Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to this shareholders' meeting of LVMH. Just a few legal comments that I am to make. The scrutineers propose that we appoint Mr. Nicolas Bazire and Mr. Florian Olivier here present, and as meeting secretary, Bernard Kühn, who is also in attendance. We need a quorum of a fifth of the voting shares and one quarter for the extraordinary resolutions. The attendance sheet has been drawn up. The bureau will approve it before we vote on the resolutions, but I can indicate that the quorum has been reached. All the necessary legal documents required have been made available to shareholders. Let me inform you of the presence of an officer of the court to ensure the smooth running of the proceedings.
The agenda is on the document that you'd received. Those documents are available at the entrance to this hall. Over now to Mr. Jean-Jacques Guiony, who will present the figures, because the purpose of this meeting is to present them. The results for 2015 have already been published. Mr. Jean-Jacques Guiony, our Chief Financial Officer, will run through them briefly.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Let's go through the main figures for 2015. As I usually do, we'll look at revenue sales. As you can see on the right-hand side, stand at EUR 35.6 billion, a record amount. There will be other records, which I'll mention, but this is the first that I shall mention. Sales are up 16% compared to the previous year. This is broken down in an organic part, that is our sales in our usual currencies. The exchange effect, the currency effect, that's a passive effect, but here it's a positive effect of 10%. We can only be happy with that. On revenue, the breakdown by geographical regions, this picture doesn't change much year-over-year. The first comment is the overall balance. France plus the rest of Europe stands at about 28%, the U.S. is 26%, and Asia 27%, other markets 12%.
You should also note the increase share. 26% is because, while this is a dynamic market, there's also the dollar effect because this breakdown is looking at revenue in euros for accounting reasons. If you look at growth in different regions, as you can see on the table, you have the four main areas, main regions. The U.S. was up 9% robust growth, after four or five years of growth at the same rate. This is constant growth. Europe, double-digit growth. This is pretty unusual. This is a welcome development, but this is to do with the wave of tourism in Japan and in Europe last year, and that made it possible to enjoy more growth. Japan and Europe. Asia, excluding Japan, goes the other way. There's a monetary erosion, but local factors in Hong Kong and Macau that have resulted in this negative development.
If we look at the revenue by business group now, EUR 36 billion broken down in different business areas. On the right-hand side, that is organic growth, which is, of course, the main indicator of our overall performance. Wines and Spirits, excellent year, 6% organic growth, well-balanced between Champagne and Cognac, with a stabilization of Cognac in the U.S. and a remarkable growth in the U.S. for Cognac. Fashion and Leather Goods up 4%. That's a positive development as well because we are repositioning, drastically indeed, repositioning some of our business in North America, which of course, slowed growth down a bit, but all the same, it remained good. Perfumes and Cosmetics, 7%, and this is well above the industry level, so we can be very proud. For likewise, Watches and Jewelry, 8% there. Now, Selective Retailing, you have two contrary developments.
Sephora enjoyed great growth last year. DFS and Sephora are the two main businesses in Selective Retailing. DFS is very much Asian-oriented, and there we had the negative effects that I mentioned earlier. All in all, 10% organic growth, and that is pretty good. Now, if we look at the other numbers for the income statement and the revenue I mentioned. Gross margin pretty much in line with revenue growth as well, 17% stable compared with last year. Marketing expenses now up 18%. Well, there's the exchange effect. If you didn't include the currency effect, it would only be 8%. Likewise, general and marketing expenses, it looks great, big at 12%, but the actual corrected figure is only 5%.
All in all, the profits from recurring operations, which is the main indicator of our performance, up 16% and very much in line with the growth in revenue. The margin is stable at EUR 6.6 billion. This is a record figure for our group, and that's the second record figure that I announced, and we'll go more into detail, breaking it down in different business areas. If you go down the income statement, other charges and income, you have asset depreciation of intangible asset and some tangible assets with some restructuring. The financial result, well, it's EUR 400 million compared to EUR 3 billion last year. On the positive side, that last year we had the effect of the capital gains due to the disposal of Hermès. It's not a like-for-like comparison.
Income tax, well, is down, but we find ourselves in a tax environment which is not conducive to lower taxes. It is down partly because the Hermès operation was a one-off, and that cost us some taxes last year. The income tax rate is 33%, about the same as it was last year if it was restated because of Hermès. You have the Sephora Group and DFS, which went into opposite directions, and overall, you have a stable result. If you leave off the Hermès operation, which was a one-off, the group share of net profit is in fact up 20%. Now, if we look at the numbers by business group, the Wines and Spirits up almost 20%, way above the revenue growth that we saw last year.
Fashion and Leather Goods, in spite of the reorganization of some business areas, especially North America, which I mentioned, still double-digit growth. Perfumes and Cosmetics and Watches and Jewelry, remarkable growth. No need to comment on that. Way above, again, growth in revenues. This means that profit margins are up there. Selective Retailing, well, you have two opposite factors. Sephora up significantly in terms of margin as well, whereas DFS is suffering the effect of the negative, the downturn in the tourist market in Asia. If you look at our financial structure, total equity accounts for 45% of our assets, which is significant. Non-current assets slightly up, and that's because there was a revaluation of the minority stakes in Wines and Spirits. Inventories was also up slightly.
We still have EUR 3.5 billion in undrawn credit lines, that, again, gives us room for maneuver if we need additional cash, which means that should, say, the treasury bills suddenly disappear from the market, we would have cash from other sources. A few words about net debt and cash flow. If you look at the right-hand side of the table, we start with the light blue. That's disposable cash flow. That is cash flow minus working capital requirements and minus CapEx, that's what allows us to buy for additional acquisitions. At a third record, because it's in at EUR 3.7 billion in 2015, never did we have such a significant, such a large surplus of cash, that surplus cash was used to some extent for acquisitions. More was used to pay out dividends. Of course, the balance was used to reduce our debt.
