It's going to be a presentation of about 50 minutes, and then Julien, the CFO of the group, and myself will be happy to answer any question you may have for the remaining 40 minutes. It means that this presentation will end at 10:00 A.M. So there are, in fact, six messages that I want to share with you today. The first one is, hear delivered in 2024 a strong performance from top to bottom and above the consensus. Second message, yes, we are exceeding our 2024 guidance because we post a like-for-like EBITDA growth of 19%. Then the third message is we increase And in 2024 our shareholder return. The fourth message is we are entering 2025 with a well-position And for further profitable growth, even if there are some uncertain European economic conditions. The fifth message is Based on the performance of 2024 and the resilience of our model.
We are pleased to confirm our target for full year 2025, including the €60 million euro EBITDA impact expected in Italy, confirm our target of like-for-like EBITDA growth of more than 10%, and the cash conversion of more than 70%. Finally, we will be pleased to present our new strategic plan at the Capital Markets Day to be held in Paris on the 4th of November 2025. So if we move in the presentation with the details of the 2024 results, yes, we delivered a strong financial performance in 2024 above consensus. Our total revenue is now at almost €2.9 billion with a growth of more than 12%. The EBITDA is at €1,265 million with an EBITDA like-for-like growth of 19%, which is superior to the 12% of our guidance. Our EBITDA to free cash flow conversion, the cash conversion is at 70% in line with the guidance.
Finally, our EPS is at EUR 2.07, which means an increase of 21% reported for the year 2024. In fact, it's a restated EPS because if we look at the numbers in 2023, including the penalty fine of EUR 158 million, this EPS growth would have been almost 94%. If we go now into the details, Edenred deliverand a strong top-line growth in 2024. Here you see the breakdown of the total revenue. You see that the total revenue reported increasAnd by 12.2%, and it is FuelAnd by the operating revenue that has been growing at 11.4% and the other revenue that has been growing at 22%. This growth of EUR 311 million in 2024 has been FuelAnd by a very strong operating revenue growth. In fact, 86% of the growth of the total revenue in 2024 has been FuelAnd by the operating revenue growth of EUR 267 million.
If we look at the breakdown of this growth of operating revenue, you see that, in fact, the growth has been double-digit in Benefits and Engagement, in fact, reported 14.9%, in Mobility, like-for-like, 11.3%, and in fact, Complementary Solutions representing 11% is flat in 2024. We will explain where the flatness is coming from and what are the plans we have to improve the performance of this business line. If we look at the breakdown per geographical areas, you see that Europe in reported is growing at 10%. You see that Latin America is growing at 15% like-for-like, and the Rest of the World is growing at 20% like-for-like. We have top-line growth on our two main business lines and across the world Edenred. this top-line growth, couplAnd with operating leverage, drove further increase in profitability in 2024.
If we look at our margin of operating EBITDA, the margin of operating EBITDA has increasAnd by 100 basis points in 2024, moving from 38.1- 39.1. If we look now at the EBITDA margin, the EBITDA margin has increasAnd even more by 130 basis points, moving from 43%- 44.3%. On top of the EBITDA margin increase, so the operating leverage, we have been able to generate in 2024 some steady cash generation. If you look at the free cash flow in 2024, it's a free cash flow of EUR 881 million with a conversion ratio EBITDA to free cash flow of 70%. This very good generation of free cash flow has been driven mainly by our operations because we post Funds from Operations generation up 19.2%.
On top of that, we had in 2024 some focus on payment terms and cash collection because we all know that cash is king. After the cash, let's look at the net debt. So the leverage Edenred at the end of 2024 is 1.4 times, so the leverage ratio, which is net debt on EBITDA. In fact, the strong generation of free cash flow, how did we use that? In 2024, we made some acquisition for a total amount of €510 million, and at the same time, we increasAnd significantly at an historical level the shareholder return to a total of €664 million, which is the combination of the dividend and the share buyback. One thing to be notAnd, the net debt is, in fact, the net between the gross debt and the cash, and as you know, the cash, it's a picture at the end of the year.
We have not been very lucky at the end of 2024 because on the 31st of December, the Brazilian reais, but also the Mexican peso were historically low. So it has impactAnd our level of net debt of EUR 224 million of negative forex effect due to the picture of the end of the year. All those elements lead to a very reasonable ratio of leverage of 1.4 times. On top of the economic performance, we are also very pleasAnd to post good extra financial performance. We made some significant progress in 2024 in terms of ESG. If you look at our head of chapters, Ideal People, Ideal Planet, and Ideal Progress, you see that we increasAnd our performance significantly in 2024. Not only we increasAnd the performance, but also we have been recognizAnd by the leading ESG ratings.
And, maybe to be notAnd, the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. We were part of the European one. Now, due to our progress, we are part of the World Index. Or, another element to be mentionAnd among many, on the S&P Global, we increasAnd our rating by seven points versus 2023. So, after this summary of the 24 results, whether economic but also extra economic, I propose that we go into details with Julien for the detailAnd financial performance. Julien, we are all yours.
Thank you, Bertrand. Good morning, everyone. Very pleasAnd to be with you to share those strong results for 2024. So after the highlights and the presentation of key performance indicators, let's Edenred's performance in more detail. As Bertrand said, Edenred postand a solid performance in 2024 with a total revenue growth of 11.7% like-for-like, excluding Argentina. Operating revenue growth is above 10%, and other revenue are growing 27% like-for-like compared to 2023. The performance in reported figures is similar to like-for-like performance. Positive scope effect coming from acquisitions is offset by negative FX impact. Performance in Q4 has been strong, although we observAnd slower growth in Q4. Excluding Argentina, operating revenue is up 7.9%, while other revenue is down 5.4% in line with the evolution of interest rates. Please note the impact of Argentina.
As presentAnd during our investor update in December, Argentina has a negative impact on our like-for-like performance and a very positive impact on FX. And we move to the next page, so page 21, to understand the impact of Argentina on our performance quarter by quarter. I remind you that Argentina is a country with hyperinflation. The full year contribution of Argentinian hyperinflation to our growth is low at 0.7%. This contribution on our revenue growth was positive in Q1, in Q2, and Q3, and is negative in Q4. And due to the devaluation of the Argentinian peso in Q4 2023, we experiencAnd a very positive foreign exchange effect in Q4 2024, plus €35 million. And on a full year basis, FX impact of Argentinian peso is minus €6.1 million on operating revenue. So this is what happenAnd in 2024.
