumers we serve every day. Excellence in managing human resources is an essential condition for our success as our teams are our greatest asset and our top priority. In this respect, guaranteeing the safety of all our employees is a major concern, and we work tirelessly year after year to bring the number of workplace accidents down as close to 0 as possible. Also in this respect, we take action every day in a forward-looking approach to anchor our firm further in a strong culture of inclusion, where we know that the diversity in our teams is a source of creativity and also innovation and performance. We're focusing our efforts on 5 main areas: promoting gender quality; taking a stand against discrimination based on culture, ethnicity or origin; providing equal opportunities to people with disabilities; respecting all sexual orientations and identities; and also being conscientious about cross-generational inclusion. Sodexo has a major advantage. We have a solid foundation that we can build upon to accelerate our transformation, our twofold mission, which was pioneering once Sodexo was founded in 1966 and is completely relevant today, that is improve the quality of life of our employees and of those we serve and then contribute to the economics of and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which we operate. Our family as a controlling shareholder ensures the perpetuation of this mission and of our founding values: service spirit, team spirit and spirit of progress. It is on this solid foundation that we built Sodexo's success. Our corporate responsibility is central to this original mission and is embodied by our CSO road map, which we call Better Tomorrow 2025. This road map summarizes our commitment as an employer and as a service provider and corporate citizen to individuals, communities and the environment. In the context marked by the pandemic, we've continued to meet these nonfinancial commitments. We've continued to improve. For example in our gender quality goals, today, 43% of the group's senior executives are women. And in reducing food waste by nearly 50% at the almost 900 priority sites, where we've rolled out our WasteWatch program. Today, as consumers, we're all becoming increasingly aware that the choices we make now have an impact on the world of tomorrow. Businesses are increasingly being seen as key players in issues that affect society at large. We decided, therefore, to go further. In addition to what we're doing, we want to reveal how and, above all, why we're doing it by giving Sodexo a corporate purpose. This purpose is the extension of our original mission. It's what has always guided our growth since the inception of the company and the way in which we're looking at growth for the future and the impact we want to have on the world. So this purpose is the extension of our original mission. It's an augmented mission, if you will. So our focus is the every day. We know that it is precisely by focusing on the concrete, on the tangible, on the every day that we make a real difference for 100 million consumers across the world, for communities and also for the planet. We strive to make everything we do today as positive and impactful as we can for tomorrow, and it is with great pleasure that I will now share with you Sodexo's purpose. We create a better every day for everyone to build a better life for all. You will now see a video revealing Sodexo's new tagline, which embodies this purpose that I've just presented. [Presentation]

Thank you. Well, for us, it all starts with the every day. It all starts with our teams, our everyday life euros, and they want to pay tribute to them today because it's what they do day in and day out that makes a difference. I suggest we continue now with our shareholders' meeting with the presentation of the activities of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee. I invite you to watch a short video on Sodexo's corporate governance. [Presentation]