If you look at the dark blue column, the debt went from EUR 4.8 billion to EUR 4.2 billion between end 2014 and end 2015. Debt down EUR 600 million, that downward trend has continued since end 2013. Because we acquired Loro Piana in 2013, our debt was higher then, now we are down to the levels before the Loro Piana acquisition. A debt-to-equity ratio, about 50%. Well, not quite. If we look exactly at the gearing, looking at net debt, it is only 16% of debt to free cash flow ratio. If you look at the dividend, we have EUR 3.55. We have EUR 2.3 already paid out. This overall payout is up 11%. This is compared over the long run. If you look at the dividend over 20 years, we had a 20% increase, 10% over 10 years, 11% up over five years.
This 11% increase is still in line with our long-term dividends policy. Thank you for your attention.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, as we traditionally do now, we have been doing for some six or seven years, we'll begin by showing you a clip that summarizes a number of questions that were put to shareholders during the course of March.
[Foreign language] Évolution des grands équilibres économiques et géopolitiques, transformation digitale, prise de conscience environnementale, le monde change. Pour cette assemblée générale, vous souhaitez mieux comprendre comment LVMH et ses maisons ont adapté leur stratégie aux transformations du monde. Quelle est la stratégie du groupe pour assimiler au mieux les changements économiques et sociétaux à venir ? Comment les maisons s'adaptent-elles à un environnement très mouvant ? Quel est l'impact du ralentissement économique de certains pays comme la Chine sur les activités ? Vous vous interrogez également sur la nature de la concurrence et les axes de différenciation des marques du groupe. Comment protéger le savoir-faire français face à la concurrence ? Quel est le risque d'apparition de nouveaux concurrents ? Mais certaines valeurs restent immuables. Comme les années précédentes, recherche de l'excellence, créativité et savoir-faire sont les termes que vous associez le plus au groupe LVMH.
[Foreign language] Vous souhaitez ainsi découvrir au cours de l'assemblée générale comment LVMH cultive l'innovation et l'esprit d'entreprise tout en respectant l'identité, l'héritage et le savoir-faire de chacune de ses maisons. À l'image de votre groupe, vous êtes résolument tourné vers l'avenir, car la stratégie et les perspectives pour les années à venir sont les sujets que vous souhaitez voir traités en priorité aujourd'hui. Quelle sera la politique d'investissement pour les cinq prochaines années ? Envisagez-vous de nouvelles acquisitions ? Si oui, dans quels domaines ? Quels sont les produits emblématiques des maisons ?
As Jean-Jacques Guiony indicated, the group results in 2015 were particularly attractive and have reached a record level. We can begin by asking ourselves what are the reasons why the group has performed so well last year with an economic backdrop that was mixed, both buoyant on the exchange rate front, but in terms of geopolitics, rather disrupted. The answer to that is our brand portfolio. LVMH, throughout the world, is the group that has the portfolio of the finest brands in the universe of high-quality products. This has given it, over the years and particularly last year, a significant advantage because we have both a unique brand portfolio and one that is diversified, that goes from Wines and Spirits to fashion, through leather goods, Perfumes and Cosmetics, jewelry, Selective Retailing.
We launched a few years back a small business, but is nevertheless attractive, that grew last year with hotels and is progressing well with some of the highest ratios in the industry. This portfolio of brands, in order to continue to perform as well, it mustn't just be the best, but it needs to be nurtured and maintained. I can tell you that in 2015, the teams of the groups in all areas were particularly efficient. We have, for example, in Wines and Spirits, managed to reverse the trend that unfortunately was going in a negative direction in China for some three years now. Progressively, business is on the rise in this country, and it's confirmed in 2016, a major success in the United States for our Cognac brands.
Innovation was also present in a sector that perhaps innovates less by definition because we haven't created new products with the swiftness and frequency of other businesses, but we have new vintages, new products, new means of communication, building on our results, and we're outpacing our peers. In other areas, innovation was also very strong. Strong in Fashion and Leather Goods, notably at Louis Vuitton, where the success of the collections presented continues to be very significant. What's more, this year, in 2015, there was a major innovation, which was the Grand Palais exhibition, demonstrating that the history of Louis Vuitton is closely linked to its current situation. The exhibition was an enormous success. Many of you have no doubt visited it. We try and invite all our shareholders. It's free.
It was very difficult to get in at times because there was a full house. This is the result of a subtle mix of tradition, history, the historical legitimacy of the company, and modernity, which accounts for its success. At Louis Vuitton, for many years now, we have managed to combine timelessness with the finest modernity, confirmed by all the creations. We will continue into 2016, as we'll explain in a moment. In the other fashion brands, too, a great deal of creativity. You saw in the small film the opening of a Fendi flagship in Rome. We also opened the Palazzo Fendi at the end of the Via Condotti, which is a great success and one of the most visited stores in Rome, with a restaurant on the roof. Modern, very fashionable restaurant called Zuma. A Japanese-style restaurant that's always full.
That's a big success, and it's creative in this Italian palace to have brought in modernity both through the products and the attendance of many visitors. I won't dwell on the success of products that you're familiar with in other fashion brands. Continued creation at Celine that has delivered strong growth. Many other new developments at Givenchy and Kenzo, very successful. I have to say that the young designer who is barely 30 from Loewe, reveals the new wave of designers and manages, and that's very interesting, to adapt to the history of a company that's one of the most iconic Spanish brands. Loro Piana. Of course, I must mention Loro Piana, one of the members of the Loro Piana is with us today. At least I assume that's the case because I'm dining with him this evening.
That has a great impact on the quality of the raw materials that are bought throughout the world by this company. That accounts for the success of the group in 2015, because this brand offers the market products that are absolutely unique in cashmere and wool. I won't go into the details of all that, but it does account in large part for the success of this iconic brand and the brand of the finest quality of manufacturing in Italy. In Perfumes and Cosmetics, I won't dwell on the success of our brands, notably of Christian Dior, that has delivered an exceptional launch with the Eau Sauvage perfume with Johnny Depp and the advertisements and press advertising. It's already number one in most countries throughout the world, and it has a lot of potential ahead of it.
