Good morning, everyone, and thank you for being with us this morning for Rémy Cointreau's full year results. I'm here with Eric Vallat, our CEO, and Luca Marotta, our CFO. 2023-2024 was definitely a challenging year. We are operating in a complex environment, as well as facing several headwinds at the same time. After a period of erratic stop-and-go in shipments due to restrictions on logistics and the constrained demand in the U.S. during COVID, we have been facing a sharp normalization of consumption, coupled with inflation and its consequences, notably a fiercely promotional market. More generally, we believe the world is entering in a new economic phase with a global slowdown in consumption, while China has not yet fully recovered post-COVID, contrary to general expectations.
But this is not the first time in our long history that we are facing challenges, and we are well armed to navigate periods of uncertainty, such as now. We are fully focused on managing this volatility. 2023, 2024 highlighted our forceful efforts to deal with this destocking in absolute value. This is not over yet, as underlying demand has not yet recovered. 2024, 2025 is a year of transition that will allow these adjustments to be completed. More importantly, these difficulties have not changed our long-term vision. On the contrary, by challenging us every day, they push us to demonstrate even greater agility and innovation, as showcased by our large portfolio of innovations and the changes we have made in our commercial structures, both in the U.S. and in Europe. Our corporate culture, our strategic vision, our team's passion and dedication are our best assets.
We have every confidence in the ability of our teams all around the world to constantly innovate and renew themselves, and to carry our values of excellence even further, and we thank them very much. I will now let Éric take you through the full year business review. Éric, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Marie-Amélie, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. It's now my privilege, indeed, to take the mic and to share with you our progress on our strategic journey and our overall results. Luca will then go further into detail, as usual. Before sharing with you our results for 2023-2024, I would like to provide a quick overview of the year. There is no argument that 2023-2024 was a very challenging year, but a year that also saw some positive achievements and progress. Starting with China on slide 5 now, where our Chinese teams have done a tremendous job, as evidenced by our resilient results in a complex market.
With the value depletions growing at low single digit, representing an increase of more than 75% compared to 2019-2020. Rémy Martin won market shares +0.5, which means +2.1 versus 2019, and also reached an important milestone by gaining market share in XO 0.3 points for the first time in a good while. This result crowns a year of in-depth work to revitalize Rémy Martin XO, a crucial driver of profitability, which offers huge potential over the medium term, despite current headwinds on the high end. Rémy XO market share remains very low, especially when compared to its awareness.
So together, these results reflect the solid execution of our teams in China throughout a year full of initiatives, including, for instance, a meaningful and numerous innovations, as you can see on the slide, and an efficient communications and activations plan. I am now moving to slide 6. In the U.S., the group is facing a strong headwinds, including a destocking, inflation, increased promotional activity, and last but not least, a sharp normalization in consumption. Impacted by VSOP, this has led to a loss of market share from last year for cognac, while Cointreau and the Botanist continued to grow their market shares. However, despite a chaotic short-term situation, we are staying the course and resisting the temptation to take short-term measures that could undermine the potential of longer-term value creation.
Strong price consistency is a prerequisite for building desirable brands, and I am convinced that this consistency will allow us to emerge stronger from the current crisis. Guided by this same desire to maintain a long-term vision, we have also continued to invest in our brands, certainly in a more selective and more pragmatic way, but short-term turbulence encourages us to pursue our communications roadmap. With 20% of our sales allocated to A&P in Americas, we have increased our A&P spend by six points versus 2019, 2020. Slide 7 now shows that, besides our two main markets, 2023, 2024 has been marked by a sharp recovery in travel retail, which recorded a +40% growth compared to last year and exceeded 2019, 2020 figures for the first time.
And second, a huge number of product innovations launched, most likely, a history record, record for the group, meaning the highest number of innovations. This is important for two main reasons: it contributes to brand desirability, and it shall hopefully fuel 2024-2025 growth with a full year impact. Strong growth in e-commerce are the third axis, with a 20% growth, which now represents 14% of our sales worldwide, driven by China. And finally, the good resilience of our regional brands, and the acceleration of our incubator brands, which, at their own level, will ultimately contribute to the diversification of the group on an organic basis. A few words now on slide 8, on CSR. It is obviously a key priority for the group and has remained so despite the current context.
We have continued to invest behind our CSR actions and the transformation of our business model. As a result, our total carbon footprint is down 15% versus last year, following a decline in volumes distilled, as well as a number of actions all along the value chain. Further removal of the gift boxes, light weighting of bottles, more train transport, more biofuel, and cleaner cargoes on the supply chain side. Finally, increased circularity by replacing our bottles by 4.5-liter ecoTOTE. Thanks to our partnership with ecoSPIRITS. We have also made progress on embarking our farmers into regenerative agriculture, thanks to the deployment of local programs called the Collectives of Regenerative Agriculture. With these programs, we form, we individually support all our partners into the transition.