During this annual shareholders meeting, shareholders are invited to reappoint Francois-Xavier Bellon as Director for another 3-year term. In addition, Emmanuel Babu, whose term of office also expires at the close of this shareholders' meeting, did not wish to stand for reappointment. The shareholders are invited to appoint Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon as a new independent Board member for a 3-year term. At the close of this shareholders' meeting and subject to the approval of these resolutions by the shareholders, the Board of Directors will remain composed of 12 members from 4 nationalities. Out of which, there will be 7 independent directors, 7 women, 2 directors representing employees. In addition, Francois-Xavier Bellon will continue to serve as a member of the Audit Committee as well as a Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon replacing Emmanuel Babeau. In fiscal 2021, the Board met 13 times with a 95% attendance rate. This year, the Board worked on the following topics: corporate governance on various subjects, such as the composition and the functioning of the Board; the assessment of the director's independence; the group's ethics and compliance programs; the corporate responsibility issues; and more specifically, this year, the renewal of the service agreement concluded with Bellon S.A. and the decision to terminate the duties of the Chief Executive Officer and to combine the roles of Chairman of the Board and CEO during the transition period; compensation and in particular the review of the compensation of the executive corporate officers and of the directors; the CEO's departure conditions; the review of gender pay financial statements and management, in particular the review of the financial statements, the group budget and the business trends, the share performance as well as regular updates on the management and impact of the COVID-19 crisis; the group's business and its strategy, in particular the in-depth review of the various business activities and segments of the group, their growth, outlook and competitive environment; the review of new food models; and the review of potential strategic opportunities. In making decisions, the Board relies on the preparation, advice and recommendations of its 3 committees. All committees are chaired by independent directors. The Audit Committee chaired by Sophie Stabile. It has 5 members, including one director representing the employees. 75% of its members are independent. This committee met 8x in the year with an attendance rate of 90%. During fiscal 2021, in addition to the review of the financial statements, the committee notably reviewed the group's financing, the internal control process, the risk map and follow-up on internal audits, the impact of COVID-19 on the annual internal audit plan, the mandates of the statutory auditors and the review of their independence. The Nominating Committee is chair by Cecil [indiscernible]. During the fiscal year, it had 4 members, of which 50% are independent. The committee met 5 times during the year with an attendance rate of 100%. On October 6th in 2021, the composition of the nominating committee evolved with the appointment of Luke Messier. Since that date, this committee has 5 members, and the majority are independent. During fiscal 2021, this committee in particular reviewed the resolutions on the appointment and renewals of directors, reviewed the composition of the Board and its diversity policy, conducted a search for a new independent director; and more specifically this year, the termination of the mandate of the Chief Executive Officer; the review of the appropriate mode of governance during the transition period and the launch of the search for a new CEO. The Compensation Committee is also chaired by [indiscernible]. It has 4 members, including 1 director representing employees. 100% of its members are independent. The committee met 7x during the year with an attendance rate of 100%. During fiscal 2021, the committee notably studied recent developments and new regulations concerning executive compensation and supplemental retirement benefits. Examined elements and policies relating to the compensation of the corporate officers and executive committee members, review the CEO's departure conditions, reviewed restricted and performance share plans. All of this information on corporate governance can be found in the Universal Registration Document available on sodexo.com.

Thank you. I would now like to invite Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon, who's the appointment as independent directors propose to you today, to come and introduce himself to you directly.

Madame Chair, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, dear Board members, dear employees. It is a great honor for me to stand as a candidate to this role as Board Director. It is also a source of pride to be able to join Sodexo and its many employees, who, as we heard, are driven by the spirit of service, team spirit and spirit of progress. Sodexo's values are universal ones: living together, caring for others and contributing to their quality of life. These are human values that I truly share and which today makes Sodexo one of the most admired service companies in the world. I'm French. And after my formal financial education and training, my professional career then revolved around 3 major themes: transformation, finance and business development. The first part of my career was dedicated to the automotive industry, where I held several positions in several countries, particularly in finance and business development. Between 2012 and 2018, I was a member of the Management Board. I was the CFO and in charge of several sales department of the PuzoPSAGroup, which has since become Stellantis. I've been Sanofi's, CFO since the end of 2018, and I aspire to bring my strategic vision to your Board and my robust international experience marked by transformational change, change management, business development, coupled with a passion for performance. I admire your company and its founding values, which remain at the heart of its development and its tremendous resilience in trouble times throughout the pandemic. I can assure you that I will look after your interest in all circumstances with the utmost care.

Thank you. Thank you, Jean-Baptiste. Dear shareholders, as usual, I also wanted to present the work of the Compensation Committee to you today. And I suggest that Cécile Tandeau de Marsac, who is the Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee, should now join us and present to you a summary of the committee's activity.