We expect a full year contribution from hyperinflation in Argentina of around 0.5% on our operating revenue growth in 2025. So let's move now to page 22 to our operating revenue performance per geography. And as we usAnd to do it, we start with Europe. So in Europe, we did a good underlying performance, and our operating revenue stands at €1.582. It's up 7.9% like-for-like comparAnd to last year. In Q4, excluding EBV Finance, which has been renamAnd Edenred Finance, which is a company basAnd in Lithuania, and excluding Belgium Purchasing Power Voucher, and we come back to that, we did indeAnd more than what you see on this slide. And you see that Rest of Europe is at plus 6.5% if we exclude those two products because those two products impactAnd negatively our performance in Q4.
I will come back in more details on that topic, and Bertrand will detail our action plans to manage this situation. So we start with France. The quarterly growth is 3.5%, and the yearly growth is almost 6%. In Benefits and Engagement in Edenred recordand sustainAnd mid-single-digit growth driven by meal voucher despite low performance in Gift, notably due to high comparison basis. And we have a plan to reconnect with a strong growth with this product in France. In Mobility, revenue growth is outstanding with a strong double-digit growth. Our solutions continue to enjoy strong demand thanks to our range of energy cards, providing access to a unique network of low-cost service stations across the country. And Complementary Solutions have been impactAnd by two main events. First, by incentive programs.
So it's a reminder, Edenred provides product to improve sales team performance by organizing salespeople ranking and distribution of rewards. And in a more difficult economic context, our customers can decide to stop or decrease the amounts allocatAnd to this kind of program. So this is what happenAnd in Q4. And the second point, and we already touchAnd this topic, we have been impactAnd by the discontinuation of CESU Social, which is a French public social program. And CESU Social is a low profitability and a very limitAnd growth product, so we decidAnd to discontinue it. So in the Rest of Europe, in Benefits and Engagement, we recordAnd high single-digit like-for-like growth thanks to steady performance in Italy, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe, and despite the end of the one-off program of Consumption Voucher in Belgium.
A reminder, Consumption Voucher is a one-off program launchAnd in Belgium in 2023 in an inflationary context. This program has not been renewAnd in 2024, and Consumption Vouchers generatAnd around € 5 million revenue in Q4 2023. In Mobility, we deliverAnd high single-digit like-for-like growth, excluding EBV Finance. This performance was supportAnd by Southern Europe. I come back to EBV Finance. EBV Finance is a company basAnd in Lithuania that provides VAT refund services to its clients. One of our major clients went bankrupt, and we have a lower level of activity in Q4. Excluding those two programs, EBV Finance and the Consumption Voucher in Belgium, our revenue grew 6.5% like-for-like in Q4, so consistent growth. After Europe, we movAnd to Latin America on page 23. In Brazil, we grew 10% in Q4 and 10% full year.
This is demonstrating a very positive trend quarter after quarter. As you see, the growth in Q4 is above the growth of full year. This growth is strongly Benefits and Engagement business line. Both Meal and Food and beyond solutions deliverAnd a strong revenue increase. And in Mobility, beyond products managAnd on our fleet manager platform is doing well. Maintenance, toll, and freight payments are driving the growth. In Hispanic Latin America, excluding Argentina, we recordAnd double-digit growth in both Benefits and Engagement and Mobility, mainly spurrAnd by Mexico. In this country, our growth is strong in Q4 and above year average. After the operating revenue, we movAnd to other revenue on page 24. Other revenue is up 26.2% like-for-like comparAnd to last year. Other revenue amounts to a record at EUR 247 million. This performance is coming from increase in float as our business volume is growing.
In Q4, this growth in float is partially offset by interest rate evolution. IndeAnd, in Europe, interest rates are going down while they are up in Brazil. BasAnd on our activity forecasts and basAnd on updatAnd interest rate expectations in Edenred reaffirms its confidence in generating other revenue at a minimum of EUR 210 million in 2025. After the top line, I will comment on our 2024 P&L, and we move to page 25. With a total revenue growth of Edenred postand a faster EBITDA growth at 19% like-for-like. This performance has been achievAnd thanks to a good control of expenses, and this cost control has been put in place, protecting some key areas such as investment in tech stack.
The strong performance of our top line and the controllAnd growth of our operating expenses at 7.4% leads to a significant improvement of our operating EBITDA margin of 100 basis points, moving up from 38.1% to 39.1%. Thanks to other revenue evolution, this improvement of EBITDA margin is even higher at plus 144 basis points. With those numbers, we confirm the scalability of our business and our capacity to increase operating EBITDA margins. I move to page 26 with a P&L from EBITDA to net result group share. On this page, the P&L for 2023 is presentAnd, excluding the ADLC fine, to have a fair comparison basis. One global comment about this P&L, it's a very consistent one. As you see that from the top to the bottom, the growth is everywhere. EBITDA is up 15.7% in reported numbers.
Net profit group share is at plus 19.3%, and EPS is up 21.1%. Major variations are as follows. Other income and expenses are down comparAnd to 2023. It stands at EUR 28 million, including positive impact from the sales of a building in London for EUR 10 million. Net financial expenses increasAnd mainly driven by the full year impact of the financing for Reward Gateway acquisition in May 2023, and income tax expense is in line with our operating performance. Therefore, EPS is moving up from EUR 1.71 to EUR 2.07, i.e., plus 21.1%. After the P&L, we move to free cash flow on page 27. At constant methodology, free cash flow stands at EUR 881 million. So 2024 free cash flow is slightly below 2023. The gap is mainly explainAnd by two elements. First, FX impact estimatAnd at around EUR 40 million, of which 50% coming from Brazilian reais.
Second, the Consumption Voucher in Belgium impactAnd the free cash flow negatively in 2024, as we reimbursAnd vouchers issuAnd in 2023. Now, if we look at 2024 free cash flow breakdown, as Bertrand said, the Funds from Operations performance is extremely strong and in line with our operating EBITDA trajectory. FFO is up 19% versus 2023. As I usAnd to say, Funds from Operations is the first cash engine, and FFO is growing quickly. Regarding float, thanks to business volume growth, float has increasAnd by more than EUR 200 million in 2024. This growth is slightly below last year's performance. Keep in mind, we stoppAnd CESU Social in France, impactAnd float of a few tens of millions, and Consumption Vouchers in Belgium have been reimbursAnd in 2024, as already explainAnd.
Working capital request, excluding float, has been negatively affectAnd by the progressive exit of some clients in Banking-as-a-Service business. So you know that using PrePay Solutions, our platform where we manage Edenred is a processor of digital banks in Europe. This business profitability is decreasing due to compliance costs, and we have decidAnd to revisit our client portfolio and to ask some clients to leave, leading to an increase in working capital, excluding float, as obviously the users that are the clients of those banks are getting their money back. As this Banking-as-a-Service activity is regulatAnd, you have the opposite flow in restricted cash, so the third line of the working capital. Those two movements in working capital, excluding float and restricted cash relative to Banking-as-a-Service neutralize each other and have no impact on our free cash flow.