The results of Dior Perfumes that you saw are driven by the success of its new creations. Here again, great creativity. In the other activities of the group, I won't review them all in detail, but we're seeing the same level of innovation that is key in watchmaking and in the activities of Bulgari, offering new lines, women's watches, new jewelry ranges, and whose increase is probably the best of all the Watches and Jewelry universe in 2015. Let me point out in passing the Connected Watch launched by TAG Heuer. I have one here. You can take a closer look at it later if you like. This watch is so successful that we can't meet the demand. We could have sold three or four times more than we've sold. We're accelerating production.
We're already designing and manufacturing the next timepiece, one that will be even more efficient. The TAG Heuer teams believe that it's far more efficient, far better than all the other connected watches on the market, whose names I won't mention, not to get into trouble with their manufacturers. What's more, it really looks like a watch, which isn't the case of those of our peers. A great success on that front. Selective Retailing also has delivered excellent results, especially Sephora, that continues to grow. In the U.S., the growth is such that Sephora in the United States will be number one ahead of its peers, which is a great performance. Let's recall that 10 years ago, people were saying, "You must shut down that business. There's not a great future for it in the United States." We're expanding on the internet, too. That's very successful.
Revenue, I won't mention it, but it's a secret. It's very considerable, between EUR 500 million and EUR 1 billion, just to give you a range, with excellent profitability, which is rare for internet. If you look at the retailers, the online retailers, all those that we're familiar with, are posting a deficit, at least many of them are. Here, profitability is better than in our stores with a whole set of innovations. The only fly in the ointment here is DFS, as Jean-Jacques Guiony mentioned, which suffered last year, which will continue to suffer this year from the geopolitical problems in Hong Kong and Macau, where unfortunately much of its revenue lies. We'll be reducing spending and contain the negative impact of that situation.
2015, a record year, thanks to the personnel and all the managers and employees of the group, many of whom are here, whom I'd like to congratulate, because it's thanks to them, thanks to their drive and determination, thanks to their passion for these businesses, that we've managed to make such great strides in 2015. Now we must try and do even better in 2016, but that's another matter. Let's now look at the second clip.
[Foreign language] Le luxe à la française devient de plus en plus un standard de ce que doit être le monde du luxe à l'international. On est passé d'un luxe, peut-être plus de marque, à un luxe beaucoup plus authentique qui demande des belles histoires à raconter et qui vont être capables d'enrichir l'expérience par leur héritage. Les clients souhaitent avoir des marques qui vont les stimuler, qui vont les intéresser, qui vont les intéresser également avec du contenu. Je pense que c'est cet aspect-là qui séduit à l'international aujourd'hui, qui fait partie du rayonnement des marques du groupe et de l'exemplarité de la France dans ce domaine.
[Foreign language] Je crois vraiment que quand on est une entreprise comme LVMH, enracinée en France, enracinée en Europe, il y a un enjeu, y compris stratégique, à avoir cette perception de ce qu'on peut faire dans le monde et à apporter cette exemplarité de respect des collaborateurs, de formation des collaborateurs et cette capacité à créer de la fierté pour les produits. Vous interrogez les Français, ils sont très fiers de voir des magasins Louis Vuitton quelque part dans le monde.
[Foreign language] En tant que professeure, je me rends compte que notre nouveau partenariat avec LVMH permet d'attirer une majorité d'étudiants étrangers dans nos programmes, qui sont séduits par ce luxe à la française. Aujourd'hui, les valeurs portées par le luxe, qui sont attendues par les clients, sont, à mon avis, des valeurs d'exemplarité dans tout le domaine du respect des matières, du respect de l'humain dans la fabrication du produit. C'est vraiment une tendance qu'on trouve avec beaucoup d'homogénéité au niveau mondial.
[Foreign language] Il faut reconnaître qu'il n'y a pas de développement sans le rôle des multinationales. Un des facteurs de croissance dans les pays émergents en développement, c'est évidemment l'investissement direct des entreprises, la création de magasins, la création de chaînes logistiques, chaînes de fournisseurs, d'écosystèmes locaux, etc. C'est absolument essentiel. Je ne dis pas que LVMH peut résoudre d'un seul coup, d'un seul, tous les problèmes des pays dans lesquels elle s'étendra, mais peut contribuer de manière à la fois pratique, mais aussi exemplaire en envoyant des signaux.
[Foreign language] In this section devoted to strategy, because a question was put to me about strategy and outlook for the group. Let me begin by saying that the group strategy remains unchanged. I tend to be rather boring, because I repeat year after year what the strategy is. It may be refined over the years, but one of the reasons for its success is precisely this continuity and its duration over time with a shared vision with the leaders of the group that you know that accounts for its performance. This strategy is based on the group's values. The group's values, foremost among which are innovation, creativity, and creation. For a group such as LVMH, it is fundamental to innovate. The success of our group is based on one word, which is desire.
Everything that we do in LVMH must elicit desire, be it in our cosmetics, in our Wines and Spirits. Earlier, Mr. Lurton, who was talking to me about the 2015 Cheval Blanc vintage, that's going to elicit desire because it's going to be an exceptional and great year to elicit desire with our designers. This innovation must also be focused towards practical creation. It's not about creating something that is just there to fill the halls, the rooms of certain museums, or to remain on the shelves of stores. It's all about creation that pleases our customers and is sold successfully. We seek to have a differentiated strategy, contrary to what I see here and there. Our approach is a differentiated approach and to respect the creative legitimacy of our companies.
If we take an outstanding brand such as Louis Vuitton, I believe that its success really reflects the apposite nature of its strategy, it mustn't be changed. Louis Vuitton mustn't become a fashion company. It's an accessory. Louis Vuitton is a manufacturer of trunks, of cases. It really is emblematic of the craftsmanship of handmade leather goods, and it's not a company whose perception must evolve year after year in light of a particular collection. There's a very clear message that must be perceived in the sense of a timeless quality that it was the case, it was founded in the 19th century and is set to continue so that this message is not in any way undermined by new creations. The new creations are there to confirm modernity, must be conferred with the timelessness, which is the very essence of an iconic brand such as Louis Vuitton.
