Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. Welcome to the combined general meeting for Orange. It's an honor for me to be chairing this general meeting for your company. It's an annual meeting, which is essential for your company, which is a very good opportunity for me, for the CEO as well, and your Board of Directors, so that we can talk you through the main achievements as well as our projects, and so that we can answer your questions. The Board of Directors that was held just before the general meeting has found likely answers to the 54 questions that we have received. They were coming from the Forum de l'Investissement Responsable, 18 questions; the Fonds d'Action Salariée, that is the company mutual fund called Orange Action, 2 questions; and CFE-CGC Trade Union, Orange, 34 questions.
As the commercial code says we can do, and so that we can focus more on the Q&A, you will have all the information on the pages that are available on the orange.com website. Now then, let me talk you through the legal details so that we can have our combined general meeting. In compliance with the law, and article 21 of the Articles of Association of Orange, I'll be chairing the meeting, which is held on the first call. The meeting notice was published in the French official Gazette, the BALO, on the 24th of February 2025, and the convening notice was published on the 18th of April, as well as in another legal notice document called www.actu-juridique.fr. All legal information has therefore been duly published. The quorum required is already met. That's true for the ordinary meeting, but also the extraordinary meeting of our combined meeting.
The quorum is 80.94% and 76.84% in terms of shares, the first being voting rights. We'll give you the final quorum during our meeting. Now, the general meeting is open. We will now appoint the bureau members. The two shareholders who have the greatest number of votes are Bpifrance Participation and the state. However, the public sphere is mindful of the plurality of representation during the general meeting, and they've accepted the fact that the employee share ownership fund, that is Orange Action, the third shareholder after Bpifrance Participation and the state, and that represents more than 10% of the voting rights, be appointed as scrutineer. Therefore, Mr. Thierry Sommelet will be our first scrutineer representing Bpifrance, already with us, and for the Orange Action fund, Madame Nadia Zak-Calvet, who's the chair of the supervisory Board.
Both of them are with us at the very end of this table. I suggest we appoint Nicolas Guérin, the Orange General Secretary and Secretary to the Board of Directors, who will be our secretary for our meeting. Christel Heydemann, the CEO, is close to me, as well as Laurent Martinez, the CFO, and Nicolas Guérin, the company General Secretary and Secretary of the Board of Directors. The members of the Board are also present today with us in the first row, as well as the executive committee members. It's an opportunity for me, on behalf of the Board members, to thank all of the directors for the work they've put in, as well as the different committees, such as the Governance and CSR Committee with Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, the Audit Committee headed by Gilles Grapinet, and the Strategy and Technology Committee headed by Frédéric Sanchez.
These three Board members are independent. As usual, we've reviewed our functioning. That was done at the end of 2024 in a hybrid manner. That is, we did that internally for the evaluation questionnaire, and we also used an independent firm to carry out individual interviews. This evaluation has shed a number of interesting lights on the trends that we saw last year. I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you the main findings and lessons. Since we separated the functions between the chair of the Board and the CEO in 2022, our Board is more efficient. It's been the case year in, year out. We can speak freely, and the debates are rich and useful to the general management. This means it meets the strategic objectives for Orange. The directors believe that this duo, chairman plus CEO, works well.
Transparency and listening to others is what we can see, and this is what the directors like. The three committees are relayed in an efficient manner by the management teams and the report quality work to the Board. More generally speaking, the Board of directors says that thanks to the different levels of expertise of the members, they have all the skills that they need so as to review the different cases and dossiers they have to work on. I was thinking about AI skills, but also cybersecurity skills, or also experience abroad. Some of our directors have a fine knowledge of America or Africa because they've lived over there, which is an asset given the geopolitical and international context that we're familiar with.
Now, to close this aspect that has to do with the functioning of the Board, I'd like to tell you that when I took my position in 2022, I wanted our sessions to be followed by what we call executive sessions. These are short meetings between the directors without anybody representing general management so as to talk about all the most important matters for the Board and its functioning. Once a year, the executive session is reserved only to the independent directors. This is a good practice, which is very much appreciated by the Board members and is good to strengthen the links that exist between the directors.
Now, when it comes to the work done by the Board of directors in 2024, the Board, together with the CEO and general management, decided to support the strategy of the group, pursuing one objective, which is to transform the group so as to bolster performance, to be more agile, and to be more offensive in the given context where competition is still very much buoyant. Today, there are economic, financial, and tax uncertainties hovering on our heads, plus political instability at national level and geopolitical instability at international level. The work done by the Board was quite dense this year. We met 11 times, and we focused on some very important projects and plans, and this will continue in 2025 and after 2025. The first work stream was Spain.
Since we've been coming together with MásMóvil and the joint venture that was set up in March 2024, which has led to a very strong position on the Spanish markets and faster synergies, in the longer run, Orange could take control of the joint venture. This is something that the Board is reviewing very carefully. As far as the market in Europe is concerned, and more generally speaking, as far as the market in France is concerned, we're faced with many questions today, including the following: What are the conditions coming from the national authorities and European authorities so that we could redesign the telecom industry? The Mario Draghi report and the Enric o Letta report that the Board has studied carefully really shows that these matters are of importance, since what's at stake is competitivity of European players versus the main American and Chinese players.
This means that the regulation and competition law might change deeply to the benefit of competitivity and investment. If the project is well described, the question of the pace of the implementation is still something to be answered. The question is that of the number of operators in France, and there are new competitors. The satellite network operators appear with telecom services, and these players might supply and provide in a direct manner their products and services. It would not be good to give them this role on the market. They would be operators number five or six without them being subject to the same rules that apply to the classic telecom operators. Contrary to the latter, they do not pay any fees on the basis of scarcity of frequencies, nor on the basis of revenues generated from these frequencies.
They're not obliged to follow strict requirements in terms of coverage and quality of service. Such difference would lead to distorted competition to the detriment of operators that invest billions and meet strict regulatory obligations and requirements. The principle called same service, same rule should be applied. The implementation should be controlled at the European level and national level. Here again, your Board will pay attention to this. At present, Orange, in parallel, is faced with another challenge that only Orange can take. I'm mentioning the decommissioning of the copper network in France. Such a turnaround is unprecedented, and this will lead to many transformations through two very distinct phases. The first will be a transitory phase leading to 2030, during which fiber and copper will continue to coexist. After 2030, that's the year when the fiber network will be used for fixed connectivity.
The control that we have on the financial trajectory for this project is one of the most crucial topics for Orange. This gigantic project is combined with another project, which is the transformation of skills and jobs at Orange. As the law says, every three years, the social partners and management have had to conduct important negotiations, which is what they did during the second half of 2024, so that at the beginning of the year, we signed off an agreement that was signed by the three trade unions that represent Orange. I mean the management of jobs and career developments, or in French, GPP. I must underscore the quality of industrial relations at Orange, thanks to which, together with the management team, we've managed to finalize this agreement on essential topics.
The Board has also set up an ad hoc committee to keep an eye on these negotiations and to look at implications in terms of being aligned on the strategy of the group. Christel will tell you more about this when she has the floor. There are other work streams that the Board has studied carefully, including Orange's position in Africa. This geography is growing fast in the group, even though the situation in some countries is complex. I was thinking about the Democratic Republic of Congo or the situation in Mali. The Board has benefited from enormous experience from Momar Nguer, who is quite familiar with Africa. In Africa, Orange has local teams that are highly skilled and well-trained. Our infrastructure on the ground is recognized because they are reliable, and there's a good coverage of Orange, reinforced by the presence of the services from Orange Money.
In a minute, you'll be discovering the representatives for this team. The Board also wants to understand how Orange works on the ground. I've traveled quite a lot to meet the local teams myself, and the Board organizes exceptional meetings as well in countries where Orange operates, to study and review the group operations in these countries, for instance, the dynamics on the markets, the way the markets change, and the financial trajectory. We visited Belgium in December 2024, and we'll go to the MEA region before the end of 2025. During this fiscal year, the Board also studied the withdrawing of Orange from its obligations vis-à-vis the Sarbanes-Oxley law.
After reviewing a proposal from management, we have decided to delist the company from the New York Stock Exchange to simplify our functioning, to be more efficient, and to still comply with the most stringent governance standards and financial reporting transparency standards. Our Board also keeps an eye on the share price. We have seen, and we've been satisfied with what we've seen, that since the beginning of the year, the share has outperformed in the industry and in the sector, more than 37% more than the market players. Now, on more classic topics such as compensation of top managers, the Board has decided for a period going from 2025 to 2027 to continue with a performance share scheme with indicators that meet the trajectory that we have in the Lead the Future plan. This scheme is something you'll be voting on during our general meeting.