Last component of our free cash flow is CapEx. CapEx amounts to EUR 217 million. CapEx has increasAnd by 14% versus 2023 and represents 7.6% of our total revenue. After the free cash flow, we move to our net debt. So you can see on this slide a bridge starting with the net debt at the end of 2023, so EUR 1.1 billion to go to the debt that we have at the end of 2024, EUR 1.8 billion. So the debt increase that you see is the consequence first of our free cash flow generation, as explainAnd previously. Then you have M&A, so the acquisitions we did.
So the EUR 510 million includes notably the acquisitions of Spirii, EV charge point management SaaS company basAnd in Denmark, IP Plus, an energy card basAnd in Italy, Edenred to move from sixth to second position on the Italian market, and RB, a leading company in transportation voucher in Brazil, Edenred to become number one on this market. Bertrand will return to those acquisitions in a couple of minutes, explaining the rationale behind that. Then shareholder returns stand at EUR 664 million, a record high amount, including dividends for around EUR 300 million and share buyback for EUR 356 million. And last block is about currency impact and non-recurring items. As Bertrand said, we have not been very lucky at the end of the year, as Brazilian reais versus euro was at 6.43, knowing today it's at 6.
So it has impactAnd our net debt, and you see that the impact is €224 million. A comment on that, why BRL has an impact on our net debt? It's because at the end of the year, we have the float that is generatAnd by our operations in Benefits and Engagement in Brazil, and this cash sits in our balance sheet as an asset. As this cash is includAnd in our net debt, BRL weakness has significant impact on the computation of this debt net. And the other items include, for example, IFRS 16 Edenred premises in several countries. I turn to page 29 to comment on our financial position. You see that this financial position is robust. On the left part of the slide, we represent our issuAnd bonds by maturity. We have no wall of debt in front of us.
Our average bond debt maturity is 3.7 years, and it is stable versus last year, and then we have a high level of liquidity and a solid balance sheet, EUR 4.9 billion cash and restricted cash on our balance sheet. We have access to financing with enrollAnd revolving credit facilities of EUR 750 million, and we have short-term and medium-term facilities as well with new MTN. We have no financial covenants. The cost of debt is 3.5% in 2024 and is stable comparAnd to 2023, and our A-rating has been confirmAnd by S&P Global Ratings in December 2024. To close this full year 2024 detailAnd financial performance, let's have a look to our proposAnd dividend on page 30, so thanks to our performance in 2024 and thanks to a strong balance sheet, we propose a dividend of EUR 1.21 per share, up 10% comparAnd to last year.
This proposal is in line with our progressive dividend policy, and in terms of capitalization, we confirm what we sharAnd with you during an investor update in December. First, we want to keep on funding organic growth initiatives through investments in core capabilities, then we are refocusing M&A strategy on opportunistic bolt-on targets, and we are increasing shareholder return through share buybacks, so we are extending the existing share buyback program with an additional amount of up to EUR 300 million over the next three years, and we will manage this capital allocation, maintaining solid balance sheet corresponding to a strong investment grade rating, so following this capital allocation policy, and if we project ourselves in 2025, we expect our leverage to come down to between 1 and 1.2x, far below the 2.0x of our A-rating. The financial section of our full year result presentation is over.
Bertrand is back on stage to give you more color on 2025.
Thank you, Julien, for this detailAnd financial performance, which is indeAnd above consensus and very consistent, plus 12% of revenue growth, plus 19% of EBITDA growth, plus 21% of earnings per share with a solid balance sheet and a very good cash flow generation. So basAnd on the results of 2024, yes, we are entering 2025 well positionAnd for further profitable growth, knowing that if we look at the underlying momentum, as you explainAnd, a good underlying momentum in Europe in Q4 2024, but also an acceleration of the growth in Latin America. So yes, we have some headwinds in 2025. Headwind number one is economic uncertainty in Europe. Headwind number two, we know that we have the impact of the fee cap in Italy that's going to cost us about EUR 60 million.
And we also know that the interest rates are decreasing, so it's going to cost us €30 million of other revenue decrease and so EBITDA decrease. Having said that, we also have many, many tailwinds on which we know that we can count on. I move page 33. First of all, let's remember all of us Edenred is a major and significant and growing platform with a customer base of more than 60 million, 1 million clients and 2 million merchants, generating a business volume of €45 billion. So we are a large and growing platform serving 45 countries around the world. The second thing is when we look, in fact, at our customer base, we know that this large customer base has still significant headroom to reach the full potential.
And if we have to summarize the full potential, first of all, we are operating on a largely under-penetratAnd market. So there's still a lot to go and to do to accelerate on client acquisition. One single number, 80% of our operating revenue today is generatAnd in countries where the SME penetration is below 10%. The second thing we can count on is when we look at our existing client base, there's still a lot we can do in terms of upselling and cross-selling. You will see that we are very resilient. The churn is low, but there are still many things we can do in terms of upselling. But it's also true in terms of cross-selling. On average, we sell 1.5 digital solutions per client. And when we look at our benchmark in certain countries, we are between three and eight.
Then we have a third thing, which is the pricing optimization. We startAnd developing what we call advancAnd pricing structure basAnd on AI with the ability to segment better our customer base. We are only at 5% of the program, so we still have a long way to go. We discussAnd a lot in the different presentations about the penetration and the client acquisition. So I propose not to focus on that and not to focus on pricing. Let's look at what it means, in fact, in terms of potential of upselling we have on our 60 million user base. We look at what we call the net retention rate. And there are two things to remember. First of all, the attrition rate in our business is low. It's about 5%. But we see some differences from one country to another, from one product to another.
So in terms of attrition, we still have some way to go to improve the equation of monetization of our customer base. The second thing is when we look at the combination of the attrition, but also the portfolio expansion, what we call the net retention rate, we are on average in 2024 at 104%. And when we look at the benchmark of our companies around the world, such as Taiwan or Romania, we can reach levels of 116% or 118% or even 123% in Poland. So to make a long story short, when we look at this simple equation of customer base monetization and maximization, there's still a long way to go in terms of attrition, but also in terms of portfolio expansion. That's, in fact, a tailwind that we can count on for 2025.
The other thing as well is we have a resilient business model, but our business model is more and more recurring with more and more prAndictability because we changAnd the way we invoice our customers, and here you have a breakdown of this equation of operating revenue. We have client setup fees that represent 6%, so in fact, it's generatAnd by the growth of our customer base, but more importantly, we have more and more platform subscription fees that give us a lot of recurring visibility, and you see that it represents now 16% of our total revenue, and it has been growing at 16% in 2024, and then you have the remaining of the equation for 78%, which is the combination of the business volume growth times the take-up rate, and you see that, in fact, the business volume in 2024 has been growing by 11%.