It is about lifting the brakes for our farmers into this transition and contributing financially. Three programs have already proven successful, and two were launched early 2024. Lastly, we have worked on a water stewardship plan in order to structure and accelerate our adaptation and commitments in that field. We have identified three areas of progress and action: water quantity, water quality, and water regeneration. With regards to quantity, we are pleased to have reduced our water consumption by 20%, almost 19%, to be precise, in 2023-2024. But we want to go further and improve our water use per liter of spirits produced. Thus, we set ourselves a target to reduce it by 20% by 2030. I am now on slide 9.
As you've seen from the press release this morning, our full year 2023-2024 results are in line with our expectations bottom line, despite a meaningful decrease in sales. Back in April, you saw our sales numbers down nineteen percent on an organic basis, which represents a 16% growth versus 2019-20. In terms of profitability, COP decreased by almost 28% organically, which is a +35% compared to 2019-20, leading to a deterioration of three points in COP margin at 25.5%. This result reflects first, a slight deterioration of the gross margin versus a record base of comps, and on the back of an increase in production costs and a negative brand mix effect.
Second, it reflects the implementation of a wide cost-saving plan of EUR 145 million versus EUR 100 million expected, which, Luca is going to detail a bit. The slide 10 gives me the opportunity to remind you of our full year sales numbers by division. I will be quick, as they were already detailed by Luca in April. Cognac declined by 25% organically versus last year, up 6% on a four-year stack, and Liquors and Spirits recorded a 4.6% decrease versus last year, but a +47% versus four years ago. On slide 11 now, just a word on the regions. The slide shows that while Americas continued to be impacted by a major destocking, APAC and EMEA demonstrated resilience. Consequently, Americas declined by more than 39%, down 4% versus 2019-2020.
APAC posted a 2% growth, representing an increase of 51% versus four years ago. Finally, EMEA was up 0.7% organically, which is an almost 8% growth versus 2019-20. Let us now focus on the Cognac division profitability, whose key figures are summarized on slide 12. COP margin decreased by almost 4 points organically. Beyond the sharp decrease of the top line, the organic change reflects an erosion of the gross margin compared to a very high base of comps on the back of the increase in production costs, partially offset by the price increase achieved in April 2023, and a positive mix effect linked to the underperformance of the VSOP. In parallel, the group maintained a high level of investments in A&P, stable in sales ratio, alongside a more targeted approach.
And finally, a controlled increase of the cost structure, thanks to the execution of a drastic cost savings plan, which made it possible to reduce the cost base by 16% for the Cognac Division. Let's now have a look at the liqueurs and spirits division profitability, whose key figures are encapsulated on slide 13. COP margin increased by 2.7 points organically. This evolution includes, first, a strong increase in the gross margin by 1.2 points, on the back of the price increase achieved last April, which offset a moderate inflation in COGS. Second, some gains on A&P ratio, which remains at a high level, more than 26% of sales, up 4 points versus 19/20. And lastly, a disciplined management of our structural costs.
To conclude, this first part on slide 14, let's take a moment to share where we stand today on our 10-year journey. As you can see in this slide, we achieved a very strong progress on gross margin and have almost reached our 2030 target. 2023-2024 gross margin is slightly down from last year, but remains very high, well above what we were targeting internally when we drew up this roadmap. On COP margin, our beat is less impressive, obviously, but with a 25.7% margin in 2023-2024, we are still above 2024-2025 target. This slide is very important as it comforts us in our strategy, aimed at maintaining a long-term vision to create value.
More importantly, this means that despite the headwinds experienced in 2023, 2024 and the transition that we plan to undertake in 2024, 2025, we are still on track. Let me now pass on the mic to Luca, who will take you through the more financial slides.
Thank you, Eric. Now, let's move on to detailed analysis of the financial statement and begin with the full year income statement, profit and loss. So, as already mentioned, organic sales were down 19.2%, i.e., up +16.2 versus 19/20. On that basis, gross profits decreased by 20.6% in organic terms, implying an organic deterioration of one point in gross margin at 71.2% from a very high base, as gross margin is already up by 4 points since 19/20. Sales and marketing expenses were down 15.4% on organic terms, reflecting a stricter control of our cost and a more selective approach in the second part of the year on A&P.
Within this total, A&P specific expenses decreased by 20.1% organically, in line with our sales, more or less, and remain at very high level of 21.4% in sales ratio. That means plus 3.5 points compared to 2019-20, or in term of increase, plus 39% compared to four years ago. This was necessary to continue to fuel brands and to grow their awareness and desirability. This evolution reflects a more targeted approach in all regions in H2, particularly in the cognac division, as well as our decision not to broadcast a Super Bowl ads this year on a national scale. Within this total or total of A&P, most of the spending came from the above-the-line part. So what is above the line?
I remind you, classic media, digital and PR, which accounted for around 50%, of which 60 were digital. So consequently, 60 or 50, around 30% of our total spend in A&P were digital. In parallel, distribution costs decreased by 7.1%, organically, which means organic decrease of 5.5, so massive one, on a 4-year basis, showing a very solid control of our cost base. Administrative expenses decreased by 18% on organic basis. This evolution, year on year, reflect the optimization of our overhead cost in response, in answer to the current economic condition that I will detail later. All in all, operating profit was down 27.8% on organic basis and down 29.1% on a reported basis, after taking into account an unfavorable currency impact of, a limited one, however, of EUR 5.7 million.