This creativity, this innovation in 2016 will be continued. For example, in the Vuitton brand, we'll be launching a new case, a great outstanding, fully innovative from the technical standpoint. That suitcase will be launched towards the end of the year. This suitcase will represent in itself all the know-how and craftsmanship of Louis Vuitton. We'll be innovating by launching this year for the first time for many years because it existed at the turn of the 20th century, a Vuitton perfume. Vuitton perfume that will be launched towards the end of the year in a number of Louis Vuitton stores. That perfume will bring something new to the world of perfume while respecting the traditional know-how.
The company will be opening this year, will be inaugurating a research center on Perfumes at Grasse, where all the expertise, all the knowledge and know-how of the Vuitton perfume teams will be able to come together to express themselves through innovation and creation. We'll also, this is important to illustrate this historical iconic aspect, to have the Paris exhibition itinerate. With Michael, we'll be inaugurating a Volez exhibit, VVV, about traveling. This exhibition will be inaugurated in Tokyo. It'll be very successful in Japan, then will travel throughout the world. Innovation in many other areas, in Perfumes and Cosmetics. At Dior, at the beginning of the year, we launched a new women's fragrance called Poison Girl. This perfume's a great hit. It's very Chris de Lapuente that at Sephora it's already number one on the sales front, but it will complement the Sauvage success.
The Dior brand will be number one in many markets, as Dior is number one in France in Perfumes. For this iconic brand that's part of the group because that Fashion and Leather Goods above LVMH, but is jointly managed, or at least in combination with products and image with the Perfumes and Cosmetics division. This brand is becoming one of the finest, greatest brands in the world. Its total revenue is expected, could well in 2016 exceed EUR 5 billion. It really is a great business, a great brand. Dior is probably the most well-known French name in the world. This constant quest for innovation is really at the center of the concerns and values of LVMH. It's very good for the youngsters who join us to contribute and witness the design creation and new products.
I won't list all the initiatives because it would take us much of the day to list them all. Just a word on an initiative that started last year and which we're setting great store, is the digital development of the group. We appointed Ian Rogers to be the group's Chief Digital Officer, we will gradually be moving closer to the digital universe, be it for advertising, manufacturing, of course, selling, while being in tune and motivated to have a unit within the group that allows us to make the best use of synergies while leaving the initiative, as we've always done, to the individual brands. Innovation is also this digital approach, which is, of course, present in an increasing number of companies worldwide. Second key value is quality, the constant quest for quality.
This quest for quality has been an ongoing concern over time for our teams and gives rise to significant investment. We inaugurated last year the Guerlain R&D and manufacturing center at Chartres for cosmetics, having inaugurated the Hélios Center for Dior Parfums at Saint-Jean-de-Braye. This year, we'll be extending the manufacturing workshops of Hublot. We'll be inaugurating a new center for Bulgari for jewelry in Italy. We have many investments planned. On the quality front, continuing to invest in Wines and Spirits, Cognac and Champagne. A great deal of investment expended for the quest for improved quality. The quality which is the center of our concerns, and constantly a key motivation for us, ensuring that our products are as successful as they are. It's the qualitative attributes. I see all the tests that one can do on the products before launching. It's very impressive.
We are fortunate in being able to manufacture and offer products that truly make a difference over time as compared to some of our peers. Final point that I'd like to emphasize that really does account for the success of the group is our entrepreneurial mindset. We are continuing within the group to manage our business in a coordinated but very independent manner by preserving the entrepreneurial mindset of each of our brands to ensure that each of our brands is managed by a chief executive who is the owner or the heir and owner, as are the families, which in many cases, were at the origin of these brands, who feels personally motivated and committed to the growth of our business. This is extremely motivating for young people. I'm often asked why this group that comprises over 60 brands is interesting because of the number of brands.
Of course, number of brands is an asset. I won't return to it. Of course, to attract young people, it's wonderful. When you're attracted to LVMH and when you're just out of university, a graduate, you obviously want to make strides. Of course, we offer far greater prospects than the competition. Thereby, and it's one of the reasons, but also human resources management. I note the presence of the head of human resources here, that we follow that very closely. The group attracts, over 10 years now, is number 1 in all the rankings in terms of attracting young graduates or universities and business schools. When we look at the young people who come from these schools, when we talk to them, as I have occasion to do, they're specialized in marketing. I often say as a joke that we don't do marketing.
No marketing. Why do I say that? It's perhaps rather overstating, exaggerating things. I note there's a considerable difference between a group such as ours and a number of groups that take Perfumes and Cosmetics, who make products, some of which are successful, but are more geared with a mass market approach. What do I mean by that? When you launch a product, you can either call upon a designer, his ideas, do something innovative and say, "Oh, it's a good thing. We're going to launch it without any further analysis." That's what we do with a degree of success. We say, "Before we launch the product, we'll have a market survey. We'll poll the views of people, see whether aspects of the flask, the box appeals." That's what is done with films in the United States.
They test everything to make sure that all that's factored in to arrive at the product. In that case, that's what I explain to the students, we generally arrive at something that's rather watered down, that appeals to a certain customer base, but doesn't have the characteristics such that it can be considered a high-end or high-range product. For marketing, once we've decided to found the product, we decide to showcase it in stores and make it known to the greatest number of people. It's a different marketing approach, I believe it's far more suited to our universe. I won't dwell on that, I would nevertheless like to state that one of the key focus areas in terms of entrepreneurship and human resources, which is professional diversity and gender equality, we have many women working in our company.
Women account for 63% of managers, this proportion is set to increase. It will increase today in the board of directors, two new board members, female board members, are up for election. The board, just under 40% comprised of women. We expect this year to exceed the 40% mark. In our key objectives, I said recruit, hire young people, also in 2014, we launched the Institute of Excellence, I received the first apprentices at Louis Vuitton for the ceremony. We offer seven training sessions in all areas of craftsmanship, jewelry, leather goods. Our ongoing concern is to attract young people, be they managers or future craftsmen, and to train them and give them prospects. It's one of the key conditions to ensure the success of our group's strategy.
