Dear shareholders, dear family shareholders, dear directors, dear employee shareholders, welcome. Welcome to the Syensqo's 2025 Annual Shareholders Meeting. It is a real great pleasure to have you with us today for this important milestone. As you just saw in the video, we are celebrating our first 500 days and what a journey it has been. From day one, we have never lost sight of our potential. It is good to pause and remind ourselves why and what we were born for, why your company is poised to win. We are here to lead. We are here to inspire. We are here to thrive. Let us be honest a bit. The world today is anything but simple. Uncertainty has become the only certainty. Trade tensions, geopolitical shocks, tighter regulation, supply chain pressures, they are all in play. Yet, within this volatility, we see opportunity.
Resilience is not an option anymore. It is essential. You talk about confidence. As you can see, it's shaky. Business confidence is fragile, and consumer confidence has declined with the most recent data points in the United States of America, pointing towards a near five-year low. Obviously, the U.S. and China have been leading the world GDP absolute growth in the past 15 years against other economies, and they will continue shining. While the Global Industrial Production Index is moving, it's certainly not roaring. Europe and the U.S. are still trailing pre-COVID levels. The rebound has been steady, but certainly not spectacular, except for China. China, in fact, became the industrial production hub of the world. Definitely, China is surging ahead. Look at our sector, the global chemical industry. In the past 15 years, China gained 20% market share, while Europe simply lost 8%.
If you zoom in, carbon and energy costs in Europe are the highest. This is putting pressure on our sector in our homeland, Europe. Now, similar to the background, if you can see it on this slide as we speak, and as you know, the tariffs war is raging between the U.S. and China and is dictating not only short-term measures for our companies, but also a comprehensive review of the long-term manufacturing footprint on-shoring strategies. One may ask, is the rest of the world asleep? The response of Europe is the Clean Industrial Deal. Last year, 1,200 companies from 25 sectors across Europe signed the Antwerp Declaration here in Belgium, including Syensqo. Our message was clear: Europe must get back in the game. One more data point. Last week, I was visiting one of our automotive customers in Germany. They shared with me this graph.
Look at it. Historically, car production, as you can see, has closely tracked GDP. It has decoupled post-COVID-19, shrinking in some regions and causing high uncertainty for automotive OEMs and their suppliers globally. Of course, and then there is climate change. Let me look at the glass half empty. It represents physical risk, such as floods, hurricanes, water scarcity, damaging or shutting down our assets and sites. This could threaten up to 25% of corporate profits by 2050, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Let me look at the glass half full. It is a catalyst for new growth. The transition to a low-carbon economy opens opportunity for Syensqo as we help our customers to reduce their environmental footprints, and that opens new paths to profits. This is how, ladies and gentlemen, sustainability becomes strategy, and strategy becomes impact.
If you need a reminder of the pace of the change, just open the headlines. Disruption is not the exception. It is the default. Uncertainty is now the status quo. As a result, many of our customers and peers are undergoing significant restructurings. Companies across the EU, China, and the U.S. are reevaluating their strategies to adapt to this new reality and maintain competitiveness. You should by now say, "Oh my God, this is a really sobering Ilham." It is. There are opportunities. While the challenges are real, the opportunities are very real too. As you know, difficult times can open the door to our greatest breakthroughs. This is why your company, Syensqo, is poised to thrive. Look at this. In aviation, the engines of growth are roaring back to life. There is a strong growth outlook for us.
Commercial air travel is set for massive expansion, and defense is ramping up too, as you know, driven by rising budgets worldwide. Believe it or not, at 2023's production pace, it would take the commercial aviation industry 12 years just to fulfill today's order book. Batteries. You all read about this. Did you know that the cost of batteries recently dropped below $100 per kilowatt-hour? And the annual battery demand for EV cars and storage surpassed actually 1 terawatt-hour, which is 10 times the demand for batteries seen just six years ago. The EV market will continue growing double -digits in the next decade. I like it. Global demand now for metals, for base metal, has never been higher and is still growing. Lithium, copper, and nickel are the backbone of clean energy, of electrical vehicles, of semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. The world needs more copper.