Good afternoon, everybody. I'm pleased to see you again to present the work of the Compensation Committee. This year, 8 resolutions related to the compensation of the corporate officers and directors are submitted to you for approval. Sodexo compensation policies for corporate officers and directors are stable. This is why I will focus my remarks on just the changes. Concerning the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Sophie Bellon, the structure and the amounts of her compensation are unchanged after a 50% reduction in her fixed compensation for the second half of fiscal 2020. So you've got 3 columns on the screen. You can see the theoretical fiscal 2020 and what Sophie Bellon really received in the left-hand column and then the fiscal 2021 figures on the right-hand side. The only change you see on the screen can be explained by a drop in her fixed compensation during the second half of 2020. However, she will receive fixed compensation of an additional nature EUR 18,750 per month during the transition period. That is until the arrival of the new Chief Executive Officer. The structure of the Chief Executive Officer's compensation is also stable, which is why I will not go into the details of this table, which you know well. What is worth noting, however, for this year, concerns the long-term incentive plan, and that is that the group wish to add a performance condition based on carbon footprint reduction on top of the diversity in leadership. So carbon footprint reduction as well. So the 20% at the bottom of the left-hand side of the chart were divided into 2 parts, that was originally 2 parts. We kept the diversity part, and we added in a reduction in the carbon footprint. This new condition applies to all of the beneficiaries of performance share plans. Now as you may remember, the Board of Directors decided in 2020 to reduce by 50% the fixed compensation of the Chief Executive Officer for the second half of the fiscal year, and decided to suppress his variable compensation given the health crisis connected with the COVID-19 pandemic. Denis Machuel was fully supportive of this decision, giving him the opportunity to demonstrate his solidarity with the group's employees who put in a lot of efforts on their side. Compensation for fiscal year 2021 comprise of the policy you approved at the shareholders' meeting held on January 12, 2021 at the start of this year. The rate of achievement for variable compensation is 90%. Indeed, all the financial criteria were met, and 2 out of the 3 nonfinancial criteria were met. But the indicator concerning the accident rate, occupational accidents was not met despite progress that was made. Hence, the variable compensation stands at EUR 810,000. As well as this, the Board of Directors awarded 28,000 performance shares to Denis Machuel on November 25, 2020. In respect of fiscal year 2022, Denis Machuel compensation includes the following. I'll start again as the speaker for fiscal year 2022, so starting off in September of 2021 Denis Machuel compensation includes a fixed compensation amounting to EUR 75,000 and variable compensation for September also amounting to EUR 75,000. Upon his departure and in accordance with the compensation policy, the Board of Directors decided to lift the continued presence condition of its unvested share plans pro rata to his presence within the group. Thus, out of the 75,000 shares initially granted to him, only 41,514 performance shares are maintained and remains submitted to performance conditions, of course, covering fiscal years impacted by the pandemic. In addition, the Board of Directors consider that the current noncompete agreement designed upon the appointment of Denis Machuel in January 2018 did not sufficiently protect the interest of Sodexo. Its scope was broadened and strengthened notably by the addition of new restrictions both in terms of competitors and businesses as well as nonsolicitation of group senior leaders and significant clients for the group. The duration of the agreement was extended also from 2 to 3 years. The financial consideration was changed to 24 months of fixed and variable compensation due for fiscal 2021. Concerning the evolution of the compensation policy that will apply to the future Chief Executive Officer, one can see the strengthening of the noncompete agreement will apply to the person who is recruited. The financial condition applicable to the indemnity in the event of a termination of office becomes the achievement rate of at least 80% of the annual variable compensation targets with a progressive quantum for the first 2 years of office. Also, there is a shareholding obligation deadline 3 years after the first share award vests. That is 3 years following the initial grant. That is in reality, 3 years after the first grant. I'd like to remind you also that the global envelope of compensation, which can be allocated each year to Sodexo directors, was set at EUR 900,000 in 2018. Resolution 10 proposes to increase this envelope to EUR 1 million. That is an 11% increase. Similarly, the new policy proposed to you revises the allocation of directors' compensation to take into account the increasing number of meetings of governance bodies but also the workload both during and outside the meetings. Finally, I would like to thank all the members of the Compensation Committee for their active participation and unwavering commitment during this difficult year. I invite you to also consult the Universal Registration Document for more information on the compensation of corporate officers and directors. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Cecile. This was a very clear presentation on the subject that is key but sometimes rather technical. Dear shareholders, I suggest we now give the floor to our auditor, Stephane Basset, representing PricewaterhouseCoopers will present you with the statutory auditor's report.