One point that I'd also like to mention, because it's taking place this year at the end of May, is the 2016 Special Day. Most of our sites will be open to visitors. I urge you to attend. You need to book early because there'll be a lot of people. Last time, we had over 100,000 visitors, this year we expect to attract even more because our companies attract as well as the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Mustn't forget that during the first year, we topped the 1 million visitors mark, where success continues to be impressive. Of course, the foundation is iconic, as I mentioned last year. I won't return to it. I'd like to end by saying a word about our commitment for sustainable development, which is part and parcel of our strategy and is increasingly important and closely monitored and followed by our teams.
You see, in our products, we use very unusual, as it were, raw materials, as was the case for Loro Piana, it is for us to maintain this capital. We are world leaders in many areas, what it is we want to do is to be exemplary in this respect. We did that some time ago. We created LIFE. LIFE is LVMH Initiative For the Environment, that basically guides our entire environment approach. In 2015, we became partners of COP 21. COP 21, as you know, brought together a number of people, that was an opportunity for us to make our own contribution to the greenhouse gas situation. For instance, in our stores, we use less energy for lighting, in particular. We have new techniques that enable us to reduce our consumption and for our carbon footprint.
We also have a new power system, both in France and in China. Guerlain, Sephora were the ones who started it. We have a fleet of electric vehicles for NC, and from what NC, as much as 80% of traffic is done using that, and also a ship as opposed to other forms of energy-consuming modes of transport. There are a number of other decisions which were announced on the occasion of COP 21 in Le Bourget. Another exemplary innovation is the carbon fund. Group-wide, our stores are, of course, the main emitter of greenhouse gases. To achieve yet another milestone in the effort, it has been 20 years now we started this initiative for the environment. Well, we have a prize for the ton of CO2. Whatever a company emits a ton worth of CO2.
It contributes to the fund to the tune of EUR 15, that is our own contribution to the fight against climate change. We have to see that our financial performance is a consequence of our strategy and not our objective. Our objective, and I should like to emphasize this, our long-term objective is the position of our brand in 15 years down the road, to make sure that our brands remain ahead of the game and that our group should remain a global leader, a world leader in its industry. That is our objective, and we certainly are sticking to that. Looking to the future, well, we will see what 2016 brings. It is pretty difficult to be too precise in our forecast, but we do have a number of innovations and initiatives in the pipeline, that makes me pretty confident about 2016.
Of course, there are a number of geopolitical uncertainties, recent tragic developments in France certainly are not reassuring. We can only hope that the situation will improve. In any case, these are the objectives. The basic message is we try and do better in 2016 than we did in 2015. I will now give the floor to our auditors.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I am pleased this year to present, on behalf of the statutory auditors, the reports that we have published for your attention. All these reports were made available to you by the company and are also to be found in the shareholders document that you received upon entry to this hall. I therefore suggest that I do not read those in full, but just restrict my comments to the reports pertaining to resolutions that are put to your vote today. The reports concern are five in number. Two concern the financial statements. One, the regulated related party agreements and commitments, two, on the capital transactions. Starting with the annual and consolidated financial statements that you will find on pages 216, 217, and 190 of the document.
We took into account the characteristics and specificities of your group in terms of business organization, accounting rules, and internal control.
This work has given rise to detailed summaries submitted to your management team, to your audit committee, and your board of directors. Lastly, our report on the consolidated financial statements is based on work undertaken by the statutory auditors in close to 52 entities of the group in 13 countries. In conclusion, we certified the financial statements and parent company financial statements without reservation. We also issued a report on regulated party agreements and commitments to be found on pages 218 to 220 that describe the agreements between your company and its directors and officers, or between your company and companies that have shared directors. The new that have given rise to authorization by your committee, the urban assistance contract with Diavolina, an amendment to the assistance agreement with Groupe Arnault, the renewal of the service agreements, amending the duration of service provision agreements with AA Conseil.
The other agreements and commitments authorized in prior years and which remain current during 2015 are also presented in our special report. Lastly, under the extraordinary part of your meeting, we've issued two special reports concerning resolutions that might affect, in the future, your company share capital. These reports are to be found on pages 267, 268 of the shareholders document. These are operations to decrease share capital and the granting of existing bonus shares or bonus shares to be issued to employees and senior executive officers. Our reports prompt no comments or particular observations of these transactions, which comply with the conditions provided by the French Commercial Code. Thank you for your attention.
All right, ladies and gentlemen. Now, we are available to take your questions, and I will invite members of the executive committee to join us up on stage. All right, ladies and gentlemen. If you have any questions, be kind enough to introduce yourselves before putting your question. I see number 5 has raised their number. Good morning, sir. My name is de Solange. I represent APAI, which is the French Association for Individual Investors. I would like to commend you for inviting individual shareholders to visit emblematic sites of the group. I believe that you're also lined up for the VivaTech organization. What are your expectations of that partnership? I have a couple of additional questions as part of new technologies. Have you started a machine learning program or the sort of robotic system that can sort of read customers' emotions?
Finally, what are your concerns about cybersecurity in your supply chain methods? Have you taken that into account? Finally, regarding digital technologies, what difference will this make to customers' relations to luxury? Do you believe that big data or data in general can be used in the luxury industry? Regarding governance, I believe that you have three censors on your board of directors. Maybe you could have a humanoid robot in their stead. VivaTech is initiative that was taken by Les Echos and Publicis. The idea was to bring to Paris a number of internet startup companies, and as part of our partnership with that, a number of such startups, and indeed, because we wanted to develop that business in France, because after all, this will be critical to France's economic development.
Over and beyond that initiative, which was that of Les Echos, and that started some years ago, Les Echos, as you know, is now part of our consortium. LVMH decided to support that initiative. We will be involved in organizing contacts, in helping startups make their arrangements with the authorities for legal and other formalities, et cetera. That's what we're doing. Regarding digital technologies in LVMH, well, for the time being, we're not going to replace sales girls by robots. I believe our customers might be somewhat disappointed. Human contact is quintessential to display and show our products to our customers, to convince our customers and ensure that our products are well accepted. The digital technologies are everywhere and the digital part, well, there is a digital technology dimension to our stores, and this is very useful indeed.