Thank you very much for this glass of water. Thank you very much. As I've just said, the Board, if necessary, during its term, might review Christel Heydemann's compensation. In addition, I've been discussing that point with the main shareholders of Orange in March during the annual meetings that we organize with the main shareholders, as well as with the representatives of shareholder employees, as well as with the CCAO, Shareholders Advisory Committee. Since the moment I was appointed, I always encourage regular dialogue with the main shareholders. During these debates, apart from talking about governance, apart from talking about the main challenges ahead, the investors considered that the compensation structure for the main managers working for us is appropriate, and they looked at the indicators that we use, more particularly compulsory training in the field of cybersecurity and compliance, or the survey carried out each year called Voice Up.
They also have taken note of the renewal Bpifrance's participation's mandate, being the legal person, also director of Orange. The Board has paid special attention as well to the appointment process to appoint the director to represent employee shareholders. As you might remember, the Board has had to give up, and it regretted to give up a year ago on a proposal submitted to your general meeting in May 2024. That is the appointment of someone to represent the shareholder employees because there was a cancellation of vote that appointed the candidate by court order dating 3rd May 2024 that was upheld on appeal.
In a judgment that was appealed to the French Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals of Versailles noted, and I'll quote, "On the one hand, a serious infringement on the quality of means of propaganda used by the candidates and their support during the campaign, which is a general principle in electoral law, and on the other hand, that the fairness of the campaign had been affected by the fact that the permissible limits of electoral polemics were exceeded.
It confirms, therefore, the cancellation of the previous vote," and noted, I'll still quote, that, I quote, "The communication from CFE-CGC during the campaign was misleading and virulent to the point of exceeding the permissible limits of trade union freedom of expression and electoral polemics." Given this, the Board considered that such attitudes were not acceptable as asked General Management to set up or draw up an ethics charter that unfortunately was not signed off by CFE-CGC for the coming electoral campaigns in our group. A new vote, which is now subject to a new appeal from the CFE-CGC, took place at the beginning of April. Two names should have been given to you within the scope of resolution number five, with the appointment of Mrs. Nadia Zak-Calvet, with as deputy Mr. Marc Maouche, who respectively represents CFDT and AASGO to represent the employees who own Orange shares.
Unfortunately, the Tribunal de Commerce of the town of Nanterre was seized yesterday by the CFE-CGC trade union, and they've asked for the suspension of this resolution until the substance of the vote is studied because it's disputed by this trade union. The judgment will come in a number of months. Therefore, the Board of Orange, which met just before the general meeting, has withdrawn resolution number five. It will not be a resolution that the general meeting will be voting on. Personally speaking, and on behalf of the Board, I deeply regret that the shareholder employees this year again will be deprived of any representative on the Board, even though they are the number two shareholder in Orange after the public grouping or sphere.
Being the Chair of the Board during the fiscal year, I always wanted to visit people and teams on the ground in France, but also abroad. I looked at what was being done carefully, which is what I do, and I saw that the telecom industry in France, that Orange is the engine of, is in many ways an example to be followed. [Foreign language] . Thanks to the considerable investment that we've had in the past 10 years, that is three times higher than what we can see if we look at the other CAC 40 players, more than 89% of all premises in France are connected to or can be connected to fiber between the beginning of 2018 and end of 2023. I mean the territory, that is the territory without 4G coverage has gone from 11% down to less than 2%.
In addition to these numbers that speak for themselves, the weight of telecom services in household expenditures has decreased by 9% in 10 years. Therefore, the French operators have the lowest fixed prices and mobile prices. The prices are twice as high in the U.K. and Germany. Since 2019, the mobile consumption has increased 26% in France, whereas the price of the GB has decreased by more than 68%, which really shows that there's a big gap between us and the other EU countries. If the operators still have a higher level of capital investment, capital expenditure, they're penalized because of the tax regime that's upon them. Due to a very heavy regulation, which sometimes is redundant, that comes from the national authorities, but also the European authorities.
Now, on the backdrop of our general meeting, all of these elements will be shedding light on the discussions carried out by the public authorities and political authorities. The discussions on SFR could lead to another debate on the consolidation on the French market. Before we listen to Gilles Grapinet so that we go through the Board functioning and the different committees, I'd like to continue with the strategic outlook, if I may. The Board of Directors met during two days in the format of a seminar last month, and we took stock of the Lead the Future plan, which is necessary to meet our objectives. With this plan, the company is stronger because in the plan, we refocus on the main activities, and we dispose or stop the non-profitable activities.
This value-based strategy is based on commercial excellence and based on an end-to-end infrastructure network with a high level of performance, which is what we can see if we look at the ratings from the ARCEP. The strategy is also based on the fact that we've decided to pursue our synergies in Europe. I'm thinking about Spain, Belgium, Romania, and the deep transformation within Orange Business, the growth of Orange Cyberdefense, and the exceptional performance in the Africa region. In parallel, General Management has started a strict monitoring of operating costs and has met its ESG 2025 objectives one year ahead of the plan and has still some leeway to continue. In 2025, the Board will be preparing the next plan, which will be presented to the markets next February.
The Board will contribute to the drafting of a project that will mobilize our troops and that will prepare the future for our group, and this will be based on the committee called Strategy and Technology. Dear shareholders, thank you very much for your attention. Now I'll hand over to Gilles Grapinet, the chair of the audit committee.
[Foreign language]. Thank you, Chairman. [Foreign language] , Ladies and Gentlemen, [Foreign language] , I have the honor as the president or chairman of the audit committee of Orange Group to report to the work that we've carried out during this year. Just like last year, the audit committee had to work very intensely. We met on nine occasions, and the collective attendance rate was 97%. I'd like to thank all of you for this. Alors, we were busy.
Apart from the traditional missions, I'll be coming back to later on specific topics which reflect what we're busy working on during this year. As I announced last year, the Audit Committee has dedicated a number of our debates and discussions to the examination of a new report borne from the European directive called CSRD, which is called the State of Durability Sustainability. At the beginning of 2025, we decided on the auditors of this information, and the Audit Committee throughout the year looked into the main stages of the process whereby this report is being generated. We worked in collaboration with the CSRD committee, which is chaired by Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner.
I cannot omit to say that the implementation of this directive proved to be extremely complex and required a long process to enable the Orange teams to work on the generation of information, and particularly when it comes to sustainable finance. This first publication took place in a special environment because not all European countries have transposed the significant number of them called on the lightening of this regulation, which we think is too cumbersome. This is why the Board and General Management of Orange decided that we go for a pragmatic approach. Of course, this means that the way in which these informations are generated and collected will probably have to be slightly changed to make it made lighter in the years to come.
On the second topic that we worked intensely on, I'm referring to the strategic transformation of our operations in Spain, which, as recalled by the Chairman, there was a merger between Orange Spain and MásMóvil, and now we have the first Spanish operator in terms of volume of clients. Now, the Audit Committee monitored the situation the first months after the merger and after making sure that we were getting the benefit from this getting together, this operation transaction, and we spent a lot of time looking into a new strategic project in Spain, which is the creation of a fiber core, a new company for the sharing of our work between Vodafone, Zegona, and MásOrange. This should lead to a number of massive benefits.
As you know, Orange owns 50% of MásOrange, and this is what we decided, or the audit committee decided, that we would focus on this transaction. MásOrange has been deconsolidated from the books of the group, but still, there remains importance, and the audit committee makes sure that we are monitoring the situation to us. This transaction is really the strategic one. We have evidence of this a few weeks ago during the annual strategic seminar. The Chairman just recalled this. We had the opportunity to share our views with the General Manager of MásOrange, who came to Paris to take stock of the situation, to tell us what their objectives were in financial terms. I'd like to use this opportunity to discuss Spain as well as other international points where the audit committee has been working actively this year.
In particular, I would like to recall that many of our meetings were dedicated to the review of the situation of the transactional group in Romania, in Poland, in Belgium too, with a Board travel to Brussels at the end of the year so that you can meet with the Board of directors of that entity. As Chairman of the Audit Committee and together with the Chairman of the Board, I had the opportunity to travel to Africa, Romania, to meet with the management team and discuss with their respective challenges and projects. You probably understood by now that the governing Board pays great attention to what's happening in this extremely disruptive situation, and this situation is being worsened by the Russia-Ukrainian conflict and also by the situation in Africa.
Even though there's no conflict, the new initiatives taken by the Trump administration in the U.S. have generated a conflict, as you probably have seen, and not as much in Orange because we have a, we're not really exposed, but we have to be very careful about what's happening there. The Audit Committee, as you probably heard, has dedicated a part of its work to look into the fact, the situation, the fact that the end of the SOX law, and we like to approve the delisting from ADS, which was shares of the group listed on the New York Exchange. This presents a significant simplification and streamlining as well as an economy in terms of costs. We think this is a very timely moment to do this.