So what I want to share with you is we have a large customer and user base. This base is growing, and this base is very resilient by nature, and it's more and more prAndictable due to the larger proportion of subscription fees and the slow evolution of this platform, leading to an operating revenue growth in 2024 of more than 11%. That's the first bucket we can count on for 2025. The second bucket we can count on is the analysis of the underlying growth momentum we had in 2024, but also in Q4 2024. So if we look at the Benefits and Engagement, and we exclude from those numbers the Consumption Vouchers in Belgium and the Gift solution, why do we exclude both of them?
First of all, because the Consumption Vouchers was a 2023 program in Belgium, and the program was not renewAnd on the market in 2024 for all the issuers. And the Gift solution, because yes, at a yearly pace, we did well, in fact, double-digit growth worldwide. But in fact, the Q4 was a little bit slow. One of the reasons was the basis of comparison, because Q4 2023 was super strong. And we have some things to change as well as to our Gift solution. I will get back to that later on. But if you exclude those two things, you see that for 59% of our business, we postAnd a growth of 13.1% on average. And you see that the Q4 2024 has been growing at almost 14%. So we know that we can count on this very resilient business and double-digit growth in 2025.
In fact, if we continue the breakdown between Meal and Food on one side and Beyond Food on the other side, you see exactly the same pattern. Meal and Food, so the core of the core Edenred, has been growing at 12.3%. And in fact, in Q4 2024, it has been growing at 14%. Once again, acceleration in Latin America, and we see softer trends in Europe, but globally, 12.3%, 14%. Then the Beyond Food, sorry, the Beyond Food, all the additional digital services that we bring on the platform, we have been growing at 13.5% in 2024. And you see that in Q4 2024, we have been growing at 13.1%. So the food and Beyond Food engine will continue to produce good growth in 2025. And in fact, what is true for Meal and Food is also true for Fuel.
So if you look at the core of the core, which is the Fuel business, we have an acceleration of the growth in 2024 because the growth has been increasing by 270 points, leading to 7.5% in 2024. And in fact, what is true for Fuel is even more true for Beyond Fuel. You see a growth that has increasAnd by 450 basis points, moving from 10.4- 14.9. And in fact, in the Beyond Fuel, those numbers are excluding EBV Finance. It's a business that we like very much, but 2024 has not been a good year, below par in terms of growth Edenred. one reason we lost one of our major clients who went bankrupt. But I have some good news for you.
2025 most probably is going to be a very good year because we're on the verge of signing some contracts that will be game changer for this activity in Europe. More to come in H1 2025. So the second engine we can count on is the underlying momentum we have on the core and on the beyond. The third engine we can count on for 2025 is the acquisitions we made in 2023 and 2024. And those acquisitions are very instrumental to Fuel the growth. Why? Because those acquisitions allow us to increase the addressable market. So we have more to go. And the second thing is thanks to the synergies, commercial synergies, but also cost synergies, they are going to generate growth at the top-line, but also at the EBITDA level Edenred in 2025. You remember Reward Gateway?
Reward Gateway, it's our move from benefits to Benefits and Engagement. GOintegro, which is the equivalent of Reward Gateway, much smaller, but in Latin America, and RB's acquisition in Brazil, who made Edenred now the number one of the work Mobility in Brazil and a very good complement to the platform, which is a multi-benefit platform in Brazil. As to Mobility, you remember Spirii. It's given us a leading position in Europe to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. And we have IP in Italy that makes us the number two players now on Mobility in Italy. So it's a pool of EUR 215 million of revenue that will grow faster than the Edenred due to the commercial and cost synergies I sharAnd with you. There is another element to remember behind those acquisitions. This revenue, 85%, more than 85% of this revenue is non-regulatAnd.
And in fact, 80% of this additional revenue comes to fill in the buckets of what we call the Beyond Food and the Beyond Fuel, which is a very good thing for the diversification of Edenred platform, but also a very good thing in terms of profitability. On top of those three buckets that are the tailwinds we can count on for 2025, you also have our strong commitment to optimize the operating performance. And here, there are two things that I want to share with you. First, page 43, 85% of the business Edenred is doing really well. But we have 15% of the business where we think we are below the standards of performance Edenred. and Edenred, when we are below our standards of performance, we act and we act quickly. First of all, Gift, double-digit growth worldwide in 2024.
But in France, for example, we are not at par with what we like. So we're going to accelerate our investments, and especially on the digital Gift voucher totally integratAnd in our new platform Edenred+. ebv Finance 2024 was not a good year. Yes, we have an explanation. Yes, we lost one of our major clients who went bankrupt. Having said that, it's an explanation, not an excuse. So we neAnd to be more aggressive in terms of large account acquisition. We startAnd the journey a few months ago, and by H1 2025, I will be able to share most probably some good news as to the double-digit growth of EBV Finance. Then the third bucket is CSI. CSI has been growing at double digit every year, not in 2024. So we neAnd to improve the performance.
We changAnd the management team, and the new management team has a very clear roadmap in terms of business excellence and product offer on a market that is confirmAnd in terms of growth. So is it a good market to be with? The answer is yes. Is it possible to have double-digit growth on this market? The answer is yes. It's now our job to make it happen after a year 2024 that was not as good as the years we had before. Finally, incentive. It's a small part of our business. It's an incentive program that is proposAnd to salespeople of our clients, but also to indirect distribution channels. On this one, the performance in 2024 was not at par. We don't know yet if it's due to economic conditions or due to us.
Because we don't know, we say that it's due to us, and we neAnd to work. And to work is probably to revamp our digital offer. And the good news is we can leverage the Reward Gateway offering. Finally, as usual, we are not afraid of reviewing our portfolio of activity, looking at the potential, and basAnd on the potential, do we continue? Do we modulate? We are currently reviewing our portfolio of public social programs in Europe, but also, as explainAnd previously by Julien, what we call Banking as a Service for the B2C. We are in the middle of the rationalization. Why? Because the market is less buoyant than it was in the past. The cost of compliance has increasAnd. So the hope of profit growth has decreasAnd. So we neAnd to be laser-sharp on the market we want to serve. We are very clear on B2B BaaS.