Chris can say a few words about that regarding our Sephora stores. What we are trying to do is use digital technologies to be as flexible as possible. When a customer finds an item on the web, they can either order it online, have it delivered by post, or pick it up at the store. That's what digital technologies enable you to do. Customers can go to a local Sephora store. They can find a product that they like, but because it may be out of stock at the shop, the customer can then order it online. By the same token, the customer can be informed of new developments regarding the types of products they are interested in. Digital technologies offer all sorts of exciting potential without in any way damaging the appeal of our products, unlike some of the web players.
Some companies say, "Right, well, you go to the web and you get a discount." That's not the concept at all. For us, we're simply providing an additional service to our customers so as to make the entire experience more user-friendly and more congenial. The internet and digital technologies are all about. I could get into more technical detail, but I don't believe this is the time for that. Question number six. My name is Jean Lacroix. I'm an individual shareholder, and I come every year to listen to your presentation. Every year it's a brilliant presentation. On the right-hand side, you have a connected watch. I myself, I'm not really connected, but can you tell us more about the advantages of this connected timepiece? The whole purpose of that timepiece, it's a wrist-bound extension of your phone.
You may not have a phone, so in that case, it will be more difficult for me to explain what you can do with this watch. Put it this way, on your cellphone, you receive all sorts of information from the internet, but maybe by phone as well, using the telephone network, all sorts of information about the weather or indeed, the stock exchange. For me it's important, but it's true that while having lunch, seeing the share price go down might spoil my appetite. Conversely, if it goes up, it might boost my spirits. I usually get that information using my mobile phone, but now you can do it on your wristwatch, which is much more discreet, indeed on a TAG Heuer watch.
Not only can you watch the information, but you record thousands of hours of music and have them on your wristwatch. If you go running, which some of us do, without even using a phone, you could have a Bluetooth earpiece connected to your watch, to your wristwatch. You get the music, but the same watch can measure the number of steps you've made during the day, your cardiac output, and all sorts of things. Of course, you have to recharge the battery of that watch. That's the only drawback. The new version will be better because it will be more autonomous. It will be able to do all sorts of additional things. Other questions? Yes, number one. Good morning. My name is Charlotte Rouget, and I represent the French Association of Women Lawyers. You introduced a number of initiatives for gender parity in the organization.
Of course, gender equality, gender parity is good for the health of the company, but you have specific objectives. Are you looking also at gender parity on the executive committee or on the selection and compensation committee? Well, I'll give the floor to my colleague who started all this business.
Yes, as Mr. Arnault was saying, we do have a number of objectives. We would like to have 40% of women on our main committees that are basically the governing committees of the organization. We've made good progress. We started the initiative with the LVMH, and we've made major headway in Asia, in Europe, in France here, and now we came from 24% to 38%.
We haven't quite reached the 40% mark, and of course, our ambition is to go beyond that and arrive at actual parity, to have a 50/50 partnership, that is a membership of the board between men and women. Recruiting talent, now we are hiring more women than men. Indeed, 78% of people recruited last year were in fact women. We are really looking to better and better performances in this respect. Thank you very much. Further questions. Number five. Not many questions today. Sir, your presentation was brilliant, and of course, the astounding success is there for all to see, so we can only commend you. The only comments I have to make are rather trivial. Number one, regarding women on the board, there's only one woman on stage out of nine, so that's not even 11%.
That is not exactly in line with the high percentage of women you would like to have on your steering bodies. We heard beautiful pieces of piano being played. Who played the piano, may we ask? I'm not the one playing the piano. I couldn't do as well. I suggested Scarlatti, we ended up with Chopin. These are the mysteries, of the mysterious ways in which such a big organization as ours seems to work. Chantal, I wouldn't say that I'm worth more than one person here, but again, we do keep that objective in mind, and we have indicated that leaders to believe that the situation will improve over the years. All right. Thank you very much. Number six Good morning, sir. I represent Edmond de Rothschild, and I had a question regarding related party agreements.
What is the assistance agreement with the Groupe Arnault and AA Conseil? One is worth EUR 5.6 million and the other one EUR 420,000. A question about these related parties. Regarding Ernst & Young, what are the consultancy fees for Ernst & Young? Maybe Bernard Kuhn may wish to take these questions. He's the one in charge of these matters. Related party agreements, that is relations with Groupe Arnault and AA Conseil and LVMH. Groupe Arnault has a number of experts in a number of fields, legal, financial, property, and these experts work for LVMH, and that's why we have this related party agreement. AA Conseil is a company that has provided a number of services, including to organize the Les Journées Particulières days, and that related party agreement came to an end a few months ago.
Regarding Ernst & Young, the information is in the registration document. The audit and certification services provided by Ernst & Young cost us in the vicinity of EUR 12 million. Other questions? Number nine. My name is Albertini. I'm an individual shareholder. Sir, I would like to thank you in a double capacity. First, because you have done a splendid job running this company, and I speak to you not just as a leader of this company, but indeed, all the staff, and employees of this organizations from the board of directors all the way down to the workshops, or indeed, the seamstresses and the skilled technicians in the jewelry and timepieces department. I'm impressed with your services. I do not sell LVMH products, but I buy the products, and I bought some articles. I bought some shares last year.
We were looking at a price share anywhere between EUR 140 and EUR 160 per share. The dividend has gone up even 10% last year, and we are grateful for that. That payout is under 3% compared to the nominal value, indeed, the price of the share. The suggestion I have, of course, the Arnault family owns 45% of the capital, but more than 50% of the voting rights. Of course, that proposal can only succeed if you yourself vote for it. This is the proposal. You have a number of large companies in CAC 40, which propose to improve shareholder loyalty by granting a bonus dividend of about 10% or sometimes, one free share for 10 or 15 shares held. Would you entertain such a possibility? Sir, thank you for being such a longstanding shareholder.