Of course, we will remain very strict in terms of quality and financial reporting, but this, I think, is a very good initiative in view of the current situation worldwide. Now, the most traditional activities of an audit committee, as I said earlier, we've continued monitoring the passage of the group. I'm referring to the closure of banking operations in France and in Spain, and we've covered the traditional topics for an audit committee to begin with the monitoring of the main activities, referring to risk assessment that might make an impact on the group's operation. In this respect, the pain points, and there's no surprise, in view of the field where we work, the risk of conformity, risk of fraud, and we're particularly careful.
We'd like to make sure that the recommendation of our internal audit authorities works well and fast, that they cover everything they have to do to reinforce the resilience and solidity, the robustness, and the compliance of the group. Significant progress has been made as the Audit Committee was able to observe in 2024. Along the same line, the committee has wanted to make sure that our insurance policy is proper. The insurance business is very unstable, as you probably know, and bullish. We've been able to negotiate new prices, which are interesting. This insurance policy is extremely useful. I'd like to refer to the Chido Typhoon, which was really a pain for the majority of people, and again, the damage caused by the fire on one of the cable-laying ships.
The insurance policy of the group is proper, well calibrated, and has a dampening event in the case of such extreme disasters. On another level, we spend a lot of time looking into the debt policy of the group, the investment of liquid assets. Every year, we had a number of very useful presentations that made it possible to look deeper into our balance sheet, our rating policy, our financing, as well as discuss the best way to manage financial risks or the financing of the affiliates of the group, or again, the management of our treasury or cash position. This is why we feel that we're well equipped to anticipate the next financial and strategic events in the group. We've also looked into our position in Europe, in the Middle East.
We've revised our policy in terms of asset depreciation tests at the end of 2024, and we've incorporated all the information concerning the 2025 balance sheet and the geopolitical and macroeconomic evolutions of the group. On a more conventional basis, I'd like to underscore a few things that activity that we carry out on the half-yearly basis. We look into the situation, referring to significant disputes to make sure that we are aware of the main disputes that we have to deal with. We collect information concerning the rating of the Orange share, how well is our position. Of course, this is something that we do on a quarterly basis. Everything this is published concerning the market. As to the operation of the audit committee itself, I have a constant dialogue with the auditors.
On two occasions, we organize an executive session that is a meeting without the presence of the auditors so that the members of general management can take stock of the situation. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, this shows that we are working hard. Our directors are really very committed. I'd like to thank them for that. I'd like to underscore that we get the benefit, the President of the Board of Directors and the General Manager. I'd like to welcome and to thank them for that. On behalf of the committee, I'd like to thank our auditors and the teams of the financial department with Laurent Martinez, thanks to whom we were able to work in excellent conditions once again. Thank you for your attention. I give the floor back to the Chairman of the Board.
Thank you, Gilles. [Foreign language] . Laurent Martinez for the 2024 results.
[Foreign language] . Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. Very happy to meet you again this year. I'll be talking you through the financial results of our group, and that's for 2024. To start with, let's have a look at our commercial performance, supported by our leadership in terms of the quality of our networks and the excellence of our customer services. We're really proud to be the preferred operator in 15 of our countries. Orange is still strengthening its leadership by attracting new clients. The group will stick to its European leader position in convergence with a total of 9 million clients, therefore up 1% over a year. As far as mobile services are concerned, we have 253 million accesses in the world, therefore a sharp increase, 7%.
Fixed services total more than 38 million accesses in the world, including 14.6 million very high throughput, and therefore a sharp increase or growth, which is equivalent to 13.5%. Orange MEA also has 40 million Orange Money clients who are active, therefore up 16% over a year. The success of our commercial strategy is something that stems from our expertise in networks. In terms of 4G, we cover the seven European countries with more than 99% of the population that's covered and 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East. As far as 5G is concerned, it's available in seven countries in Europe and two countries in Africa and the Middle East. As you know, Orange is the undisputed leader in fiber business in Europe, with almost 28 million lines deployed for a total of more than 55 million households that can be connected.
Yet, we're very careful about our E capital expenditures we've maintained, which is 15% of our total revenue. That is, in terms of absolute values, an investment to the tune of EUR 6 billion. Now, let's have a look at our financial performance. The results in 2024 were very solid, and we fully met all of our objectives. If we look at 2024, the revenue totaled or reached EUR 40 billion, therefore up 1.2% on the basis of retail services. Africa, the Middle East is the main entity that's contributed to this growth, with revenues up 11%, thanks to our leadership position in almost all the countries where we operate with more than 160 million mobile clients and the four growth drivers: data mobile, fixed broadband, the Orange Money business, and B2B. Our revenues in France are up thanks to retail services, excluding PSTN, up 2.6%.
We are still the undisputed leader in France in a very buoyant market. Europe sees a degrowth in terms of revenues due to the services to operators and other activities with a margin that is quite low. The other retail services, excluding IT and service integrations, are up 1.3%. The decrease of revenues for Orange Business is something that we anticipated. The IT services and integration services are growing slightly, even though the market is tough. The Orange Cyberdefense revenues are growing at a sustained pace, 11% in 2024. Now, let's look at the profitability of our group. EBITDA for the group reached EUR 12.1 billion, therefore an annual growth of 2.7%. There is a continual acceleration that we saw in 2024. What are the main reasons for this performance? What are the main drivers?
First, very good impetus in Africa and the Middle East, with a growth totaling 13% for EBITDA. Next, continual and solid performance in Europe. Finally, we're back to growth or back to profit in France. In addition, Orange Business has recovered with a performance that's in line with the objectives set. This improvement in the field of the profitability of our group is fed with the operating efficiency program, for which we've already rolled out two-thirds of our ambition, the timeline of which is 2025. We will continue and we will work on three work streams: operating efficiency, optimizing procurement, and the use of AI. Finally, to conclude, net profit is stable for 2024. Some key items about our cash flow and the balance sheet. There is an increase in profitability, and we've been very strict with our capital expenditure.
Therefore, organic cash flow of the group has increased to the tune of more than EUR 200 million in 2024 to reach EUR 3.4 billion. This is fully aligned with the objectives set by the group. The all-in free cash flow, after factoring in disputes and costs of licenses, is at EUR 3 billion, therefore up EUR 500 million from 2023, a sharp increase. In addition, the balance sheet of your group is really good. Net debt has been decreased by EUR 4.5 billion, thanks to the proceeds of MásOrange. Therefore, the debt level is 1.8 times EBITDA. These are excellent results, as you can see. This really shows that our Lead the Future plan is something that works, a plan that focuses, as you know, on value creation for all the different stakeholders.
This is what we see when you look at the financial results of the group. First, the main all-in free cash flow indicator has increased considerably, going from EUR 1.6 billion up to EUR 3 billion, and this within two years. Return on capital employed, which is the second main indicator, has improved to reach 6.9%, therefore a total increase of 100 basis points, and this again in two years. The EPS, earnings per share, was up 12% to reach EUR 0.82 per share. These indicators have improved, as you can see, and therefore here is what we have for you: an improved dividend, going from EUR 0.72 per share in 2023 to EUR 0.75 this year for 2024. This amount, by the way, is fully covered thanks to our all-in free cash flow generation.
Now, to wrap up, a few words on our outlook for 2025. Given our very good achievements in 2024, and as you've seen as well in terms of cash flow generation, we have decided to review our forecasts for 2025 in a better way. This is what you have in our strategic plan. Nowadays, the new figures are as follows: EBITDA will improve by 3% in 2025, and organic cash flow will be at least EUR 3.6 billion. The eCapEx will still be monitored carefully, with an eCapEx to revenues ratio that will be 15%, and our leverage objective will be a ratio of two times. Our dividend policy is not budged, with a floor of EUR 0.75 for 2025. Thank you very much for your attention. Now I'll hand over to our Chairman. Thank you.
[Foreign language] Jacques Pierre. Now we have Jacques Pierre, the auditor's report.
Thank you, Chairman. Dear shareholders, I have the pleasure to submit to you, on behalf of the auditors Deloitte and KPMG, the report that we established for you for the financial year that closed on 2024. We have the annual dé controlité de comptes on regulated conventions and transactions concerning the capital. They have been made available to you. You will find them in the Universal 2024, the Universal Document. These are the main points concerning the annual and consolidated reports. First and second resolution, we can certify that dé controlité de comptes concerning the financial year closed in 2024 are sincere and true and give a true image of the financial situation, the result, and the resources of the group.
We paid particular attention to a number of key points of the audit, which we thought was most important, either due to the complexity of the information system or because they make it possible for us to assess the situation. We consider that the taking into account the sales figure of the telecommunication, the assessment of the provisions, and the tax becauses and the commercial funds constitute the key points of the audit of the annual accounts. We have two main points: the evaluation of the goodwill and some units that generate treasury are particularly important. As to the fourth resolution of your general meeting, we published a report on regulated conventions. No convention authorized was concluded during that year to be submitted to the Approval General Assembly. A convention concluded during 2023, which was already approved by the general meeting, continued during the 2024 financial year.