Madame Chair, dear shareholders, hello. It is my pleasure to stand in front of you today to report back in the name of the team of statutory auditors of our engagement and the report that we have issued for the year ended on the 31st of August 2021. These reports were made available to you by the company and can be found in the Universal Registration Document, which has been filed with the French AMF authority and which has been posted on the website of Sodexo. As is the usual practice, I suggest I don't read out in full detail, but I will give you a summary of those key points. Now with respect to the consolidated and individual company financial statements. I would remind you that our review aims at obtaining reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatements, that they comply with the applicable accounting standards and that they give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities and of the financial position of the group at August 31, 2021, and of the results of the group's operation for the year that ended. We carried out our review work and engagement in line with the professional standards and practices in France. And following our engagement, we submitted our conclusions to the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors of your company. These financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors meeting on the 26th of October 2021 based on the information available at that date in the changing context of the COVID-19 crisis. By way of a summary, we are issuing an unqualified opinion on the consolidated and individual company financial statements the year ended 31st of August 2021. Now with respect to our reports on the consolidated and individual company financial statements, we focused on key audit matters. Generally speaking, these key matters required special review and attention on our part due to their very nature, due to the risk material misstatements that might arise, due to the financial amounts at stake or due to the fact that a significant degree of judgment was required to evaluate the underlying assumptions and estimates. As you can see up on the screen, these key matters of for the consolidated accounts, the measurement of the recoverable amount of goodwill and the tax risk on the other hand. And with respect to the individual company financial statements, they cover the valuation of equity investments. Our reports on the financial statements include for each of these matters a description of those risks identified and the procedures and reviews and auditing work that we implemented to meet these. Finally, our reports on the financial statements include the conclusions of some specific procedures required by law that we carried out based on information as required in the management report, including in the section devoted to corporate governance. We have described the nature and the extent of these procedures in the table that you have up on your screen. By way of a summary, we have no comment to make after these procedures. Now moving on to our special report on related party agreements. As you can see, during the past year, we were informed of the fact that the service agreement between Sodexo and Bellon SA has been renewed for 5 years. This renewal was carried out based on terms and conditions, which is similar to those previously in existence for the previous agreement, which ended in 2021. It is subjected to your approval in the context of the fourth resolution. With respect to the existing agreement, the amount invoiced by Bellon SA for 2021 reached EUR 1,800,000. To end, we have issued 4 special reports as provided by law on draft resolutions covering delegations or authorizations that your Board of Directors is asking you with respect to capital transactions. They include Resolutions 16 and 17 that are up on the screen; resolution 19 and 20 up on the screen as well, which will be subjected to your approval. We have no specific items to bring to your attention with respect to these reports, which for some of them include some technical observations, as you can see up on the screen. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your attention, and I give the floor back to Madame Chair.

Thank you, Stephane, for this presentation. Before opening the Q&A session, I would like to inform you that the company has received a written question from one of its shareholders. And I'll give the floor to Cindy, who will read out this question.

Indeed, Sodexo received a question writing from Mr. Alan Balan, and the answer was posted online on our website. The question reads as follows. In 2021, Sodexo brought forward its annual shareholders meeting and its dividend payment by 1 month. Should we consider that in the years to come, Sodexo's financial calendar will hence forth set the annual shareholders meeting and the payment of any dividend for December?

Thank you, Cindy. Thank you Mr. Belidon for your question. Yes, indeed, the annual shareholders meeting and the payment of any dividend will now take place in December. We've managed to shorten the closing of our accounts, the period necessary for that and bring forward the date of our shareholders' meeting. That's why exceptionally this year in 2021, we had one AGM in January and another one -- now today is one in December. And next year, we'll have once again in 2022 a shareholders meeting in December. Thank you for your question, sir. So at this point, I think we will go through the questions from Mr. Claude [indiscernible], who is a member of the shareholders' club. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to join us physically here today, but he wish to ask 4 questions that Cindy is going to also read out.

The first question is as follows. With respect to Sodexo Live! Sodexo Live! is the new identity of the sports and leisure division of Sodexo, which is more in line with its international dimension. At the same time, you announced the sale of the famous Parisian Cabaret, Lo Lido. Is it your intention to withdraw from other company values, such as the Precatalon venue in Paris in the near future.

Thank you, Mr. Has for these questions. We've indeed reached an agreement with Accor company on the project to sell the Lido Dear. The Paris leader was a separate business in the Sodexo Live! portfolio and no longer fits into its growth strategy. Sodexo Live! has chosen to refocus its investments on developing catering and services and the brands, Bateaux Parisiens, Batobus, [indiscernible] Rydoo, which manages the recatalog. We're also fully prepared to renew the pre-catalog concession at the moment. So Sodexo Live! is 100% in line with Sodexo's strategy, and we remain very confident in the potential of the business, which those severely affected by COVID, has also demonstrated a strong capacity to bounce back following the gradual easing of health measures. More than ever, our consumers need to find time to relax and enjoy themselves as sports fans. The consumers, everybody, people who are music lovers, they all need to find time to lax and enjoy themselves, and Sodexo Live! has an offering to meet their demand.