We at Syensqo can make this happen. As you know, yes, technology is reshaping how we live, how we work, how we connect faster than ever. Need proof? Just look at the curve. This is the computing power needed to train each new generation of language, of AI models. It has skyrocketed over a million-fold and is still doubling or tripling every year. This is not a moment, ladies and gentlemen. This is a mega trend, and it is going to stay. Who will be the winners? They will be the ones playing where the curve is steepest, in high-performance computing, in the tools that enable it, like advanced chips, and in the energy systems that keep it all running. By the way, it needs cooling too. At Syensqo, we like to make servers cooler too.
What does all of this mean for companies who are born to thrive? It means they need to look at sector diversification, even if they are pure players. It means they need to have regional and local footprints where it makes sense to be near their customers and mitigate the impact of wars or trade wars. As the world de-globalizes, I believe that smart companies will redesign their strategies at regional levels with precision and speed because one size does not fit all. It means they need to address physical risk on assets simply to de-risk their business. Let me now show you how your company, Syensqo, is future-ready and built to win. Remember, a year and a half, you know, in Syensqo is not just standing. We are sprinting. We build a solid foundation rooted in innovation and resilience.
Since our strategic split in December 2023, Syensqo has been built for strength, focus, and lasting impact. Here is how we endure. We have two leading specialty business segments: materials on one hand, consumer and resources on the other hand. Each packed with growth potential. Not only that, our business is balanced across multiple attractive end markets. Look at this, which gives not only growth opportunities but resilience in difficult times. Since the merger, we are exposed to superior growth regions in the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions. All factors that fuel our ambition to consistently outpace markets and outperform peers. We pride our 13,000 explorers. Many of them operate across 62 manufacturing sites, 12 research and innovation centers around the globe to continue advanced science and serve humanity. We are not doing this alone. We are doing this with customers.
At our 45 application labs, like in Alpharetta, like in Boulder or Shanghai, we co-create with our customers in real time. They come with a problem as simple as that. We are in love not with our technologies. We are in love with their problem. They leave with a solution in hand. Look at our four complementary businesses. They work in Sync. We are exiting where we believe we are not the right owners for the assets in hand. In fact, since the merger, we are more focused. We are more disciplined. With it comes accountability and responsibility. We are locked in on where we can create the most value for you, our shareholders. As we wrap up our separation from Solvay, we have worked hard to make the invisible plumbing, I would say, seamless to our customers, to our suppliers, and to you, dear shareholders.
This is thanks to the extensive efforts of our dedicated colleagues. I'll let you in on something today. More than 450 people were mobilized in the past four days, including this past sunny weekend in Brussels, in order to migrate 300 systems, 150 hypercritical. This is a monumental task and one of our biggest cutover milestones of the year. We now own our systems. Please join me in giving them a round of applause. This is not easy. I've done it once in my life, and I'll tell you, this is what kept us up at night and the leadership the whole weekend. It has been an incredible year of building our foundation. Through all of that, we also delivered. Let's turn to our 2024 annual results.
In a very challenging and uncertain demand environment last year, we delivered resilient net sales performance with double-digit growth in composite material, and we like it. Our EBITDA of EUR 1.42 billion was in line with the outlook we gave at the start of the year, and we like delivering on our promise, resulting in another year of strong margin performance. This is one of the highest margins in the industry. Of course, cash is king. We delivered close to EUR 400 million of free cash flow. We also took steps to strengthen our financial profile, and it was pretty good before the merger. We've done big transformation in Solvay times. We successfully completed our inaugural $1.2 billion denominated bond offering, which was more than four times oversubscribed, believe it or not. We ended the year in a very healthy financial position with only 1.3 times net leverage.
A good balance sheet is the secret, always. All of these factors have allowed us to reward you, our shareholders. As our Chair, Rosemary, mentioned, subject to your approval of the board's dividend proposal today, we will have returned EUR 234 million to you, our shareholders. This is an increase of 38% compared to 2023. We have continued our shareholder returns in 2025 with EUR 75 million of shares repurchased since the beginning of the year. Today, of course, we propose you a vote for a gross dividend of EUR 1.62 per share. It is stable year on year in absolute terms, but this represents a higher payout of 31% versus 23% in 2023. Let us turn to how we make all of this happen. As you know, we are scientists, and we love science. We are explorers, and we love exploration, as our purpose states.