It had to do with the exclusive negotiation agreement between Orange and BNP Paribas for the benefit of Orange Bank customers or clients, and the application via an agreement concluded between Orange Bank clients and BNP Paribas. We published a number of reports that would be containing resolutions. Make an impact on the capital of the company. First report, a report on the global delegation for the issuing of shares and various financial instruments, 17th and 23rd resolutions are covered by this point. A report concerning the authorization to issue free shares or to issue new ones. A report on the delegation of competence concerning the issuing of shares or complex titles. This is a resolution number 25. Another report concerning the delegation of power to reduce the capital by cancelling of shares. This is the object of the 27th resolution. Nothing special on this point.
We'll be creating additional reports if necessary, if your Board editor thinks that this is necessary. The A resolution suggested by the Fonds Communs de Placement is an amendment to the 24th resolution. We don't have anything to add on the observation coming from your Board. We've issued another report for which there will be no resolution referring to the sustainability and taxonomy reports. The limit insurance report deals with the compliance of European standards for reporting on sustainability and the European regulation on the process by which Orange determines which information now to be published, the information on durability, sustainability included in the sustainability situation, as well as taxonomy. On the basis of these procedures, we found no significant mistake or omission or inconsistency with the European regulation. We've made one observation, which is with the CSA concerning the sustainability state of your company.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Before we give the floor to Christel Heydemann, I'd like to show you a short film on the highlights of 2024.
Yeah, yeah, drop your glasses. Face screwed up like you having hot flashes. Which one? Pick one. This one, classic. Red, brown, blonde, yeah, I'm drastic. Why this? Why that? Lips stop basking. Listen to me, baby, relax and start passing. Breast, waist, head back, weaving through the traffic. This one strong should be labeled as a hazard. Some of y'all niggas cop psych, I'm gassing. Clowns, I spot them and I can't stop laughing. Easy come, easy go, EB gon' be lasting. Jealousy, let it go, results could be tragic. Some of y'all ain't writing well, too concerned with fashion. None of you ain't Giselle, catwalk and imagine. A lot of y'all Hollywood drama, cast it.
Cut the camera off, real blasting. They wanna banker, pranker, make sneakers, we shaker. Haters wanna be after me. You ain't a gangster, brinksa, too much TV. Snakes in the bath, wanna scoop up that weed. Now while you gritting your teeth, frustration, baby, you got to breathe. Take a lot more than you to get rid of me. You see, I do what they can't do, I just do me. Ain't no stress when it comes to stage, get what you see. Meet me in the lab, pen and pad, don't believe. Sixteens mine, create my own lines. Love for my wordplay, that's hard to find. Sophomore, I'm scared, one of a kind. All I do is contemplate ways to make your fans mine. Eyes, bloodshot, stressing chills up your spine. Sick to your stomach, wishing I wrote your rhyme. Orange is here.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I'm really happy to talk to you. I'd like to thank you for your attendance of this 25th general meeting. 2024 was really a challenging year. The challenge, that's Olympic Games, the consolidation in Spain. This whole year was marked by extreme climatic events, floods in Spain, in Eastern Europe, and in Davao, a typhoon in Mayotte, Madagascar, or La Réunion again. Of course, this makes an impact on our business, and it shows that our teams are recommitted and they want to serve our clients, our customers, even the worst situation. Connectivity is vital for our world and our services are essential. This is very fortunate for Orange. Never before our role of a trusted partner is crucial. What we need to do is clear.
We have to continue implementing our strategic plans, Lead the Future, prepare the future, and remain true to our promise of trusted partners. Before I come back to this point, I'd like to thank all the employees of Orange for their commitment. I'd like to thank Jean-François Fallacher for this extreme welcome contribution to the development of the group when he was in Poland, and of course, at the head of Orange France. Jean-François will become Eutelsat General Manager from June 1 next year and will be replaced by Jérôme Hénique, which is the boss of Middle East Africa. I'd like to recognize and regard the work of Jacques Aschenbroich and his extremely rich dialogue that we have with him. I can only thank you and recognize when you recall the competitive character of work to their business.
This is something we keep insisting, but it seems that not everybody is aware of the European market. It is very fragmented, hyper-competitive, with tens of mobile operators in Europe, but only three in the U.S., three in China and in India. It's extremely complex to really identify a real champion. How can we achieve the unique telecom market if you have one single market? It's not there yet. We haven't reached the critical size, and this is something that we feel we lag behind in terms of the deployment of 4G compared with India, the U.S., and China. While the hyperscalers, these U.S. companies who are specialized in digital services, data, cloud, etc., are unavoidable and starting to serve the whole world. Reaching critical size, we must do in the very high capital-intensive company because our capacity to invest is absolutely key.
We want and we mean to remain a leading actor. This is something that this kind of talk has triggered a new awareness, and we have a number of signs of this. The English competition authority has accepted a merger between Vodafone and Free. Later, because of a change of position, EUR 200 million, it is something we need to achieve. The European Commissioner who is in charge of digital work network art. While political tensions are extremely high, you need to recall that the critical nature of our physical infrastructure, without which, in view of the weight of technologies, our daily lives cannot exist. We want to make sure that investing in our countries is really attractive and reinforces what we do in order to achieve a greater sovereignty. 2024 is the second year of our Lead the Future plan. Orange has reinforced its position.
We own a number of infrastructures, and we know that they are strategic, long-term, a cable, submarine cable, telecom tower, satellite data centers. We master and control our infrastructure. We are leaders in the fiber, 60 million plus 20% compared with 2020, where we continue structuring our assets and make the most of our assets, for instance, fiber and in Spain. We've been able to show that we have an excellent marketing policy using different brands. The quality of network, the brand Orange with Orange LE, which is our signature, and the high satisfaction level of our clients are key. More than 280 million clients in the world make it possible to confirm our position of leaders in Europe and in Africa. The MEA area is growing 11% in 2024 with second operators in Africa, 160 million mobile operators.
Jérôme Hénique, General Manager of that area, will tell you more about the strategy of EMEA. On the corporate level, Orange Cyberdefense, two-digit growth. It is a global leader in Europe. We continue the transformation of Orange Business. We continue the plan to improve our profitability, even though competition is quite tough. Our role as a partner, trusted partner, is key. In 2024, we've created a leader in Spain with the MásOrange. We are the operator that has the most consolidation operations in Europe during the past years. I'm not going to come back on the financial results. Laurent Martinez has done it, but our 2025 guidance has been increased. Now, 127,000 employees who are proud of working for Orange, according to our social barometer. At a daily basis, they are really at the service of our group. Their expertise, their know-how, are indispensable to our success.
Like any company in the digital era, we have to make sure that we continue training them to meet the challenge of new skills required. After long negotiation months, there was a unanimous signature by trade unions of an agreement on the management of employments and jobs. Now we have a framework that helps us to train and dissipate with a differentiated approach. Outside of France, our group has reinforced its training system to support the enhancement of skills, particularly in cybersecurity, data, but also business ethics and better understanding of the impact of climate change. AI is key and will make a huge difference in tomorrow's world. 98% of our employees followed the training courses, and a high number of them were trained on AI. More than 93,000 use Generative AI in order to be able to work in a safe and secure environment.
In 2024, we've adopted values that apply to the whole group, responsible Board. The three words really are very important to all our staff. This is something we rely upon to build tomorrow's future. So much for assets. Our collective success will be based on our primacy. We have to keep our primacy to be a trusted partner. We want to be as close as possible to what our clients and customers need. For that, we need to adapt our business models. In France, the objective is important. We have to switch to a very high rate. More than nine households out of ten use fiber, and the majority of internet subscribers rely on this. We are very proud that we are the company that made it possible. Now we have to decommission 1 million kilometers of copper and to find new solutions for.
This is something that we'll be doing municipality by municipality. We'll be switched into new generation networks. This is something that we need to work on to be able to meet the challenge of Generative AI, which is a huge opportunity for growth, innovation, and productivity. At the scale of our group, AI made it possible for us to generate EUR 200 million values thanks to the deployment of 50 use cases in the progress or via customer services. We need to create value and to offer solutions that they can use at the service of the company. Orange Business offers the Live Intelligence solution that incorporates automatic learning languages from different providers, the U.S. one, but also French alternatives like Mistral or Lightron. Orange launched the Cyber Secure Offer, 24 full solutions for private users that provide protection against fraud.
Orange has a network policy, the key principle being non-discrimination, protection of private life, and the respect of human autonomy. Fashioning this kind of responsible word goes beyond this. I'd like to come back to this commitment which was made. In 2024, Orange launched the initiative called the For Good Connections in order to support the young users through the use of reasoned objectives. We have a number of programs which are used to raise awareness about cyber harassment, and we have also a project like SaferPhone. We support those. We have joined the digital cri yet, and being the leader there means that we have to be aware of a climate environment. We have a number of extreme events, and we have a dual responsibility there. First of all, to lower our carbon footprint, we'll be carbon neutral 40 years before the recommendation of that industry.