The second question is as follows. Is it your decision to target more aggressively the global market for "hospitality packages on cultural", sporting and corporate events taking place at a time when in view of the rapid spread of the Delta variant, we are currently witnessing national and local lockdowns, such as was the case for the Beijing Games, which will be taking place in a health bubble, and that could lead to a drop in the revenues for this division. Question.

Well, Sodexo has been a key player in the major international sporting events sector for many years. So the Tour de France, for example, for 30 years. We've got a partnership with Tour de France 25 years, with the French Open or Longarone. We were already present at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 also. So since then, we've been actively involved with major events like the Rugby World Cup since 2007 or the Cricket World Cup in 2019. We've just signed also an important hospitality contract for the Australian Open tennis tournament. So lockdowns do have an impact, of course, on big events and, therefore, in these operations, Nevertheless, as I already mentioned, our customers need to find moments of relaxation and that they can share together an important experience and exciting experience. They need to have that kind of activity more than ever. So the Sodexo Live! offering of hospitality packages will be even more attractive when these events can take place under totally normal conditions. Our strategy is, therefore, to also offer our services to our regular customers, such as in the United States in the large stadiums.

The third question is as follows. In December 2019, the French Competition Authority hit Sodexo SA, the parent company, with a fine of EUR 126 million on 2 complaints involving in information exchange and foreclosure of the meal voucher market via the so-called Central relate, which is a French meal voucher regulation center. Because of the COVID pandemic, Sodexo was able to deferred payment of the penalty until the 15th of December while appealing this decision to the Paris Court of Appeals. Where does this case stand at the end of 2021?

On the presence point, I think, Marc, how long with some of the current status.

Thank you, Sophie, and thank you, Mr. Lars for your question. We have to take a note of this decision, but we strongly challenge it as this decision reflects a totally erroneous assessment of the practices in question and the functioning of the market. Indeed, Sodexo denies that the exchanges of information by the central deregulate, which were not a strategic nature were anti-competitive. The complaint of market for closure is also justified, especially since the market has seen the entry of several new players. As a result, Sodexo has appealed this ruling to the Paris Court of Appeals, and the appeal process is underway. The oral argument hearing was held on November 18. Court of Appeals is expected to give this decision November 2022. Cindy, the fourth and last question by Mr. Arosh.

After the departure of Denis Machuel at the end of the September and the interim general management of the company by Sophie Bellon in addition to a duty as Chairman, what is the safest of the recruitment of Sodexo's 4 CEO since its founding. And when will we see the white smoke rise over [indiscernible] to signify that a new CEO has been appointed?

Thank you, Mr. Arash for this question. I don't know about the white smoke. We've got to perhaps set up the necessary facilities to have white smoke come out, perhaps. Not sure it will happen. Anyway, last July, we announced that we were looking for a new CEO to oversee the group's new stage of development. A new CEO, man or woman, obviously. The search for the future, Sodexo CEO is ongoing. We're making progress, and we now have a short list of candidates that we're considering very seriously. But I'd like to recall is that identifying the right person to lead Sodexo is, of course, one of the Board's top priorities at this time. But this does take time, and I don't think I'll be able to announce the name by the end of this year. I remind you that this is an active interim post. So we finish with Mr. Akash's questions. I don't see any questions coming in through the Internet. So I suggest that now we should take questions from the assembly here.

Hello, Madam Chair. Should we call you mother courage as the German writer coined the word in his book because? According to Prime Minister Jean Castex, he called on you to maintain the general shareholders meeting today, and this is what you did. Now since you are looking for a new CEO, my suggestion, because you are sitting on the Board of Directors of another company, i.e., the L'Oreal Group, I guess you have met Nathalie Russ, who works in this company. I don't know whether she has been shortlisted as a candidate. But I would like to know once and for all what are your approaches Denis Machuel. This is my first question. My second question, since in the period between 2020 to 2021, you have acquired 4 startups, 4 start-up companies. Basically, Nourish Inc. and Food Sherry, Fortitude, Foodie and the last one, I would like to know what you expect from these newly acquired companies? And you also are engaged in a tax dispute in Brazil, and there's the case of Hungary as well. And tax authorities seem to be targeting you for fiscal year 2017. I would like to know what the status of these cases are. And also finally with respect to the increases in prices across the Board, will you be maintaining the costs of your purchases? Or do you have a fallback plan, a plan B, because in the next few years, we can expect prices to keep going up, right? I would like to thank you, Madame Chair.