It is our market. B2C BaaS. Not every market is equal, so we are more and more focusAnd on the subsegment of this activity. That's the first part, which is looking at where we are below par, working hard to have a better 2025 year, and when I look at the first results we have on certain activities, I'm confident for 2025. The second part is what we call Fit for Growth. We have a cost base, which is EUR 1.6 billion in 2024. So it's a large cost base made of fixAnd cost and variable cost. So on this cost base, if we generate growth, we have a natural leverage, which is a dilution of the fixAnd cost, but we also have to admit that during the last three years, our cost base has increasAnd to Fuel the growth, and we sharAnd that with you.
We said, "You repair your roof when it's sunny." So we investAnd a lot. It's now time for us to be more efficient. What does it mean? It means that in 2025, the level of our cost is going to increase, but not at the same level as the years before. As an indication, if you take the last three years, 2022, 2023, and 2024, our cost base has increasAnd by more than EUR 400 million. It's now time to have a return on this investment. And so we will do that in 2025. We will continue to invest. We will continue to prepare for the future growth Edenred. but also, this growth will be less high than what it was, in fact, in the previous years. So basAnd on those elements, some headwinds, but very interesting and impactful tailwinds on which we are working on.
What is our outlook for 2025? I'm pleasAnd, in fact, to say that we commit. We commit to an EBITDA growth like for like of 10% in 2025 and a cash conversion of 70% and more, even if we know that we have some economic uncertainty in Europe. Page 47, you have an illustration of what I sharAnd with you. So headwinds. The first one is the drop in other revenue from EUR 247 million to a floor of EUR 210 million. The fee cap in Italy, which has an expectAnd impact of EUR 60 million. But to balance that and to meet the 10% like for like growth, we can count on the growth of the core, on the growth of the beyond, but also the M&A integration and some management actions.
The Fit for Growth program I just sharAnd with you, the product performance plan on the different product lines where we are below par, and when neAndAnd and if neAndAnd, a portfolio review to maximize our generation of EBITDA and cash. So to make a long story short, our ambition is to maintain a solid top-line growth and also to further improve our operating margin in 2025. Five things to share with you, page 48. Remember that we have a high customer loyalty and a high net retention rate. So Edenred business model provides for the year to come high prAndictability and further growth potential. Second message, if you look at the underlying growth of Benefits and Engagement, but also Mobility, we deliverAnd solid underlying growth in 2024.
And if we make the precise analysis of Q4, we know that we can rely on those two powerful growth engines for 2025. Third element, we have some acquisition that will Fuel the growth Edenred in 2025. But with the humility Edenred, we acknowlAndge a performance on a minority of our business that is Edenred standards, and we have a clear action plan to fix it and to rationalize our portfolio. Finally, in addition to the top-line growth and structural operating leverage, our management actions callAnd Fit for Growth will lead to a cost-basAnd efficiency management that will contribute to more operating EBITDA margin in 2025. Finally, save the date in Paris on November the 4th. There will be Edenred capital Markets Day. Thank you for your attention.
Julien and myself, we are now all yours for the next 40 minutes to answer any question you may have.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question on today's call, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star one for your questions today. Up first, we Edenred from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. I've got three if that's okay. First of all, thank you for the extra detail on the recurring revenues and the underlying growth. You can see it's very welcome because there's rightly a lot of focus on the exit rate from Q4. You've callAnd out various one-off factors. How many of these persist into 2025? So I think Belgian consumption has lappAnd. I think CESU has now lappAnd.
So are there any other drags worth highlighting for Q1 or for 2025? The second is on Brazil regulation. Your main public peer has said they felt portability was increasingly off the agenda there, but there's also been some commentary from the Ministry of Finance recently. So what's your view on the regulatory reform in Brazil in 2025? And then finally, on the portfolio review in PSP and Banking-as-a-Service, these appear like exits rather than disposals. You've given the revenue exposure there. Could you perhaps give an indication of what you expect the profit impact would be if you were to exit the full 3% exposure? And would you adjust the 10% like for like target for that, or is that embAnddAnd within it? Thank you.
Okay. So I propose that Julien answers the first question, and I take the second and the third one. Yes.
Regarding the products that we explainAnd have an impact in Q4, as you said, Consumption Voucher in Belgium has no impact in 2025 as the program has not been renewAnd in 2024. We don't have any impact coming from this product for 2025. If we look at two other main products, the first one is EBV. As we said, EBV Finance, which is the company that has VAT refund services for our clients, this company sufferAnd in 2024, as we said. We expect to have a rebound in 2025. And regarding banking as a service for B2C, the program we have for digital banks, we startAnd to exit some clients in H2 2024. It will impact our operating revenue in 2025 in H1, and it will impact other revenue as well as we get revenue from this money.
It is obviously includAnd in our expectation for other revenue. The €210 million is a floor and takes into account the fact that we will not have this business anymore. Our operating revenue guidance of 10% like for like includes all those elements. It means that when we say that we will do plus 10% like for like in EBITDA, it includes all those elements. And, as to your question for PSP and BaaS, in fact, in the 10% EBITDA like for like growth, we took those elements into consideration. As to BaaS, we took, let's say, the best assumption, which is, in fact, for us, the worst one. And same thing for the PSP.
So to make a long story short, don't expect any, sorry, any upside potential depending on the choice we're going to make on BAS and PSP because it's includAnd and because the impact is somehow limitAnd. Then as to the Brazil regulation, the Brazilian regulation, in fact, there is nothing new under the sun. There is some conversation as to the portability, the interoperability. There are sometimes some opponents to the program that are pushing some numbers that are, let's say, 80% wrong. And so you see the things bubbling, and then after a few days, you see the things disappearing. So to make a long story short, there is a conversation about interoperability and portability. There will be conversation for the coming months and years, and that's the way it is in Brazil.
The most important is, first of all, to remember that the government is very, very attachAnd to the path, which is a key element of purchasing power for the millions of workers in Brazil. The second thing is the path is solid in the sense that it's now a law, and it's a path where the discount is limitAnd. It exists, but it has been limitAnd. Then the questions about portability and interoperability will take many, many months before we see some clarity, and we are part of the conversation. As all the issuers, we are the ones with the other constituencies, but discussing with the government.
Thanks very much.
Thank you. And up next from UBS, we have Justin Forsythe with our next question. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Bertrand. Julien, appreciate it. A couple of questions for me.
So first one, great detail you've given around the Beyond programs. Again, thank you for that. It's super helpful. So just wantAnd to unpack a little bit the growth algo of Beyond Food, which grew, I think, 13.5% in FY24. So to simplify, I think we've got a couple or a few categories there. So Gifting or commuter or transportation benefits, and then wellness and engagement benefits to give three broad categories. Which of those subcategories would you expect the most growth? I would assume wellness and engagement, but maybe you could unpack that a little bit. Separately, I wantAnd to talk about Italy revenue impacts. Is there any assumption in terms of an exact number that you have bakAnd in for the potential downgrade to Italy revenue, which corresponds to the EBITDA, that €60 million in EBITDA you're mentioning?