We've reduced our direct emissions, Scopes 1 and 2, from 30%. We are ahead of our objectives. We continue our efforts to decarbonize energy in Europe and to get solarization of our sites in Africa. For Scope 3, Scope 3 for emissions, which means that we have to work with the whole value chain. A partner towards zero carbon means that our providers are committed to use special levers to lower their carbon footprint. We are also ready to adapt our common identified vulnerabilities with the business continuation plan and portfolios of solutions to help us adapt. We've developed a connection kit, satellite and mobile, so that connectivity can be restored without any further ado. On the climate, it is something that we've taken on Board in 41 of our solutions. This is something we do thanks to our risk management team. We are really determined.
I know that our group has many possibilities, many assets, a capacity to adapt, and a capacity to make our assets become even more valuable. Before I gave a look with the Jérôme Hénique, here are a few pictures that illustrate our topic. That's For Good Connections.
Digital technology shapes our daily lives. It's a powerful tool for progress, education, and entertainment. To encourage responsible use of digital technology, reduce screen time for children, and combat the rise of cyberbullying, we've launched the For Good Connections initiative, which offers fun interactive workshops, blending sports and digital skills across 25 countries, safe havens and gaming environments, and partnerships with anti-cyberbullying associations, SafeZone and 3018 in France. Practical tips and resources available in store and online. Smart solutions designed to keep kids safe while giving parents that all-important peace of mind. Creating a safer digital world. Orange is here.
[Foreign language] , Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, it really is an honor for me to seize this opportunity so that I can talk about Africa and the Middle East, a region where the group is growing. Our objective is to become a major player in digital inclusion and financial inclusion and to become the preferred multi-service operator of populations in Africa and the Middle East. We want to be the leader in our industry. Orange has been operating for more than 20 years in Africa and the Middle East. We operate in 18 countries, and we have four areas. We have two equity clusters, the Groupe Sonatel, and Groupe Orange Côte d'Ivoire, and two other groups of countries in the MENA region first, and then Central Africa and the Indian Ocean, SAIO.
Our activities are based on 18,000 employees, the first ambassadors of our brand, but also on the support teams from the head office in Casablanca and also the shared service centers that are distributed into three hubs in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Morocco. We believe in a virtuous model that is performance for the good development of countries, and that will be the foundation of our performance. What we mean by development is the impact that Orange has because we meet the needs of local populations in the field of inclusion. Digital inclusion, that's our core business. We invest in infrastructures as well, but also there's social inclusion with the Orange Digital Center objective or plan to employ more youth. We've done that with more than 1 million beneficiaries, but also financial inclusion with Orange Money and also the energy inclusion with the Orange Energies offering.
Inclusion is what we need so that we're very much present on the continent. It's supported with strong local partnerships in most of the countries where we operate. It's a unique model thanks to which we can stand out versus the competition. We are the local players and therefore can ward off all the risks that exist. We have a diversified portfolio, which is well balanced, and therefore we can be even more resilient. The model can be more resilient, and we can overcome one-off difficulties because no country represents more than 15% of total revenue. We have a very good balance between the countries where the currency is stable and other countries where currencies are more volatile. We are a local player.
We are resilient, and this really shows that we've had good performance and profitability over the long run, which is what you can see if you look at the 2024 results. As Laurent Martinez said before, OMEA has met all of the financial and operational objectives. Thus, we've confirmed the fact that we are a driving force in the group. Now, what about the underlying elements in financial performance? Look at the growth of our mobile clients. We've reached 161 million clients at the end of the year. Therefore, 12 million customers gained versus 2023. For mobile data, which is a growth engine, we've acquired more than 16 million new customers for 4G. At the end of the year, we had 77 million clients, which really shows that we've invested in the modernization of our networks and we have a better coverage of our networks.
We have converted the 3G bases into 4G. It is the same for broadband, fixed broadband, almost 4 million clients at the end of 2024, therefore up 17% versus 2023. The Orange Money has reached 40 million active clients, therefore growing monthly and 16% increase from 2023. The Max it Super App was launched in November 2023. At the end of 2024, we had already more than 18 million monthly users in this country. In 2025, here again, we would like to meet our results, earnings commitments with profitable growth, and we will continue and work on the social and environmental front so that we can continue and improve our reputation on the continent. This is based on the quality of our resources and the engagement of our employees.
This is what we're going to see in a minute in the upcoming video. Thank you very much for your attention.
Orange has been present on the African continent for more than 20 years. Created in 2018, its subsidiary Orange Middle East and Africa is now active in 18 countries. [Foreign language] . Orange Middle East and Africa invests more than EUR 1 billion each year to continue the expansion of its networks, including with 4G, 5G, fiber, or submarine cables. In March 2025, Orange signed an agreement with Eutelsat and Telesat to accelerate the deployment of satellite internet for remote areas.
[Foreign language] . By relying on its mobile network, Orange launched Orange Money, which today allows 100 million customers to carry out their financial transactions in a simple and secure way. [Foreign language] . In 2024, Orange Middle East and Africa made EUR 7.7 billion in revenue, representing 19% of the group's revenues.
The leading contributor to fueling that growth is Egypt, with 32 million customers and over EUR 730 million in revenue in 2024. We're able to improve our EBITDA margin and grow it by 50% while achieving close to 40% year-over-year revenue growth. This dynamic will keep driving future growth for the group in the region. [Foreign language] .
[Foreign language] . Dear shareholders, now the Q&A has started. We'll start with those who are following us in the room, but also afterwards, we will take questions from the internet, those who sent in their questions.
Now, the CEO, Christel, and the members of the executive committee are here, and they'll be able to answer your questions. Now, so that we have a good conversation, please ask short questions, and please only ask a maximum of two questions. Before we start, we have a special area for technical questions, after-sales questions in the main hall in the Pleyel building or room. Please don't hesitate and meet the teams that we have in this room, and they will be quite willing to answer all of your questions. We'll start with the first question in the room, please.
Hello, I'm Hugues Davreux , member of the advisory committee for the shareholders of Orange. I'd like to know more about the impacts of Donald Trump's policies and the decisions made by his administration on your activities. Thank you.
That's a tough question. I don't know. Has he said anything else since the morning? You know, Orange is not really very much present in America. Our business is a local business. We are French in France, we are the Egyptians in Egypt, Spanish in Spain, etc. We have some business in America for the large corporates that we support and guide, and therefore we have teams in America. Our exposure is limited. If you look at the situation today, the trade war, or rather the arm-twisting exercise in terms of tariffs, our business is based on local services, and therefore we do not have many flows. We are not very much exposed, even though, of course, this might have economic impacts on the group. In the short term, we are not very much exposed, are we? In any case, we are keeping an eye on that with the procurement and purchasing teams.
Maybe the most important thing for us, when you look at what's happening in the United States of America today, is what I was saying earlier on, which is the fact that Europe is very much aware of how much we rely from the technological point of view in some areas, vis-à-vis some suppliers. In some cases, we only have the American solutions, sometimes the Chinese solutions as well. Maybe that's a great opportunity for Europe, for this European ecosystem to change and to come up with alternative solutions, even though we know that in some areas, we very much know that we'll have to continue and work with the main tech companies from America that have the clout, and they are the first ones who want to continue and serve their clients and partners in Europe. Thank you very much.
Question number two.
Hello, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to talk about what you've called the decommissioning. That is the fact that you're going to replace the 2G and 3G networks, and you're going to move on towards fiber networks and the impacts on the ecosystem. Now, for instance, the lifts that you have and in the big buildings, the gas meters, the electricity meters are systems that will be impacted by this replacement. If this is organized like it was the case if you look at the fiber boxes we have in the streets and we are sometimes disconnected for months, we could be worried. I saw that the operators want to anticipate on the deadline, which is 2030, and therefore maybe in terms of lifts to be replaced, the trend will accelerate and the prices will go up. It will be a price of EUR 5,000 for a system in a lift.
Who's going to pay the costs? Will it be the simple consumers like me or the state or the operators? Who's going to pay or foot the bill?
We have two projects to modernize the infrastructure. First, the decommissioning for copper, which is the turning point. We'll move towards fiber. You're right. You're right to come back to this. We have this project, which is to phase out our 2G and 3G networks by 2028 and 2030. The phase-out of 2G is a project that we've been talking about for several years, and it started a long time ago. France is really a laggard compared to other European countries. If you look at lift suppliers or IoT, 2G-based solutions have moved to more modern solutions in the rest of Europe. France is lagging behind. We've even postponed some of the deadlines.