Thank you very much, sir, for all of these questions. I'll try and answer I've jotted them down. I hope I've jotted them all done, and Marc and myself will try and answer them. Now let me start with the question concerning Denis Machuel. Denis Machuel became CEO of Silicon 2018, and he put in a very good performance. He managed the crisis very well. But world's been transformed very quickly at the moment. And we've got to go faster and further, and it was lens decision by the Board. We decided to look for some new leadership person to enter this new phase of our development for Sodexo. And regarding the quest for the future CEO, there are a certain number of criteria. Of course, we want somebody with long-standing, international experience. So great knowledge of the U.S. market in particular and somebody who will bring a lot of experience to bear and delight of the digital transformations going on in the world around us. So obviously, we're working with the headhunting company and the committee, the appointments committee working actively on this and the rest of the Board, too. And at this point in time, I cannot share any more information on that subject apart of what I've already said. Now you talked about the start-up companies that we've invested in. Food model is being transformed at the moment. Our consumers need food service that's not just in a corporate canteen. They might want to have a meal delivered to the office, they might be working from home. They might want to order a new tool. Sometimes they might want to go and have lunch with the colleague in a restaurant near the office, and they can use their Sodexo pass for that. So the acquisitions we've made recently, you mentioned Food Cherry and Season, for example. These are 2 companies doing deliveries of meals to companies, to places of work, but also they can deliver to people's homes. And the Food Cherry offering has been growing quite a lot. The Season offering. I think there is a kiosk outside, a couple of kiosks, actually, in the lobby of this building, so you can have a look at what the offerings are by that company. So this meets a consumer need. And the Season offering is several dishes that you can have delivered every week, at the start of the week. Maybe 2 dishes from the Monday, 3 for the Tuesday, 1 for the Wednesday. One for the Thursday. You order these dishes at the start of the week. And these new value propositions are in line with a real need by the consumers out there and a real need on their side, a more individual kind of need, and we invested in those companies to respond better to the demand out there in the market, the changing consumer patterns that we see these days. So the changing behavior patterns more organic, more local. Often, it's what people are looking for more vegetarian to, of course. So we're trying to adjust our offerings to these new consumer needs. You also asked a question about taxation in Brazil and another one on inflation. I'll let Marc Rolland answer those.

Yes. And I think that for Brazil, you are referring back to the 2 tax disputes we have with respect to the goodwill depreciation case with our subsidiary in Brazil. In both cases, we got favorable ruling from the first circuit court. So but this takes time. It may take 4 or 5 years before have a final ruling, but the first ruling is favorable. You spoke about the Hungarian dispute, well, Hungary entered the motion in annulation a few years back, but CRD confirmed its final ruling and the fact that the Hungarian State had to compensate us for this damage. And the dispute is underway. I can't say more for the moment. You've mentioned the inflation process and increase in prices in some countries. Indeed, prices have increased sharply. So our #1 role is to this price inflation and try and contain it as much as possible. so that this is not passed on to our consumers, and our teams are working hard not to recoup this inflation to our guests and customers. Thank you for your questions. I think at microphone #4. There's a question.

Sophie, I guess you can recognize me the fact that we are far away, I wanted to hail and commend the quality of your performance, which keeps getting better year after year. When I remember way back when you joined the group because today, this deserves deserve being commended. I want to go back to the case of Denis Machuel. From what you are explaining, if I understand well, this has been a decision by your company to close the chapter. But from what I've read on the Internet and on the gray line, it would seem that some institutional shareholders who might have found performance suboptimal, with respect to shareholder returns, we would have exercise pressure that a more dynamic, more financial oriented and more profitable oriented leader to be appointed. I find this an extreme position. Is this rumors on the gray vine? Or is there a substance in these rumors and people have told you that you needed to change course. And really, this is something which bugs me.