Last year, there was an exceptional dividend because that was well beyond any kind of expectations because there was an exceptional payout due to the disposal of the Hermès shares. For a longstanding shareholder such as you, that covers several years of payouts. We do believe in increasing dividends. Of course, I'm being a shareholder myself, have no objections to that, but we have to keep money to enable the group to invest in its various businesses. For instance, in America, you have some internet companies that have not paid any dividends at all to their shareholders, and yet their share prices have skyrocketed. Plus, you have to recognize that the payout rate is way above anything you can get in a bank, and sometimes even some of the interest served by the bank is negative. It's still a pretty good investment.
Question number three. Good morning, sir, and ladies and gentlemen. Congratulations once again on this outstanding performance. I'd like to know more about Louis Vuitton stores in China. I read that some shops were closed. There will be Chinese tourists coming to France and Europe to purchase Louis Vuitton that are less expensive in France than in China because of the taxes. What is your strategy in China? A last question, could you tell us about this connected price? Everybody wants to have such a wristwatch. How much does it cost?
The worth is about EUR 1,500. Regarding Vuitton in China, Michael, could you say something about that?
Three years ago with Mr. Arnault, we felt that the Chinese market was going through upheavals, in particular because of the currency effect. Some of our competitors did the same as us. A few years ago, we decided to reduce the number of new stores in China. Indeed, instead of opening new stores, we've enlarged existent stores, but we haven't opened as many new stores. Indeed, in some cities, some shops were actually closed, you're right. Having said that, the Chinese market, as it stands today, seen from the outside world, has generated some unwarranted comments. I think one tends to underestimate the potential of the Chinese markets and the indicators. Chinese growth stands at about 6%, consumption is on the up. The economy is driven in a rather precise way.
Of course, the markets are different in China because it's only recently that China opened up to financial markets. I'm still very confident over the medium term on China's economic development. Indeed, there will be two major drivers for the global economy, the U.S. and China. That's at least my opinion. I still think that this has pretty much governed our decisions regarding China. Question number six.
[Foreign language] Bonjour. Yes. Good morning. I'm an individual shareholder. Could you say a brief word about your share price? Volatility is quite considerable, even the performance is excellent. We've gone from over 160 down to 130 these past few weeks. Thank you. Well, the share price can't be controlled. It's based on supply and demand. It's market-driven. I know that since the start of the year, we're one of the few stocks to be up on the CAC 40 Paris Index. Of course, we can always do better. Stock market is an indicator. You have to view it over the long term. You can't take a short-term view. It depends on so many factors that are unpredictable and generally short-lived. It's very difficult to take a short-term view. If you look over the long term, I have here the figures.
It's really very good as indeed the shareholder who bought his shares 20 years ago indicated. Next question.
[Foreign language] Question seven.
[Foreign language] Monsieur le Président. Roger Tran. Good morning, sir. I still have three questions to put to you. First question, relations with Hermès have calmed. What's happened to the Hermès shares? Are you staying in the group? I mean, are they going to be sold? I'd like to know with regards La Samaritaine, could you say a word about La Samaritaine? For years, it's a never-ending saga. On the performance shares, the bonus shares, how many people benefit from these bonus performance shares, and how are they allocated? Thank you. Sir, I was worried. I didn't see you. I thought maybe you weren't attending the meeting.
Hermès, well, simple. LVMH no longer has any Hermès. We've given them to you. We've distributed them now. Did the shareholders keep them or sell them? That's their problem. It's of no longer any concern to us. As La Samaritaine, thanks to the wisdom of the Council of State, we're able to start the work, the project's underway. It's set to end at the end of 2018, and then on the Seine River, you'll have a fine hotel, and at the rear, there'll be a shopping center and offices. All that will liven up the district. Given the cumbersome nature of authorizations in France, La Samaritaine was shut down over 10 years ago. It took us 10 years to secure the necessary green lights to build the Samaritaine. We'll be able to employ several thousand people.
We've managed to get there. It's like for building the foundation, it also took 10 years for identical reasons of exaggerated red tape and appeals launched by associations, the objective was possibly questionable. That's another matter. The final point was, maybe you could tell us about the bonus shares. The number of beneficiaries of the bonus shares in group oscillates between 750 and 780. These are performance shares linked to the group's performance with a number of indicators and awarded to employees who are doing a great job, whom we wish to retain, who offer great potential for the future.
Next question. Good morning, Sir. Melchior, young individual shareholder. I'd like to hear your view on the film "Merci Patron!" Thank you.
Difficult to give you my view on the film because I haven't seen it. What I can say is that for many years, indeed some 20 years, we're the subject of criticism of extreme leftist groups of all sorts. It's rather surprising. If I ask myself the question, why are we the subject of such criticism? I think the answer's fairly straightforward. LVMH group is the illustration, the embodiment of these, for what the extreme leftist elements, the free market economy at its produces at its worst. We have all the flaws. We're a CAC 40 company, that's a minus point, good results, that makes our situation even worse in their mind. Thirdly, we're hiring employees. I mean, that's terrible. In France to boot, and long-term. I'm informed that since I came to the head of this group, we were 20,000, now we're 120,000.
That's all very bad. We're the illustration of the benefits of globalization for France, and that's an outright catastrophe in their view. We represent the counter example for these small extreme left-wing organizations, that if they can't do away with us, criticize us constantly. That's why we're the subject of that sort of criticism. It's been the case for 20 years. I mean, there's that. There've been other things in the past. It goes on. It's no doubt conveyed and propagated by leftist press that seeing the failure of the traditional economic policy of the left and that the government is rightly moving to a more free market approach, is opting for that approach with this movement because they can't be contradicted by the reality because the probability of their coming to power is pretty limited. That's what I think of that matter.