We start decommissioning 2G, and then it'll be 3G. That's what we're working on with French ARCEP, with all the other operators, because all the operators in the ecosystem will have to do this. We're talking more about this now because the deadline is coming near, and therefore we'll have to continue and work on these plans. Other countries in Europe have managed, so France will manage and succeed, and we need these frequencies. The frequencies for 2G and 3G are frequencies that we will need. We need to free them up and use them because we have more and more traffic on our networks.
Another question, please.
Hello, Chair, ladies and gentlemen. I'll only ask two questions. Now, we've talked about 2030. No more copper, but fibers. Okay. When I walk around in the countryside and I see that we no longer have overhead lines, will it be the same with fibers? Will they be buried, or will these be aerial or over the air, and will they be broken by trees that fall down? Now, second question. More than 91% of your profit is distributed. Now, I know that the number one shareholder is the glutton. They want all the profit back. And you're talking about major capital expenditure in fibers, in the networks, in the telco business. Do you think it's good for the company's survival, for its future, to have such a dividend policy? Because the more you give to the state, the more the state will be hungry, the more it'll be demanding and asking for more.
Okay. Now, to answer the first question, that's the CEO. If you look at the quality of our networks, the copper network, copper and fiber, and tomorrow the fiber network, this is one of our concerns. This is something the dollar teams are working on. Now, maintenance in rural areas is something that's costly. It's costly for the infrastructure operators. That is us, and we constantly maintain these networks. Tomorrow, we'll have fiber networks. We'll be using these posts, these masts, and that's indispensable. We can't bury all of these networks. This is not necessarily something that we're looking forward to because, you know, if you want to repair them, that's very important. We have to trim the trees alongside these overhead lines. We're still working on this, and we ask people, individuals, but also the local authorities to do this, to cut the branches of big trees. Deploying fibers?
No, we couldn't deploy fibers in rural areas without using the existing infrastructure, all the masts, the posts. Orange is doing this, but there are other operators doing the same as well. Now, I'd like to repeat something. What's at stake for us is the impacts of global change, climate change. We want to have resilient solutions, and therefore, for the most remote areas, we can use spacecraft, mobile solutions, in addition to the fiber solutions. Look at the extreme weather conditions. What's the priority that customers express? They want the mobile networks to be up again as quickly as possible. We've improved with the mobile 4G coverage, more than 99% of the total territory. Tomorrow, it'll be the same with the 5G. Second question, the dividend policy.
The number one objective or challenge for us, as we said, and it's in the future plan, is to focus on cash generation for the group. We've improved. As we speak, we have a payout policy. Now, if we look at the figures, it's not 91% paid out in dividends. Of course, the dividend policy is key in the eyes of many shareholders. You're right as well in saying that we need the money as well. It's the capital allocation policies we have. How much for the shareholders, how much for capital expenditure for the projects of the company? This is the discussion that we have with all the Board members.
[Foreign language] . As to the distribution of values, shareholders have to get some of it. State or 23%, the employees, 3%. It's also beneficial to employees and shareholders. If you take a closer look, the employees get the greatest benefit from the sharing value. Then territories and the taxes. We pay a lot of taxes, as Christel reminded us. I did say so in my introduction. Our shareholders, investors, of course, we must pay them. They only represent a minor part of the value that we distribute. You referred to the net result, free cash flow, which was recalled by Laurent Martinez. It accounts for only two-thirds of the free cash flow.
Number three.
[Foreign language] . Good afternoon. Orange Innovation. Christel mentioned the number of employees. [Foreign language] . In the group, in a Voice Up poll, we ask a question about the participation share. 20% is the valuable part. [Foreign language] . The problem is that, and this is something that wage earners challenge, if they do not answer at issue to that indicator, they get penalized. Are you going to change the system?
It is about, to the, question of, engagement and commitment of employees. This is why we decided to set up this type of a questionnaire, that provides for benchmarked solutions. Of course, in these surveys, we do not, look at the averages, even though when we set objectives to the management level, we need indicators for that. Where we are looking, it is not the level of commitment, but it is changing from one year to the next. Why is that? Because even though at the end of the day, what you get is a figure, it is a combination of various indicators at a large disparity according to the geographical area.
It has to do with the quality of the dialogue and what it means for the day-to-day life of our employees. It is very important for us to make sure that we do take into account the degree to which our employees are really committed. We have final discussions, organization by order, not all organizations set up these kinds of indicators. Once again, I think this is a good practice, and we do discuss this with many companies in order to encourage a dialogue between employers and managers at all levels of the group.
Number six.
[Foreign language] . Christian Chevrerie. Good morning, Monsieur. Good afternoon. I have a question on AI in particular. You mentioned AI, Generative AI, and then AI, that is the peripheral networks and onboarded AI. I am referring to mobile phones. What do you think of this? I have another question on LLMs. You referred to open-source solutions, which is very good. Congratulations on this. You also mentioned French solutions like Mistral. I'd love to know whether they are used in your data centers and the subsidiary question. What about the calculation power? How can you monitor the power, the electricity that you consume in order to do this?
First of all, when one discusses artificial intelligence, we are at the very beginning of a real high-tech revolution about our significance at the first days of electricity, which was really a sea change in many aspects of our lives. We have to remain very humble, in terms of uses to come. AI may be the technological solutions revolution that changes so far.
For the very first time, the dissemination of distribution network knowledge is so fast that everybody, with the most advanced teams, can share this almost immediately. As far as we're concerned, we have AI experts that onboard these technologies. This is important to use AI to build intelligent networks, to improve the customer relations, and to make it possible, for our employees, to feel more comfortable when they're looking for information and to achieve operational efficiency. Now, the Helenburg question marks, AI, is being trained in large data centers that use a lot of energy, but many of the uses to come will be edge knowledge that will consume less energy. Of course, we do measure the CO2 footprint of such tools.
This is the reason why the internal tool made available to our employees makes it possible for them to measure the cost in EUR and the cost of carbon for learning and teaching purposes, the prompts. We did invest in calculation power, either for us or for the sake of our clients. We use calculation power for those uses who are still at the learning stage. Now, as to our data centers, it is something that we are fully monitoring very closely. As I said, we are very committed. We do want to lower our consumption of energy. This is really an issue. AI does not account for a lot in terms of energy consumption. It is more issues that have to do with the traffic on the network. This is really the issue.
Number one.
[Foreign language] Good afternoon. [Foreign language] . Association for individual ownership. [Foreign language] . One comment, two questions. You showed us a film. Showing the marketing effect of 2024. [Foreign language] . Which I thought was very interesting. So this is a concert room, player. [Foreign language] . I would say call it noise rather than music. I didn't find it charming at all. It wasn't charming to my ears. I hope you're not paying too high duties on that. Now, back to my question. Orange participates in the Mobile World Congress. In 2025, the themes were converge, connect, and create. And home, corporate, and networks with AI. Which one, which sector do you think is more buoyant and creates the highest added value? Second question, or is it that Orange Cyber Defense?
What did you give for the Falcon that the U.S., solution called Strike in SOC as a service offers, for small and medium-sized companies in Europe and in North America? Thank you for your answers.
[Foreign language] Technological partners, first of all, we don't have any exclusive approach with these partners. Construct, of course, is a proper, a good one. We all of us discovered after a few days before the opening of the Olympic Games last summer, when there was a big bug in one of the windows. Now, as to our American technological partners in the world of cyber security, there are not too many European initiatives, none of them in some fields, in others. There are a few, a few startups here and there, a few companies which are more developed. It's part of the work we do to do the mapping of these solutions.
Eventually, it's for the client, customer to decide. Our approach is a non-exclusive one. On your first question, I'll leave it to the room to answer. Of course, the jingle of the Orange brand is based on that piece. Thank you.
Number four. I've been a customer for years. I've been a shareholder from the first day of the listing of France Telecom, which has become Orange. Now, the subscription, fixed subscription, fixed line, three increases, price increases, which are quite significant. We say, I hope it's going to remain at that. There will be a third step. I have to ask. This is for the French state. I suppose the room will agree with me to say that today, telephone and internet have become a first necessity product, something that you can't do without, an absolute must.
You see, the subscription, VAT on subscription is 20% on water, gas, electricity, which are also basic. The subscription is 5.5% VAT. I think it's an approach or something that the French government could do something about to change the VAT ratio on the telephone subscription.
[Foreign language] On the telephone subscription, the RTC, you're right, when you say the PSTN, to say that over the past two years, we had to step up the tariffs for a very good reason. The copper network always costs something, and we get fewer and fewer customers using the copper network. This is why we decided and we met with the regulator, with the government. We work hand in hand with local municipalities to decommission the copper network.