I'm doing my best. Thank you very much for compliments. I'm really touched -- Thank you, sir. I'll do my best. If you think I made progress, well, I'm happy too, because -- This is 1 of our values in Sodexo, the spirit of progress. So it means that I'm enforcing the rules and myself, too. So it's not the investors say, and it's not touched by your remarks. Regarding tone, I can tell you that the Board of Directors is fully shouldering its responsibility on this. I'll give you the reasons. And it's not our investors. I mean, we listen to what our investors say, of course, we regularly communicate with them, but it's not the investors who dictate to us this strategy or the kind of conduct we should expose in this company. The Board of Directors decided unanimously, I made this decision unanimously the Board who made up its mind on this. things you might read on the Internet. Well, I can't comment upon. You got to be careful sometimes there's fake news on the Internet, too. As you know me, personally, I think I urge you to believe me than what you read on the Internet. Is there another question or another microphone? I don't think so. requisite and there are not as many of you as we normally have in the whole. I think people wanted to stick to the health rules, and we're trying to do it here ourselves, too. On the rosters, you can see that's probably why there are fewer questions than we normally have today.

And in case if there are no other -- there is a question, I think, at one of the mics.

Yes. Madame Chair, I quite agree with the previous -- with the previous shareholders said. I think there was a great progress since you've been chairing Sodexo. My question is about the future. What is your take on the future 2 or 3 years down the road? We've been hearing that there might be a fifth sixth or seventh wave of COVID. And how do you believe Sodexo will weather all these storms without failing.

Thank you for your question. It's indeed an important one. Now as you've seen in our results, while our business operations bounced back in Q4 of our fiscal year, that's just been closed that ended up at the end of August. So our business operations picked up 87%. Now some segments, of course, came back to their pre-COVID level in for the schools and health care, for example, and also Benefits & Rewards. And the things like facilities management even exceeded the pre-COVID levels. We're at 110% there. So there is this recovery taking place, economically speaking, with the Omicron variant that's been around for a few weeks. Now there's a threat hanging over our business operations, but countries haven't initiated lockdown, most of them, and economic life continues. It's important in countries that we operate in, a lot of the population has now been vaccinated. In France, for example, 92% of the population eligible for the vaccine, those people have been vaccinated already. So we have accrued experience. We set up health rules and so on. For example, there's a consultative medical council that advised us. In the U.K. We didn't mention this year today, but in the U.K., we signed with the NHS, the National Health body, the equipment of our French Ministry of Health, let's say. We signed with the NHS a large contract in the testing centers. It's a contract that's about EUR 300 million worth. So this health crisis, obviously, when the employees in the company are working at home, they're doing homeworking, it cuts us off from some of our revenues, but it was already groundswell trend we were seeing before with the COVID crisis, but at the same time, it's an opportunity. If you look at the testing centers, that's a good example. A case in point. Also in companies, they're trying to get their employees back on site because they've understood that if people came to work on site just 3 days after 5, it was important for them to be around even if it was only 3 days. So the food service offerings are more high-quality offerings. They want their employees to be able to enjoy themselves, relax, thanks to quality food service, and they want them to feel safe as well. And in facilities management, of course, it requires us to do more work actually. So we're currently giving talks to Vital Spaces offering so that the time spent at the office will be a time that we enjoyed, that we shared where people will be able to share the corporate culture and keep their bonds with their fellow workers. So this requires us to be a bit nimble and adapt, but we're quite confident about this because over the last 18 months, we've adjusted totally. And this crisis is an accelerator for trends, mega trends that were already out there that just have been fast tracked in the way, multiplied by a factor of 10 or something. So it's an opportunity for us because it obliges us to change on our side faster. And as I said earlier, in the message I delivered, our potential market is huge, EUR 900 billion. So we've got to adapt. We've got to work together and go and capture that huge potential market. I hope you're as confident as I am in the future. I hope I've given you confidence in the future for the future of the group, of course. Is there another question? Just trying to see. There's a gentleman. Perhaps, I didn't answer all your questions.

I have a last question, in fact, with respect personal services, childcare services. Will you be keeping these services in-house?

Yes. that concerns our childcare services. We have a partnership with the Grand Deere Company, which is the European leader in this area. And Sodexo will retain a stake of 20% in the new group. So it means we haven't left that area fully at all. But we've allied with a partner, a large size partner. So that together, we can become a European leader or maybe even someday globally during that area. We didn't think we'd be able to do that alone though. That's why we opted to ally with a partner. Well, this time, I think it was the last question. So I suggest that we should close this Q&A session now and recall that the team in charge of Investor Relations and Shareholder Relations, our team is available to answer your questions throughout the year. I'd like to give the floor back to Cindy now to vote upon the resolutions.