I can't really say anymore. We're used to that sort of criticism. Any further questions? We'll take the last two questions over there. Yes. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I'm also an individual shareholder. I'd like to ask for clarification regarding this center in Grasse. How has it been received by the perfumers, by the perfume industry? Is it prompting fears, eliciting interest? Well, obviously it's prompting a lot of local interest. I can testify to that. Necessarily, it does prompt some fears on the part of the competition, but it's really an iconic center where we'll be able to express all the perfume creative designs and know-how closer to where the flowers are grown in the Grasse region. This is combined this year with the wonderful inauguration. In fact, I invite shareholders who are in the area during the summer to go and visit it.
The inauguration of Christian Dior's house that Christian Dior Perfumes acquired near Grasse, some 25 kilometers. La Colle Noire, which was the summer house of Mr. Dior that we have refurbished and renovated. It'll be a great occasion because we'll find there a whole set of personal items, objects, photographs, furniture items that belonged to Mr. Dior that will be exhibited in the summer home of Mr. Dior when he was at the head of Christian Dior. A few initiatives in the Grasse area that will be successful. Final question. Mr. Chairman, also individual shareholder for some 30 years or 25 years. My question is, could you let us know what your plans for Franck & Fils, the store? Franck & Fils will be transformed. Franck & Fils is a store that belonged to the group for many years.
Mr. Wagner, who heads up Le Bon Marché, who set up La Grande Épicerie de Paris that you no doubt know, has decided with my agreement, with Toni's agreement, to transform the store, rather old-fashioned, that requires renovation to transform it into a Grande Épicerie in the 16th district. We'll be transforming Franck & Fils into a Grande Épicerie. Well, how long will that take? We'll shut down the store in July. We'll refurbish it, renovate it for about a year. We'll open up in 2017. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. We now will vote on the resolutions. The quorum has been reached. We now vote on the resolution, starting with resolution number one, approval of the parent company financial statements. Approved. Approved. Resolution number two, approval of the 2015 consolidated financial statements. Please vote. Approved. Approved. Resolution number three, approval of related party agreements. Please vote.
Approved. Approved. Resolution number four, the dividend. Please vote. Approved. Approved. Resolution number five, renewal of my appointment as director. I don't know if I can vote. I don't think so. Merci. Thank you. Renewal of the appointment of Madame Bernadette Chirac. Approved. Approved. Well done. Renewal, resolution number seven, appointment of Mr. Charles de Croisset. Please vote. Approved. Approved. Congratulations. Resolution number eight, renewal of Mr. Hubert Védrine's appointment as director. Please vote.
Approved.
Approved. Congratulations. Here, before we put this to the vote, I'd like to show you a film introducing Madame Clara Gaymard.
I worked at the economics ministry and the French Agency for International Investments that I chaired. In 2006, I crossed the river, I became CEO of the French subsidiary of GE. Recently, in February of this year, I joined RAISE, a company that I co-founded, which is an investment company where major companies invest in medium-sized companies, we give 50% of what we make to the Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs, I also chair the Women's Fund. Great sense of pride, first and foremost, to join an iconic company, both a French know-how, French elegance, but above all of this, French je ne sais quoi that constitutes its genius throughout the world. A company that has global renown, embodies this excellence.
I'd just like to state an anecdote. When we founded the French brand, we were polling the foreigners why they were wearing the Louis Vuitton brand, one of them, fine formulation, "Because it elevates us." I'm very pleased and very proud to join the board of directors of LVMH. I hope I can bring my international skills, my knowledge of a global American company that has allowed me to discover, to travel, to meet with many key individuals in most of the countries where LVMH is present, also possibly, since I'm not a specialist of the luxury sector, a different perspective.
Please vote. Congratulations and welcome. Now for Madame Natacha Valla, our second board member up for appointment today.
I grew up in Asia in Africa, I started my career at the European Central Bank when the euro was introduced at the beginning of the millennium. I started working for Goldman Sachs, the investment bank that is, of course, present around the world. I helped investors make their decisions, also have some overall view of the economy. I head CEPII, which is the international think tank looking at international monetary situations. The research work conducted at CEPII is intended for economic decision-makers on the national or European scale, also intended for the general public because we have to conduct rigorous analysis, provide new ideas, make sure that whenever there's a discussion, it should be made in clear and understandable terms. For me, joining LVMH means joining a big adventure.
This is a prestigious organization, a leader, if not the leader, in the luxury industry, synonymous with excellence. The other reason I'm delighted to join LVMH is that this enables me to carry this model of French excellence up to the international stage, and that means that you can both keep the unique value of French excellence, but having it radiate around the world. My own contribution to the board of directors is expertise on the world economy. I have been exposed to different aspects of the economy, the monetary economy, but also a better understanding in a way in which countries interact with one another. I can also bring being a woman, there is some gender diversity, but also I have an international background, and I have different ways of looking at different cultures and different economies. That, I believe is, I hope, a positive contribution. All right.
Well, you can vote now.
Félicitations.
Congratulations and welcome. Resolution 11, the appointment of Ernst & Young as a statutory auditor.
[Foreign language]
Approved. Resolution number 12, appointment of Mazars as a second statutory auditor. You can vote now.
[Foreign language]
Approved. Resolution number 13, appointment of Philippe Castagnac as a deputy auditor.
Approuvé.
Approved. Resolution 14, renewal of the mandate of Auditex as an alternate auditor.
Approuvé.
Approved. Resolution number 15. This is the compensation starting with my own. You can start voting now. Am I allowed to vote?
Approuvé.
Approved. Resolution 16, same question for Mr. Belloni.
Approuvé.
Approved. Resolution 17, the authorization to be granted to the board of directors to trade in the company's shares.
[Foreign language] Approuvé.
Approved. Resolution 18, authorization to reduce the share capital.
[Foreign language] Approuvé. Dix-neuf-
Approved. Resolution 19, that's the granting of free shares, bonus shares.
[Foreign language] Approuvé. Vingtième résolution.
Approved. Resolution 20, extension of the company's terms of existence. That's a change in the bylaws.
[Foreign language]
Approved. Well, there you have it. Thank you for your attention. Now we're happy to invite you to refreshments in the room next door.