We do have alternative solutions to the fixed subscription, including for customers who would like to have only one telephone, no use of internet. There are solutions that you keep your same phone number for a mobile or a fiber connectivity. I haven't looked at the price of the tariffs, but I think you should be able to avoid a situation where you would be the last clients. In view of the plan, the decommissioning project, I think that gradually our legacy copper clients will be using one of these new solutions. As to the VAT, in view of the public financial, I mean, we do pay taxes too, so I'm not really willing to comment on that point, on taxes.
Number two.
[Foreign language] . Good afternoon, Chairman. You referred to the delisting of the American market. What is the gain that this generated? My second incidental question would make any impact on the possibility of borrowing on the U.S. market?
It would make an impact on your readiness to borrow. On your second point, no impact whatsoever on your capacity to attract U.S. investors or to issue bonds in the U.S.A. We can continue doing this. The net gain, as our Chairman said, it's more in order to streamline, to simplify the system for internal control purposes. There is, of course, an economic gain, but it's really marginal compared with the simplification, the streamlining of the system that this delisting will lead to.
Number four.
[Foreign language] . Mr. Chairman, Madame CEO. I'd like to say something because I'm a shareholder. It's been the case from the early stages, that is, when the public could buy shares. [Foreign language] . I wouldn't say I've had a good return on investment, and I'm very much surprised because the company you're showing is a brilliant company with good results, and we thought you would catch up on the ground that you've lost. Dear Chairman, you're saying that Orange could do better, but that the public authorities look at Orange like the milk cow, the cash cow, rather, the cash cow, and though you're in charge of infrastructure and you don't get the fees from your competing operators.
Number two, Orange will pay a high level of tax. Could we hope that one day the share price for Orange would be aligned on the initial share price? I have a second question. The gigantic project that you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, this project is on the incumbent players. If you look at pricing, we could have thought that the first clients are not the ones who are responsible if they still use copper, rather than segmenting your pricing policies, one for fiber, one for copper. We could have thought that Orange would have come up with a pricing policy that would encapsulate all of their customers.
Now, number two, I've read all of your notices and brochures from Orange, and by the way, we don't know when the deadline is. I think it's 2030, but could we be better informed? When will we have to change over going from copper to fiber? Because many people are worried, and we've realized that this transformation is something that we will pay. I don't think we can use the former cable trays, but you'll tell me. Now, something else about the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Orange was the only operator, and I'm wondering about this because I was thinking, have you seen the benefits of this? This was really like a showcase for you at international level. Would you say that as we speak, Orange has managed to conquer new markets thanks to what you did, thanks to the Olympic Games for Orange last summer? Thank you very much.
Thank you for asking two times two questions. So, four questions, and our CEO will answer.
Yeah, the share price. We work hard on that, but that's a very difficult objective to meet because the telecom industry has gone through so many headwinds in the past 30 years. I must say that if you look at the competition, the landscape's changed compared to what it was like when we started.
We'll do our best, even though I must say that today the world is different, but yet we're making progress. The decommissioning plan for copper. The pricing policy for copper is regulated. We have a monopoly for copper. When the prices change, and I mean, you know, in copper, we include the pricing policy for PSTN, but also we've amortized the pricing policy for ADSL clients. We've been discussing with the regulator, the French ARCEP, so that we can factor in the cost of the copper network and therefore increase the pricing for the unbundling. That's the only thing we can do to amortize things apart from what we did on PSTN.
Now, as far as copper networks are concerned, what we do on the ground, so as not to penalize the clients, is that we make sure that nobody steals the copper because, you know, that many people take the copper more and more. You know, in Europe, we've seen this, and it's covered by the media, as you know, because each time it has an impact on those who use these networks, and there are critical services as well. For us, it's capital investment that we have to make again in copper, even though we know we're going to decommission in the years to come. Now, the decommissioning of copper is organized within the framework of a program. That is, we have different lots, different groups of local governments, more or less, or regions that cover 200,000 households. That's the first lot.
Together with the elected representatives, the local governments for the lots we're working on today, the local representatives have a word to say on the program and the way we're going to roll out the program. Today, in these first local governments that we're going to work on, that is the ones that were decommissioned recently in January and the ones that will be decommissioned early in 2026 and 2027, we need to get the agreement, the green lights from the local representatives. We choose them on the basis of the fiber coverage we have. First, we target the areas where fiber is used, where clients use fiber. Little by little, we communicate. We communicate with our customers, and we'll do this with our partners. That is, the local governments and representatives in these regions that we call in French communes.
Now, there are two important steps. First, we need to consider the commercial phase-out. That's step number one. We'll try and reach out to all the clients. We'll say, now you will no longer be able to go to a store to take an ADSL or a copper subscription. We'll communicate, and therefore, we'll give guidance to our customers for a total period of one year. They'll have one year to migrate, and then 12 months down the road, there's the technical phase-out, the shutdown. That's when we switch off. It's very important to have this program. It's not our program. It's a country-level type of program, you see, because we need people to trust us. We're not the first operators to do this, but probably we're one of the biggest countries to move towards broadband or high-speed given the coverage we have for the fibers.
Now, you talked about the Olympic Games and the first benefits, the fruit we reap. All the sports events organizers have new standards. This Olympic Games experience that we've provided, that is, to the media and the participants, is something that has been good for the teams who've been working for Los Angeles in 2028 or Nations Cup 2026 or Football Cup 2030. All these teams, and even the other upcoming winter games, the Orange event teams will have to provide some new services. Now, we're one of the very few operators that have this knowledge in terms of organizing the main sports events.
If I may, I'd like to pick on that and say something about the share price. Now, when we were privatized versus the share price today, we would need to increase the numbers twofold. As Christel said several times, what we need to do is make sure that we make a better use of our infrastructure and therefore to have some type of concentration at country level because today we invest a lot to increase the volumes, the number of people on the network, but the price you pay is a lump sum regardless of the volumes that you use, more or less. We will have to make sure that we move towards concentration in the years to come so that we can have a better return on investment on the basis of our infrastructure with more customers, which means that the competition authorities have to accept concentration on the markets, and we hope that this is going to be the case in the years to come.
Now, we have perhaps two questions, question number two and number one.
[Foreign language] . I'd like to introduce myself. Jean-Pierre Dumas, employee shareholder, and I have a member of. I heard you talk about inclusion, and this reminds me that it would be very nice to see that you make a commitment towards the retired employees who don't have a voting right.
I fully, totally agree with you. This was an agreement that goes back to a number of years, and as you know, to renegotiate this corporate agreement, I think it's outrageous that retired employees cannot vote.
[Foreign language] . Michel Guignet. Kicking up what I heard earlier. [Foreign language] . The state owns a part of Orange. Someone referred to the 20%. I know that you pay taxes like all companies. You're probably subjected to the exceptional contribution. My question is very straightforward. How much do you have to pay to the states?
[Foreign language] . The chairman of the Audit Committee is working on it. This is a coming that comes back every year. Exceptional tax. I'm going to quote a figure, but paying taxes on profits is something which is only logical. It makes sense. When we mention fiscal taxes and we're turning to production taxes, and these are hundreds of millions of EUR, in France, the IFER, I-F-E-R, as we invest more in more tax, we pay more taxes. This is not linked to the profit level. As to the exceptional tax, higher taxes by EUR 100 million, Orange France, much lower than the production tax that we pay. Of course, it makes it even heavier.
Number five.
[Foreign language] . OCS, you've left it. I think the growth comes from your growth in Africa, both in French and English-speaking Africa, different state authorities. How do you organize it? Do you go through local actors, or do you use Apple Pay, for instance, or similar apps? What about the future of the French market? Okay, three operators might be the next step. It would be a treaty if we were to go back to four operators. We still have the issue of competition. Competition implies state and the return of subscriber, B2C and B2B. On which part would be the most willing to go for without starting a war of operators? That might lead to generating more cash for the group, which is something you seem to be willing.
As to the payment in Africa, mobile payment, Orange Money, because the solution that Jérôme presented, I mean, you've been to the film, we saw earlier, is something that our customers don't have any bank account, don't have any credit card. It's telephones, GSM telephone that they use. It's really at the heart of the ecosystems of these countries. That's what they use to pay their insurance premium. It's very specific to Africa. Once again, in countries where the banking rate, I mean, the banks are not used by all clients. We're not the only ones to develop this. It's highly specific to Africa as a continent. In those countries, they use mobile, and this payment means of payment play a key role in that part of the world. We have micro-credit activities as well that we are pushing. [Foreign language] .
On your second question, which is the market consolidation in France. We are pushing growth in France in many different ways. You refer to Orange Money. It's not double-digit growth, but if we grow in our reader services in France, switching from copper to fiber, 0.1 growth in France, from zero, that is, Cyber Secure or SaferPhone initiatives, the aim of which is to trigger growth or to generate more growth. We're not in favor of consolidation, but in view of the fact that we're number one on the French market, in the French market, we can't steer it all. The question is, what about the future of SFR? The market share, we would have a huge share of the sector if we combine SFR and Orange. We are trying to find perhaps new combinations, just the way we were very active in the Spanish market.