So the quorum, which was given to you at the beginning of the meeting, being a transitory quorum, I will give you the final quorum, which will be taken into consideration for the voting of resolutions. The number of shares mentioned on the attendance sheet with respect to the number of shareholders being present represented or having voted by correspondence amounts to 124,218,876 shares or 89% of shares with voting rights, and the legal quorum has been reached for both the extraordinary and the ordinary report. So voting on the resolutions can validly proceed. We will now turn to voting of the resolutions. I suggest we look at a short video which will tell you how the remote controls work for voting. [Presentation]

Ladies and gentlemen, the first resolution is the adoption of the individual company financial statements for fiscal 2021. I'll open the vote now. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.99% of the votes. Second resolution, adoption of the consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2021. The poll is open now. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.97% of the votes. Third resolution, appropriation of net income for fiscal '21, determination of the dividend amount and payment date. The poll is open. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is now adopted with 99.21% of votes. Fourth resolution, with respect to the approval of a related party agreement for the provision of services by Bellon SA to Sodexo. I opened the poll. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is now adopted with 61.02% of votes. Fifth resolution, the reappointment of Francois-Xavier Bellon as a director for a 3-year term. The poll is open now. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 91.63% of the votes, 91.63%. Sixth resolution, the appointment of jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Chatillon as a Director for a 3-year term. The poll is open now. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.98% of the votes. Thank you. Seventh resolution, about the approval of the information related to the compensation of corporate officers and directors paid during or awarded for fiscal 2021. The poll is open. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.9% of the votes. Eighth resolution, approval of the components of compensation paid during or awarded for fiscal 2021 to Sophie Bellon, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. The poll is open. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 97.66% of votes. Ninth resolution, approval of the components of compensation paid during or awarded for fiscal 2021 to Denis Machuel, Chief Executive Officer. The poll is now open. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 95.54% of votes. 10th Resolution, determination of the total annual envelope for Directors' compensation. The poll is open now. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.28% of votes in favor. 11th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the directors for 2022. The poll is open now. [Voting]

This resolution is adopted with 99.91% of votes in favor. 12th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors for fiscal 2022. The poll is open. [Voting]

The poll is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 96.99% of votes. 13th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the CEO for 2022. I open the poll now. [Voting]

This resolution is adopted with 93.47% of votes. Resolution 14th resolution, approval of the components of compensation for fiscal 2022 of Denis Machuel, CEO until September 30, 2021. Please vote now. [Voting]

The voting period is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 89.5% of votes in favor. 15th resolution, authorization for the Board of Directors to purchase shares in the company. The poll is now open. [Voting]

The poll is closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.87% of votes. 16th resolution, authorization for the Board of Directors to reduce the company's share capital by canceling treasury shares. The poll is now open. [Voting]

The poll is closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.96% of votes. 17th Resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors to increase the company's share capital with preferential subscription rights for shareholders. The poll is now open. [Voting]

This resolution is adopted with 98.91% of votes in favor. 18th resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors to increase the company's share capital by capitalizing premiums, reserves or profit. The poll is now open. [Voting]

This resolution is approved with 99.96% in favor. 19th resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors to increase the company's share capital in favor of members of employee share purchase plans. The poll is open. [Voting]

This resolution is adopted with 99.94% of votes. 20th resolution, authorization for the Board of Directors to grant restricted shares to employees and corporate officers. The poll is now open. [Voting]

Voting is now closed. This resolution is adopted with 92.67% of votes 21st resolution powers to carry out formalities. The poll is open now. [Voting]

The poll is now over. This resolution is carried, 99.99% of votes in favor. Finally, I would like to remind you that you have the possibility to receive your notice of meeting and to vote in a digital manner via the platform called Vote Access Wind Courage. Those shareholders who have not yet done so to subscribe to this voting service, which will allow them to exercise their rights in a simpler and faster manner. Thank you for your attention. I now give the floor back to Sophie Bellon.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for voting on these resolutions. Thank you, Cindy. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for the confidence you've shown in the Board of Directors through your votes. As there's no further business on the agenda, I declare the meeting adjourned. I thank you for your participation in this annual shareholders' meeting, and I hope that we'll be able to come together again under even more pleasant conditions at our next meeting in December of 2022. And above all, until then, do take care and happy Christmas and New Year. Thank you.