We are here to push the boundaries of discovery and create breakthroughs. It's all about innovation. Look at this. Our 2024 vitality index is 21%. This is a 20 basis point increase from 2023. What does it mean? This means that we reinvent ourselves every five years. Every five years, we reinvent the entire portfolio. This is not just innovation, ladies and gentlemen. This is reinvention on repeat. That is what companies who want to thrive need. We need to create what our customers need most. Listen, work with them on their future and met needs. Design and fabricate solutions built on today's challenges and tomorrow's mega trend. Actually, you may not know it, but since day one of the merger in December 2023, our executive leadership took a sharp look at our innovation pipeline, and we reshaped it for more impact, more focus.
As you can see here, today, more than half of our innovation pipeline is focused on materials. This is our highest margin segment. There is a healthy share in consumer and resources programs. The rest, we call it platform. This includes batteries, biotechnology, green hydrogen. We like this pipeline. It's now balanced. It's sharper, faster, and laser-focused on smart bets with quicker returns and lower risk. We do not just innovate to innovate. In fact, we co-create to serve our customers and help them serve the world. I trust you have all heard of the Mendeleev periodic table, of course, right? This is our raw material kitchen. Allow me. I'm a chemist. This is how we code. That's how I speak with my son, how we code. As a passionate chemist, let me show you now the Syensqo periodic table.
For the science in the room and dear Mr. Mendeleev, please forgive me. Let me walk you through some of the best elements of our business. We are still in the Mendeleev table. We're going to show you highlights of Syensqo, the best of the best, be it chemistry, product application, or customers. Let's start with S. S for single aisle. High-rate programs like the next generation single aisle are springboard for composite materials, and the potential is just huge. Syensqo is leading the way in developing advanced material solutions, thermosets, the existing thermoset epoxy resins, but also thermoplastic composites, adhesive sensor facing films designed to meet the high volume demand of commercial aerospace. Now, Mo for e-motor. As you can see, our e-motor peak, it's a magnet insulation system, is a game changer.
We are coating here the copper wire that powers electrical motor under the hood in your car. It's a small component, but with a big job, boosting power density, thermal performance, and overall motor efficiency. Syensqo's technology raises the bar more efficiently, fully recyclable, and made without solvents. Cleaner for performance and clearer for the planet. Ease for non-metallics. As you know, the rising demand for energy is a major global trend. As population grows, prosperity rises, industrialization increases, and new technologies hit the market. However, you may know corrosion is a big concern for industries worldwide, specifically offshore. Look at this. Its cost represents about 3.4% of the global GDP. Let me repeat, 3.4% of the global GDP. What a waste. That money could be serving other societal needs, isn't it?
Fortunately, our non-metallic solutions offer complete corrosion resistance to dramatically reduce maintenance costs and improve operating efficiency. Now, this is one of my favorites for those who know me since 2019. F is for non-fluorosurfactants. We became the leader in non-fluorinated surfactant technology called NFS. Our new Tecnoflon® FFKM NFS is the first material ever on the market to be manufactured without the use of any surfactants at all, and the very first to offer certified circular contents. Our resins are resistant to more environments, especially those in advanced semiconductor manufacturing process. I invite you to take a look during the break at some of our best products displayed just outside this room. MN for micro needling . Did you know that the global vaccine market is valued at $94 billion?
Traditional vaccinations, I'm sure you've all done one, pose challenges such as leakages, contamination, or accessibility, especially when vaccines have to be transported across countries. That's why our explorer researchers are working on a needle-free vaccination technology. Did you know that? We are creating a needle-free vaccine patch that can help increase efficiency and effectiveness of a vaccine immune response while reducing the need for cold chain technology during storage and transportation. I can tell you, this is going to be very disruptive. The next one is well known, G for guar. Guar is a game changer in the beauty industry. It's a plant grown in Rajasthan, India. This renewable resource is a key component, luxurious formulation, shampoo, personal care creams, and is highly appealing for environmentally conscious beauty products. We are by far the leader in guar derivatives, and our guar-based brands set new standards.