[Foreign language] . Christel is leading the discussion, but nothing has been reported decided at the level of the Board. Number six.
Philippe Schoener, individual shareholder. Mr. Chairman, I have a question, which I hope you will find shocking. Shocking the way they told me when I was welcome. I showed my admission card. I gave the proxy written by my son, and the reply I got was that these days, you can't really take any proxy. Why is it? Because that's what the general meeting wants. You don't know why. How is it possible for a judge that had not taken place? How is it possible to refuse the right of a shareholder to vote? Especially, it's clearly explained on page five of the brochure.
We are all entitled to write a proxy or to use a proxy. It's a highly technical question.
Do you have the answer to this? I think we'll send you someone to make sure that we know what happened. Could you please go and ask the gentleman who asked the question what happened to him?
We apologize. This should not have happened, of course. The question is not that. [Foreign language] . Future-oriented. [Foreign language] . Could we possibly have a last, one last question?
[Foreign language] Good evening. [Foreign language] . I have two questions. Number one, what do you expect to do in Africa? I suppose you have ambitions in Africa. [Foreign language] And second, it's about. [Foreign language] Financial communication, not so much the brand itself, but for the benefit of investors. Air Liquide, 40 people in charge of managing the communication with the shareholders at Orange. You're working very hard on it, but I think that there's probably a lack of communication. The team is formidable, outstanding, but perhaps we need a bit of support to spread the good news because what you're doing is outstanding and very few people are aware of it.
Okay, communication to shareholders, of course, it's the widest meaning of the word communication. Of course, we do have experts. I wouldn't call them undersized team, but they work hand in hand with the communication teams and those of us who work with business in countries. It's for us to make sure that everything that we do gets better, is better treated in terms of communication. Sometimes we organize travels, so trips with the press so that they get a better idea of what we're doing there.
What's the best formula? Of course, there are not that many of us in the communication team, but what they do, they do it well. Ambitions are ambitions for the African continent. It's one of the mainstays of our policy. First of all, they implement the plan, as you can see in the Lead the Future. Our growth drivers are pulled by geography, adoption of mobile data, and this multi-service strategy, payment, energy, maybe farming, agriculture. We have Max it, which is our super app, and we are still going to go for growth. At the same time, our strategy claims to be multi-area. No one does more than 15% of the turnover.
It's a shared service strategy that encourages synergies between countries, and no country has more than 15% of the business in that area, which is a good protection against different risks in terms of security, safety, and it makes for great resilience in that area.
Thank you very much for your questions and the answer. I think we'll leave it at that, and we move on to the last part of the general meeting, the voting, and Nicolas Guérin has the floor.
[Foreign language] . Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dear shareholders, we're going to go through the different resolutions and we'll vote. But before that, I'd like to show you a quick video that shows you how to use your remote control so that you can vote. [Foreign language] .
You've been given this remote control. This is yours and only yours. The number of votes that you have is loaded in the unit, and it's on the display. You will only have to use three buttons: green, yellow, and red. Green means in favor, yellow means abstention, and red is for and against vote. Once we read the resolution, you will have to vote immediately. We will say, "You can start voting now." As you will see, we'll show you a rectangle, which is a bit like a countdown with a second still left for you to vote. When the countdown is over, we will no longer be able to vote, and the results will be shown on the main screen a few seconds after the vote is over. Please switch off all mobile phones during the vote. Please do not forget to hand these devices back when you leave the room.
Okay, now we can start voting. I'll give you the final quorum. 76.87%. As far as resolution number five is concerned, as I said, the notaire courts have said that this will be suspended because the CFE-CGC, Orange Trade Union has appealed. We will have to wait because this trade union has disputed or challenged this resolution. We will not vote on resolution five, but you will vote on resolution number four. We will continue immediately with number six. Votes recorded for resolution number five will not be counted. Please use your devices. We will start and read the first resolution. Resolution number one, that is for financial statements. You can start voting now. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Carried. 99.89%.
Number two, approval of consolidated financial statements for fiscal year ended 31st of December 2024. You can start voting now. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Carried. 99.98%. Number three, appropriation of income for fiscal year ended 31st of December 2024. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Carried. 99.94%. Number four, regulated third-party agreements. You can start voting now. [Foreign language] . Time's up. [Foreign language] . Carried. 98.21%. We'll skip resolution number five and continue with number six. Reappointment Bpifrance participation as directors. [Foreign language] . Congratulations to the representatives of Bpifrance. Number seven, approval of information related to the 2024 compensation of corporate offices as stated in the corporate governance report. [Foreign language] . Carried. 99.23%.
Number eight, approval of the 2024 compensation components for Mrs. Christel Heydemann, CEO. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Carried 99.83%. Resolution number nine, approval of compensation components for Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich, Chairman of the Board of Directors. [Foreign language] . Time's up. [Foreign language] Carried as well. 99.64% this time. Number ten, approval of the 2025 compensation policy for your CEO. You can start voting now. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Carried. 81.51%. Number eleven, approval of the 2025 compensation policy for the Chairman of the Board. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Adopted. 99.64%. Number twelve, approval of the compensation policy for 2025 of our directors. You can start voting now. [Foreign language] . Resolution carried. 99.95%. Number thirteen, authorization to be granted to the Board of Directors to purchase or transfer company shares.
You can start voting now. [Foreign language] . Time is up. Adopted. 99.57%. Now for the extraordinary meeting. Number fourteen, bringing articles fifteen of the bylaws in line with French law 2024-537 of June the thirteenth, 2024, known as the attractiveness law. [Foreign language] . 99.99%. Number fifteen, bringing together article twenty-one of the bylaws with the attractiveness law. You can start voting now. [Foreign language] Carried. 99.99%. Resolution number sixteen, amendment of article twenty of the bylaws concerning the appointment of alternate statutory auditors. [Foreign language] . Time is up. Adopted as well. 99.99%. Resolution number seventeen, authorization granted to the Board of Directors to issue shares with preferential subscription rights maintained outside of a public offer period. [Foreign language] . Time's up. [Foreign language] . Carried. 98.49%.
Resolution number eighteen, authorization granted to the Board to issue shares in the event of a public offer with cancellation of preferential subscription rights outside of a public offer period. [Foreign language] . Time's up. Carried. 79.96%. Resolution number nineteen, authorization granted to the Board to issue shares in the event of an offer to qualified investors or a restricted circle of investors with cancellation of preferential subscription rights outside of a public offer period. [Foreign language] . Time is up. Carried. 78.76%. Resolution number twenty, authorization granted to the Board of Directors to increase the number of shares to be issued once resolutions have been agreed upon from seventeen to nineteen. [Foreign language] . Time is up. Approved. 92.8%.
Number twenty-one, authorization granted to the Board to issue shares in the event of a public exchange offer initiated by the company outside of a public offer period. [Foreign language] . Adopted. 97.84%. Resolution number twenty-two, authorization granted to the Board of Directors to issue shares to remunerate contributions in kind to the company outside of a public offer period. [Foreign language] Time is up. Vote is over. Carried. 96.68%. Resolution number twenty-three, setting an overall limit on the authorizations granted to resolutions from seventeen to twenty-two, a cap of EUR 3 billion. [Foreign language] Vote is over. [Foreign language] à 98. Carried. 98.39%. Resolution number twenty-four, authorization granted to the Board to award free company shares to executive corporate officers and certain Orange Group employees.
[Foreign language] . Time is up. [Foreign language] . Adopted. 83.56%. Number twenty-five, delegation given to the Board of Directors to issue shares or complex securities reserved for members of a savings plan. [Foreign language] . Time is up. Adopted. 99.02%. Resolution number twenty-six, authorization granted to the Board of Directors to increase the capital by incorporating reserves, profits, or premium. [Foreign language] . Adopted. 99.86%. Number twenty-seven, authorization given to the Board of Directors to reduce the capital through the cancellation of shares. [Foreign language] . Time is up. [Foreign language] . Adopted. 84.8%. Resolution number twenty-eight, parents of formalities. [Foreign language] . Carried. 99.99%.
Now we'll finish with two other resolutions not approved by the Board of Directors. We'll start with Resolution A, that's for the extraordinary shareholders' meeting. Amendment to the Resolution number twenty-four to proceed with free allocation of existing shares to all staff or reserved employee share offer. [Foreign language] . Rejected. 80.8%. Resolution B for the extraordinary shareholders' meeting. Limitation on the accumulation of mandates of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. [Foreign language] . Rejected. 79.69%. Thank you very much.
[Foreign language] . Thank you very much for coming. The next general assembly of the meeting will take place on May 19th in the same place. See you soon, and thanks again.
Internet? [Foreign language]