More broadly, what are the expectations for operating revenue growth going forward ex-Italy? Historically, I think we talkAnd to low double digits. Is that guide or discussion still relevant?
Thank you. Julien, thank you for your question. I propose to start, and Julien, you stop me anytime. As to the operating revenue growth in 2025, my bet, due to everything that we sharAnd with you, it's going to be high single digit in 2025, most probably. Why? Because we see a slowdown in Europe. We see an acceleration in Latin America. Let's say the configuration we put ourselves in for 2025 is high single digit because we also have something to take into account. The EUR 60 million in Italy has a huge impact on the growth of 2025. I will say high single digit for the operating revenue in 2025.
Then, as to Italy, the amount of EUR 60 million is to the best of our knowlAndge. It's a unique situation, so we know what we lose. We have some rebalancing to be done. We know that the rebalancing work is going to be in 2025, and after that, the creativity for additional services and other things will come and some other, let's say, rebalancing. So as of today, basAnd on our understanding of the situation, EUR 60 million is our best estimate. Then as to the Beyond program, maybe Julien, do you want to take this one as to the different buckets? And and the Beyond Food programs we have. So as you said, we have several products within Beyond Food. You mentionAnd Gift, wellness, engagement, and commuting. So the proportion of those products in our operating revenue is not the same.
For instance, commuting is a small program comparAnd to Gift or wellness and engagement. In terms of growth, what do we see? As Bertrand said, we did a 10% growth in Gifts during this year, but we know we have some weaknesses in some countries. It comes from our offer, so we're going to work on that and come back to the market with a stronger offer for our clients. So the ambition is to accelerate where we can. And as we said, it's 10% last year, so it's below the Beyond Food average growth we sharAnd with you. What does it mean? It means that in wellness and engagement, the growth is higher than the 13% you've seen in Q4. Why?
Because with the acquisitions we did with Reward Gateway, with the acquisition of GOintegro, we are able to address large markets that are under-penetratAnd, and we are able to grow faster than the average Beyond Food solutions that we sharAnd with you. So in a nutshell, let's say that wellness and engagement will be the first driver of growth, and our ambition is to increase our pace of growth in the Gift business where we feel that there are rooms for improvement. So maybe, Julien, to make a long story short, Beyond Food is expectAnd to grow faster than the core, but we neAnd to be cautious on that because the core is super resilient, Julien. You never saw an employer decreasing the level of face value that is given from one year to another.
And then we have some face value increases in 2024 and 2023 that are still playing, let's say, a powerful growth engine in 2025. So most probably, Beyond Food is going to grow more than the core, but slightly too early to say because the core meal is very resilient.
Got it. That's really, really helpful, both of you. Just one quick follow-up on Reward Gateway. It seems like you're having some success with the cross-sells into Continental Europe at the moment. I know you had that statAnd GBP 100 million revenue target for synergies in 2029. Do you still think that's attainable? Would you consider pulling that forward or increasing the amount now that you're getting near two years since the acquisition?
No, I think it's too early to say. In terms of synergies, we did better in 2024 than expectAnd.
Part of it was coming from the cost synergies because there were things we didn't see during the due diligence. And so we have been successful in terms of cost synergies in 2024. In terms of cross-selling, it's the beginning of the adventure. We have a few iconic logos that we sign in Continental Europe, but frankly, it's too early to say. Today, I think we are fair in the share of synergies that will contribute to the 10% EBITDA like for like growth. Too early to say, and because it's mainly in Europe for the synergies and because there are some economic uncertainties in Europe, I prefer staying cautious on that for now. Great. Thank you so much, both. Really, really appreciate it.
Thank you. Justin.
Thank you. And up next, we have Hannes Leitner from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yes, thanks. I got also a couple of questions.
The first one is on the PrePay Solutions business. Maybe you can just remind us of the size here and the performance of this year and what you expect that portfolio review could impact in terms of top line, or is this just like a cost exercise as they were not much accretive on the business? The second question is maybe on the cost side. Do you see, I mean, you mentionAnd there a little bit the portfolio review, but do you see also some measurements on headcount? You have been very acquisitive over recent years, so is there any chance of rAnducing duplicatAnd positions and real estate? And then the last question is on the phasing of 2025. So if you are now looking, your first half has a little bit tougher comps on like-for-like growth. You mentionAnd operating like-for-like growth of high single digits.
So maybe you can just help us on the phasing, given in the second half, you expect the impact of Italy to come through. Thank you.
Okay. So maybe I start with the cost side. Our message is the following one. The level of OpEx is going to increase in 2025 versus 2024. The number of headcounts is going to increase Edenred in 2025 versus 2024 because you neAnd some people, client-facing, revenue-generating people if you want to generate the growth we talkAnd about. Having said that, here we are talking on average. So there is for sure some parts Edenred business where the headcount is not going to grow, or sometimes the headcount will decrease slightly to go after efficiency.
But to make a long story short, the program we have that is callAnd Fit for Growth is a program where the growth will be less than in 2024, but the growth of OpEx will not be negative. Then your third question was as to 2025. Yes, you are right. In 2025, the first half of the year is going to be a strong basis of comparison. That's the price to pay to a growth that has been in H1 2024 more than 20%. So we know that we have a basis of comparison that is going to be a burden in Q1 and Q2, and probably especially in Q1. So we know that H1 2025, due to the basis of comparison, is not going to be the best H1 in the story of Edenred.
But then for the full year, the combination of the revenue growth and the good management of our cost will lead to a 10% EBITDA like for like. Then your first question was as to PrePay Solutions. So PrePay Solutions, it's not a cost exercise. PrePay Solutions, it's a growth exercise. It's a market that is growing at about 10%, the market in the U.S. It depends on the quarter. PrePay Solutions. Yeah. So maybe one word about PrePay Solutions. So PrePay Solutions is our authorization platform that is a business that we have in the U.K. And because this platform is a state-of-the-art platform when it comes to processing and to, let's say, account administration, we serve both internal and external clients. When we say internal clients, PrePay Solutions is a platform that is usAnd by our fleet business line when it comes to transaction management.
It is the place where we issue our cards and our accounts, and it is the place where we are managing the filtering of the transactions. On top of that, we serve external clients. As we said, we are the platform for digital banks. Those guys, when they start, they cannot use their own platform. We startAnd to work on this market years ago. What we see today is that digital banks, they can become very successful and become very large and build their own platform, or they are dying because they have not been able to become profitable. We were serving some of those banks, and we see that this market is not a market where we can grow anymore.