Standards meeting both performance and sustainability expectations. BI for biologicals. We are establishing a more sustainable agriculture industry with a new generation of crop protection and nutrition products based on biological actives such as microorganisms. Biological-based products adoption remains hindered by issues of shelf life, inconsistent efficacy compared to traditional products. Syensqo's formulation expertise is making the difference here. Finally, this is the only Mendeleev element that matches our example. Of course, it's the smallest element. It's hydrogen. You know it. And more precisely here, it's green hydrogen. It is the missing piece of the clean energy puzzle. With this, we can store more clean energy without weighing us down, save more clean energy without going to waste, and de-carbonize where we never thought possible. We are present in many parts of the green hydrogen value chain.
Our fluoro and aromatic ionomers power electrolysis where we produce it, energy storage with composites and fuel cell technologies. This is from splitting water to storing hydrogen and then converting it back to electricity. Imagine we help make clean energy truly circular. Now, dear shareholders, now that you've seen what we are capable of creating and what our value proposition is, let's hear from some of our customers. Why are they choosing Syensqo? It's better when customers say it than us, right? You heard it. They choose us for all of this: for our values, for our technologies, for our performance, and more importantly, for our people. We have a vision, and they trust us. They count on us. I always say it. When we talk about accounting our company, they don't see their future without us, and we don't see our future without them. That's a relationship.
Around the world, our teams are out front, closer to customers than ever, including the leadership teams, by the way. At Syensqo, and that's the beauty of the demerger as well, we want to become hunters. We were born to hunt, and we are getting better at it. We are not resting on our rollers. We have got an arsenal of new tools to rely on. Let me show you. Let me show you live how your company continues to improve, this time using GenAI. Please, let's welcome with me our AI sales buddy. This is Ilham Sales Buddy, who will help me prepare a meeting with a tier one automotive player. For the sake of the demo, I will call our customer BEV Mobility. Hi, Sales Buddy. On May 14, I have a first meeting with Bev Mobility based in Detroit, Michigan. Can you update me on our current relationship with them?
Dear Ilham, Syensqo informs us of a strong partnership since 2018. Our development pool includes electric motors, power electronics, and brake systems, with room for growth. BEV Mobility focuses on material performance, light weighting, and sustainability, seeking innovative solutions to enhance product performance. I'm adding a link to this AI-led card to give you a complete overview.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Buddy. This is very helpful, I'll tell you. Now, which technology solutions can we present to help them achieve better performance?
Great question. Syensqo recommends our high-performance Ajedium™ PEEK Slot liners film, the best solution on the market for significantly reducing slot liner thickness, and KetaSpire® PEEK in magnet wire , known as the top choice for electrical insulation. These innovations enhance electric motor efficiency, leading to lightweight designs and a reduced total cost of ownership.
Other potential applications for motors include a Model PPA for busbars, Ritten for HV connections, and Zencor LFT for slot wedges. By the way, I've prepared some slides for you capturing all these details. Additionally, I share the contact of Manfred Dury, CAM for Priemotor, who has successfully implemented the magnet wire solution for a similar customer. He can provide some insights that I may not be able to offer at this stage of my development.
I'll call Manfred, definitely. Finally, what strategic insights can we leverage to strengthen our proposal?
Syensqo analyzed internal insights and external marketing data on electric vehicles and sustainable solutions, helping to pinpoint specific opportunities at BEV Mobility, such as in power electronics, steering, and electronic pumps. My recommendation is to ask the following questions during your meeting on May 14th.
Wow. Thank you. Thank you for the questions, Buddy. I really love them.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I've been in sales a long time ago in my career, and it would have taken me ages, weeks, and months to do this. So we've explored our sales buddy's potential. Let's now hear from our sales team who are achieving real success, what they are doing with these tools. Amazing, isn't it? By the way, George is here in the meeting room, so you may want to talk to him. As you can see, our sales buddy actually is not the only digital tool our employees can use. Of course, we have our ChatGPT, our secure in-house AI, is catching on fast. Users are soaring, and you see the numbers. And for many, it's already second nature. As incredible as these AI and digital tools are, and we believe in them, and we are using them smartly, they must serve people first.
I'm especially proud that we signed our AI charter with full support from our unions. It's one of the first public legally binding treaties in the industry, very first. Our European Work Council representatives are here with us today. Thank you. Thank you all for standing with us on every bold step forward in our transformation. Now, let's talk about seizing opportunities and shaping a better tomorrow. Of course, one can think about one planet. Our one planet roadmap is not just good for the planet. It is what our customers expect, our employees expect. It's not just a project. It's a strategic advantage as it helps, in fact, de-risk our sites and strengthen our business for the long run. Sustainability is not charity. It's about efficiency, business continuity, and long-term success.
Syensqo's One Planet is exploring and delivering innovation with lasting value for our customers while advancing humanity and reducing our environmental footprints. Let me show you what great progress looks like. In 2024, we hit 50% of our 2030 climate targets, starting from a very strong baseline in 2021. We are well on our way to become carbon neutral by 2040, 10 years ahead of what the EU is targeting. Today, believe it or not, 75% of our sites globally use renewable electricity. Where? In the United States of America, China. We have already hit 100%. Think about it. In the U.S., our solar power farm spans the equivalent of 700 soccer fields. We are not slowing down. Every Syensqo site has a roadmap to go even further. Here, Scope 3. We are already halfwa y to our 2030 Scope 3 target.
The first three years brought some rapid structural reduction. Indeed, you collect the low-hanging fruits. Now it is time. It is time to pick up the pace and push even further. How are we doing it? How do we push even further? Indeed, we do it with others. We cannot do it alone because we are not in this transition alone. We are aiming to create more sustainable value chains across all our markets with our suppliers and our customers. In early 2025, our teams launched a supplier Climate Pledge targeting mutual agreements with our top 70 suppliers. As you see, they account for about 80% of our greenhouse gas emissions from raw materials purchased. We already got 35% in the bag. That is not all. This year, we unveiled for the first time water scarcity targets very close to my heart.
We are cutting fresh water usage in our sites, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is smart business and it reduces costs. By embedding circularity into everything we do, we are not just reducing waste. We are reshaping value, driving innovations, and creating solutions that last. The results are here. We quadrupled our circular business in the past five years. Imagine this. We are becoming more circular. We are also helping customers to go greener, and they are all in. Obviously, the many recognitions we have received by third parties, accreditations, and knowledge that we are on the right track. It is my pleasure to tell you that your company is proud to be fully aligned with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive Standards, commonly known as CSRD. Thanks to the incredible dedication of our teams, you are much appreciated.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our external auditor, Ian White. They are present here in the first row for being both supportive and challenging partners. It is good for us in this first year. Thank you. Thank you for raising the bar and making it happen with us. You do not see a racing car every day, right? We brought it for you. We have embarked on a meaningful partnership with DS Penske. It is a beautiful story. It is a story of shared values, innovation, and performance. This is what Syensqo is about. While, as you know, we are leaders in providing Formula 1 advanced materials like composite materials, Formula E allows us to rethink speed and performance. This car you see on stage is a Generation 3 FE23, to be a bit technical. It can reach up to 320 km per hour.
It can get to 100 km per hour under 3 seconds and can generate 40% of its power while braking. The next generation we are working on, the FE25, will go even further. It will include this rear, you see it here, this rear casing, fully composite, entirely made with our composite materials. These parts will play an essential role in maintaining both performance and competitiveness through the next season, 2026-2027. By the way, it will reach 100 km per hour in just, they told me, 1.9 seconds, believe it or not, quicker than the current Formula 1. More importantly, with this partnership, we are learning how to move faster, build better, lead in clean mobility. This is zero-emission sport. I love it. By the way, do not try to sit in the car. I tried. It is extremely difficult.
For you, we have a photo booth in the hall to take pictures. Now, imagine this. Nine days. Quick, isn't it? Right? Nine days. Nine days around the world non-stop in the open skies with zero emissions. That is not science fiction. It is the science behind Climate Impulse. Look at the market over there. Thanks to Syensqo's breakthrough solution, it is becoming a reality. Please take a look in the hall. Your company's innovations are what is making that dream fly. With Climate Impulse, we are not just taking off. We are taking our legacy to new heights. Speaking of legacy, you know that I love legacy. We are proudly carrying forward Ernest Solvay's legacy with the documentary Antarctica, a tribute to the beauty of our planet and the urgent need to protect it. I invite you.