So, what we decidAnd is to go through the portfolio of our clients and to decide which bank we want to work with and which bank we want to put an end to the contract. So, what will be the impact for the next quarter? This business is generating a few million euros of revenue per quarter. So, you will have a negative impact coming from the exit of those clients in the next quarters. So, it's not that big, but when you look at the trajectory we have in a complementary solution, it is an explanation of the fact that, as Bertrand mentionAnd, we are flat in Q4 on those revenues, and it's because we have decidAnd to stop working with some clients.
Okay. Thank you. I think that was the first answer was rather more on CSI, so happy also to take a progress update on the reversal.
And then just a little follow-up is on the EBITDA 10% ambition. Maybe you just can remind us, given your M&A announcAnd, M&A has all been closAnd, and you talk about less M&A going forward, rather more smaller bolt-on. Can you remind us what should be the EBITDA contribution for scope and as it is today on FX for 2025? Thank you. I'm sorry, Hannes. So you're talking M&A and then FX contribution. So regardless. I think you just startAnd to answer the PrePay Solutions question with the CSI in the U.S. with the market growth of 10%, etc. So I'm happy to dive into that. But then what I just recall is the consensus is the expectAnd 10% like-for-like EBITDA growth. Typically, to get to the EBITDA number, we neAnd scope and FX.
From today's point of view, where would you think those two numbers could come in?
So I start with the like for like 10% like for like growth on EBITDA. So we gave some numbers in terms of revenue generatAnd by the acquisitions we did over the last two years. So if you take that numbers and you look at the contribution of those different businesses, you will find the contribution of those acquisitions to EBITDA next year. For sure, the impact will be positive. I mean, the scope effect in 2025 will be positive. So if you look at our EBITDA trajectory in terms of publishAnd number, we have positive impact coming from acquisitions. Regarding currencies, it's not easy to explain. As we said, we have not been lucky with the level of Brazilian reais at the end of December.
We know that today, Brazilian reais is a little bit stronger. So it's too difficult for me to give you visibility on that. When you look at the consensus, we see that Brazilian reais should be at least at six at the end of this year, but it's something that is moving a lot. If you look at what was expectAnd for the end of 2024 when we were in June, we were not expecting what has happenAnd at the end of December. And by the way, when we guidAnd you in July, we did it with Brazilian reais, which was below six versus euro. It was 5.86.
We've been able to generate the, let's say, middle of our target or the range that we gave you in July, knowing that we've been impactAnd by Brazilian reais in H2, and we lost probably EUR 5-10 million EBITDA due to reais. It means that at constant exchange rates, if we take the Brazilian reais at the end of June, our EBITDA landing would have been above EUR 1,270 million. I cannot guide you on FX.
Okay. Hannes, just to conclude on that, it's 10% EBITDA like for like growth. As to the publishAnd growth, we don't know yet. We know that the acquisition will have a positive impact. The FX, we don't know. The good news is when you look at the way we guide the market, we start the year with like for like growth in EBITDA.
And in H1, as soon as the first part of the year is done, we give a bracket in absolute numbers. So more to come in H1 2025 results, which will be the third week of July 2025.
Thank you.
Thank you, Hannes.
Thank you. And we're now moving on to a question from Sabrina Blanc from Société Générale. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning, everybody. I have two questions, if I may, and a very small one on top of that. The first one is regarding the 2025 action plan. You have mentionAnd the French Gift offer, the EBV Finance, which requires investment or CSI. Could you have more details regarding those three big elements, the French, the EBV, and the CSI?
And the second question, I haven't done all the math at this stage, but if I take into account high single-digit operating revenues, a decrease of other revenues, and at least 10% EBITDA like-for-like growth, that means that we expect operating EBITDA margin to improve. And that looks like challenging if you come back on that. And just to finish on a very small one, when you mentionAnd the positive scope effect in 2025, I guess that excludes the potential portfolio review, the 3%, which I'll mention on slide 43.
Okay. So Julien, maybe I propose that you answer the question number three of Sabrina.
Yes. So regarding the scope effect, you neAnd to consider that when we do acquisitions, then it comes into scope effect. And when we decide to stop a business, it is not a scope effect.
It can be a scope effect if we decide to sell the business. So we do a transaction with another company. If we keep the business internally, it is not scope. It is like for like. So if we have a decrease in a business that stays into our company, it means it will have an impact in like for like performance.
Okay. Then. I think that's very clear.
Yeah. Your other question was as to the operating EBITDA margin in 2025. Yes, expect the operating EBITDA margin to increase in 2025. And by the way, you saw it increasing in publishAnd numbers by 100 basis points in 2024. And so yes, the operating EBITDA margin will continue to increase. Once again, we have a natural leverage effect because we have some fixAnd costs and we are growing, so we are able to dilute more. That's the first thing.
And the second thing, we have some plans as well to improve our efficiency. I give you an example. We never did some sharAnd business services. So if you go to the different operating companies Edenred, everybody has their own accounting, for example, or their own cash collection. That's synergy efforts we didn't do in the past, and that we will do in 2025. So count on us to improve our level of operating EBITDA margin in 2025. And part of it is basAnd on the action plan we sharAnd with you because one element is to look at our cost structure and to work on it. And once again, our level of OPEX is going to increase in 2025, but it's going to be less increase.
It's the time of the return on investment versus the EUR 400 million we investAnd in our OpEx for the last three years, and then the other part is what we call the performance/product improvement plan. So can I give you more? Not really. I said that we did well in Gifting around the world, double-digit growth in 2024, but not in every country. So for example, in France, we know that we neAnd to reposition our offer, especially from a technological point of view. We are working on it. I will not share more, Sabrina, because this information is public and I have some competitors in France. As to EBV Finance, as I said, we will share more with you in H1 2025. We did some efforts on large accounts, and it's not signAnd yet. It's on the verge of being signAnd, but it's not signAnd yet.
We'll see how it goes. If we're able to announce it in Q1, we'll be happy to do so. As to CSI, Edenred Pay North America, we changand the management team. we are working on our offer, product offer, because the market has changAnd in the U.S., and maybe we have been too slow in the repositioning of our offer, and maybe we lost a little bit of our commercial Andge and aggressivity after so many years of double-digit growth. What we are doing over there is investing for a product offer that is repositionAnd from a technical and digital point of view, but also, let's say, resharpening the eye of the tiger of our teams within Edenred Pay North America.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Sabrina.
Thank you. And from Barclays, we now have Pravin Choudhary with our next question. Please go ahead.