I invite you to watch it if you did not do so, the 2050 documentary that came out this March. Visit. Visit the Princess Elisabeth station too. I am so proud that you will be able to see our founder's portrait finally installed by the explorer Alain Hubert right where it belongs. Belonging. Now, none of this, of course, would be possible without people and people and people. We like to call them our explorers. Most important in my mind, and you have heard it said many, many times every year, is their well-being. That is why safety remains our first priority. Despite the great progress in the past decade, you can see it, we will never, never be satisfied until we reach zero incidents.
Of course, we continue to offer 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave to all new explorers who are becoming parents, regardless of gender, location, or family structure. That's who we are. Because supporting our people means supporting every kind of family. Another one very close to my heart as well. We are on track to deliver a living wage by 2026. As of today, 95% of our human capital has been reviewed and is fully compliant with the Wage Indicator Foundation. Now, from day one at the demerger, we've stood by our code of business integrity, including the supplier, by the way, Code of Business Integrity. These are not just policies. Don't be mistaken. They define how we work, how we do business. Now, we also took a bold step forward, and that's what you expect from your company. We published our very first Human Rights Report.
Only a few companies out there go that far. We did it because doing business the right way is not optional. Publishing it was a moment of real pride for all of us. You will find those commitments publicly available on our website. Now, you have seen it in the video at the beginning. We unveiled our new behaviors, an essential part of our explorer culture. Explore means we are curious. We learn and learn and relearn. Advance means we bring different perspective, and we rise as one. Impact means we think customers and we deliver results. What is most encouraging from those behaviors are our people. Our people are not just employees. They are shareholders. Many of them are here with us today. Thank you for being our shareholders. Thank you for backing the vision and having skin in the game.
I was traveling in China just a few weeks ago. Nearly one in two of our employees in China owns a piece of Syensqo. I love it. They stand up in town halls and they said, "Ms. Kadri, I have a question for you, not as an employee, but as a shareholder." This is a powerful sign of trust, commitment, and shared success. Turning our attention to the day-to-day, we continue to ensure a fair and inclusive workplace, and our explorers appreciate it. Look at this. It's not only about engagement anymore. 88% of our managers are trained in inclusive culture. Thanks to them, we have been building a new culture where leaders are inclusive. They listen, but also bold, fearless, and react to acts and ready to act with conviction. This is not top-down only.
We pair it with a bottom-up fair and inclusive approach through our local activators, our ambassadors who are bringing our values to life. They are the champions of our culture on the ground. Finally, the Syensqo Fund. It continues to fuel breakthrough science, support and help communities, children's education, Gen AI education, and more, enabling meaningful solutions for a sustainable and inclusive world. Now, do not just take my word for it. Let's now listen to our explorers, the ones that work hard every day to make your company thrive. Ask the question, why and why not? This is what we do at Syensqo behind the curtain. So inspiring. Ladies and gentlemen, let me end with this. First, thank you. Thank you to all of our employees because none of our first-year achievements in a tough environment, innovation launches this past weekend cut over. I cannot even believe it.
Or progress at all would have been possible without your energy, your resilience, and your belief in what we are building together. Of course, between you and me, 2024 was not the easiest year in my career. There will be other years like that. In the face of challenge, we did not pause. We pushed forward. We did not waste a good crisis. We are emerging stronger. We were born to endure. We built on financial strengths after the split with one of the strongest balance sheets in our sector. We were born to hence. We stayed focused and disciplined, embracing new ways of working and thinking. We were born to innovate. We invested where it matters and where we know we can win. We have a powerful portfolio, as you have seen, aligned with the biggest trends shaping the world of tomorrow.
We are leading in many of them. We were born to serve, to serve our customers and shape tomorrow. We have gotten closer to our customers, even closer than before, and we will continue to do so. We are moving faster with sustainable solutions. We were born to thrive because Syensqo is not just a company. Syensqo is a mindset. Syensqo is a mindset to lead with courage, to build with purpose, to advance humanity. This is your Syensqo. Thank you for believing. Thank you for choosing us. Thank you for thriving with us. The best is yet to come. Thank you.