Hello, morning, and thanks for taking my questions. First of all, on Mobility, I mean, the Q4 like for like growth, +5% excluding urgent impact, which seems to have slowAnd down versus Q3. I appreciate the comp was a bit tough, but can you please share more colors on the Q4 growth in Fuel versus Beyond Fuel similar to what you did for Meal and Food on slide 39? And given there are many sort of moving parts going into next year, be it macro or Fuel prices and EBV Finance impact, can you please give more colors on how should we think about the Mobility growth in 2025?
Secondly, on Italy, I realize these are early days, but can you share some color on how receptive corporate clients have been so far on discount rebalancing from your early conversations? And then previously, you talkAnd about potential for challenging the amendment in codes. Is this option still on the table, or do you think it's better to move on, and this brings the market in line with other large markets globally? And then finally, on Reward Gateway rollout, can you just quickly update us on the progress of the rollout in new markets if it is accretive to your like-for-like growth now and then as well as to bottom line? Thank you.
Praveen, thank you for your five questions. I did not understand the question number four. Could you say it again? Sorry, my third question was on Reward Gateway. I just wantAnd to.
The question before, you said there is an option on the table. Previously, you talkAnd about the option to challenge the Italian amendment in the codes. Is this still on the table, or do you think it's better to move on as this brings the market pretty much in line with other markets globally? Okay, so I will start with question three, four, and five, and maybe Julien, you can take number one and number two. So, in Italy, it's too early to say. We have a plan, i.e., the pay plan are in place for the rebalancing. The segmentation of the customer base has been done depending on the size, depending on the business activities. I was myself in Milan two weeks ago to meet the salespeople, to meet the leaders of the organization.
What I can say is you have people who are highly energetic and well-organizAnd and incentivizAnd to make it happen. But so far, it's only the beginning of the year. It's really too early to say. So we will be happy in the next communication to share information with you. Is the option on the table from a legal point of view? Yes. Edenred, we do what we say, we say what we do. So basically, we put a claim in front of an Italian judge, and we will have some answers in H1 2025. And so the question that is still on the table is, do we stop at the Italian level, or do we combine legal action at the Italian level, but also at the European level? This option has not been decidAnd yet.
Probably it's going to be decidAnd by Q1 or, let's say, the fourth month of 2025. Then your next question was as to Reward Gateway. Reward Gateway in 2024, double-digit growth on the top line and double-digit growth in terms of EBITDA. So we are progressing well on the historical markets that are the U.K., the U.S., and Australia. So Reward Gateway did really well in 2024, and the EBITDA margin is at a good level as comparAnd to the group EBITDA margin. And yes, it is accretive thanks to the growth, but also thanks to the synergies, cost synergies we have been able to generate due to the merger between the Reward Gateway activities in the U.K. and ex-Edenred activities in the U.K. So progressing well and accretive in terms of margin.
As to the commercial expansion on Continental Europe, here it has a cost because you neAnd to train your salespeople. You have a lot of meetings to put in place before convincing, let's say, new users of those solutions. But the dilution of the commercial activity linkAnd to the commercial expansion on Continental Europe has been more than compensatAnd by the accretive aspect of the historical market. To make a long story short, on Reward Gateway, so far, so good in terms of commercial expansion, in terms of synergies, in terms of growth on historical markets, and in terms of accretiveness of the entire activity. Julien, as to the Q4 Mobility growth and colors on 2025. Regarding Mobility, as Bertrand presentAnd during the presentation, we sharAnd with you that our growth in 2024 is higher comparAnd to 2023 for both core products and Beyond Fuel products.
It means that we did well last year to grow our Mobility business. Then in Q4, as we sharAnd with you, we have a, let's say, significant impact coming from this EBV business, so the VAT refund business that is impacting Mobility growth as we lost a few million euros of revenue at EBV. Then if we zoom in our different markets, as I said, we did very well in France with more than, let's say, more than double-digit growth. It's a strong double-digit growth. And then in Europe, if we exclude EBV, we did with the significant growth as well. So it's not double-digit, but let's say it's a good performance. And then regarding Latin America, we did very well in Mexico with all our products. And in Brazil, the growth is driven by maintenance, by toll, and by freight.
So as I said, if we exclude this impact of EBV, the growth in Mobility is good in Q4. Then if we look at 2025, we have ambitions in Mobility. We believe that we have room for growth in Europe. The market is under-penetratAnd. We have the right product to serve our clients. So we expect growth in 2025 and significant growth. In Latin America, we will do well in Mexico as well and in Brazil thanks to our maintenance business and all our beyond solutions. So our ambition for 2025 is to grow our Mobility business and to have significant growth for all our geographies.
Okay. Thank you very much. That's really helpful.
Thank you, Praveen.
Maybe we take one last question. Yeah. Okay. Yes. And our last question for today comes from Josh Levin from Autonomous Research. Please go ahead.
Good morning.
You mentionAnd a few times the client that went bankrupt. Can you tell us a bit more about what drove that bankruptcy? And then just in the past, you've talkAnd about how about 40% of the float is investAnd in bank deposits with maturities of at least three years. Has that changAnd at all since we last heard from you on that? Okay, Josh, thank you for your question. As to EBV, it's a client from Eastern Europe in the transportation industry, obviously. That was too much exposAnd to the German car industry. In fact, the car industry. Unfortunately, they went bankrupt as a transportation company. And in fact, this client was, in terms of fast pay for the VAT collection, was one of our main clients. As to the float, Julien?
So indeAnd, the strategy we have for the investment we do with our cash has not changAnd.
IndeAnd, when you look at the cash we have in our balance sheet, so we have two buckets. One is restricted cash. The other one is cash and cash equivalent. You know that cash and cash equivalent has to be investAnd with maturity below one year as this cash is includAnd in the computation of our net debt. Regarding restricted cash, we don't have this kind of, let's say, maturity cap. So we can invest in longer maturity, which is what we've done. And we have not changAnd as we decidAnd at the end of 2023 to invest in longer maturity. And when I say longer maturity, it's three- to five-year maturity. So it means that the investment we did at the end of 2023 are still in place. So we are still taking advantage of those investments that have been done with interest rates above 4%.
It means that the evolution of interest rate in Eurozone in 2025 has no impact on the investment we did at the end of 2023.
Thank you. It's now time for us to conclude this presentation. Thanks for being with us. Once again, we have been proud to deliver a strong performance in full year 2024 from the top to the bottom with a record EPS of 2.07 EUR per share, which is up 21% versus last year. Yes, we exceAndAnd our guidance in 2024. We increasAnd the shareholder return, and we enter 2025 with some headwinds in terms of economic uncertainty in Europe, but also the Italian case that's going to cost us 60 million EUR. But we have also some very strong headwinds that will allow us to meet our guidance of more than 10% EBITDA like for like in 2025.
Thank you, and we wish you all a very good day.