Beyond the high comparatives, this decline reflects a steep decrease in sales, clearly, partially offset by a drastic reduction of our costs, totaling EUR 145 million. On a four-year basis, COP operating profit is up +44.9%, and COP margin stood at 25.5, down 3 points on organic basis versus last year, but clearly up 343.4 points versus four years ago. Now, let's move to the more synthetic analysis of the group current operating margin. As said, it was down 2.3 points as reported, reaching 25.5%. This breaks down into an organic decrease of 300 basis points and a positive currency effect of 0.7 points.
The organic deterioration of the COGS margin reflects the deterioration of the gross margin, alongside a stable AMP ratio and a strong reduction in absolute value of our distribution and structural cost. In more details, in terms of sales ratio, gross margin was down 1.3 points from a very high level, affected by COGS inflation and a negative brand mix effect, partially offset by a positive price effect. Second point, AMP ratio was almost stable at 21.4% of sales, as already mentioned, a very high level. Third point, talking about cost overheads, the ratio of distribution structural cost was up 1.9 points on the back of the sharp decrease of the top line, partially offset by a drastic control of our cost.
So we didn't beat around the bush, or as we say in French, we didn't use the back of the spoon to take all these points in absolute value. Compared to 2019 to 2020, the ratio is clearly showing down, slowing and showing a down of 2.9 points. Slide number 18. As announced last October, beyond stimulating our sales performance, we have decided to mitigate the impact of these short-term headwinds with a very pragmatic approach on cost, targeting around EUR 100 million of cost saving. This was the guidance as of November. Thanks to a strong, disciplined execution of this plan, we clearly overachieved and reached EUR 145 million on full year basis of saving, of which, which is important to highlight, 45%, so slightly less than 50, than half, are structural.
In parallel, so the consequent is that 55% of total savings are one-off and will automatically reverse in 2024, 2025 profit and loss. But what is there inside this saving? Let's start with manufacturing and logistics, which contributed to around 20% of the total saving. All of them, all of them are structural. We stand, we remain in the baseline, and reflects not only some effort optimization in logistics. For instance, the launch of new project to maximize space use inside the containers. And on top, we realize long-term lasting saving inside the production cost field: packaging, raw materials, manufacturing cycles, and procurement proceedings. Second, by nature, the point tackled was the AMP, which represented around 45%, more or less the half of the total savings.
This has to be split in one-off savings spread across the globe, mainly in the cognac division, with, of course, a bit more emphasis on the US market. Here, the objective, as Eric Vallat highlighted, was to protect below-the-line point of sale specific spends, and to be more selective on above-the-line spends. Second, part of that was structural. Structural saving, mostly linked to the non-renewal of the same Super Bowl pattern, which corresponded at the time, one year ago, to an investment opportunity made in the context of exceptional growth. Third point, the most interesting one as in terms of financials, in terms of rigidity, is linked to the overheads that represented around 35%, a little bit more than one third of the total savings.
The main part here is one-off saving, and included overheads savings linked to the variable compensation benefit, travel and expenses, and fees, freights, and cuts. Structural savings were also embedded and integrated optimization made in our organization, mainly in U.S. and Europe. Now, let's get a look at the remaining part of the income statement. Starting with other non-recurring operating expenses that stood at EUR 12.8 million in 2023-2024, to be compared to EUR 3.1 million last year, and net financial charges increased from EUR 17.6 million-EUR 38.5 million this year, as guided. I will detail them in the next slides. Talking about taxes, the reported tax rate decreased from 28.4% in 2022-2023 to 27.4%, 1 point less, reflecting the positive evolution of geographical mix, such as the rebound of travel retail worldwide.
But excluding the non-recurring items, the effective tax rate is to be considered at 27.1% in 2022-2024, to be compared to 28.3%, apples to apples. At this stage, we expect the tax rate to slightly increase in 2024-2025, to land around 28%, so more or less one point more. As a result, net profit group share came in at EUR 184.8 million. That means minus 37.1% on a reported basis, i.e., a net margin of 15.5%... down 3.5 points on a reported basis. But on a clean basis, excluding non-recurring items, net profit came in at EUR 194.8 million, down 34.3% on a reported basis.
Net margin, excluding non-recurring items, so is higher, stood at 16.3%, down 2.8 points on a reported basis. Last but not least, financial is very important, reported earnings per share came out at 3.64, down 37.1 on a reported basis, but 50% more than 19/20, 50% more. Excluding non-recurring items, EPS, clean EPS stood at 3.84. Now, a word on the analysis of the non-recurring items, which is something quite unusual for Rémy Cointreau, at that scale. The reconciliation table between net profit and net profit, excluding non-recurring items. You have to split that in two components: EUR 12.8 million of net charges, which mostly include non-recurring costs linked to the organization implemented in the US and in Europe, EMEA.
Plus 2.8 positive effect or positive non-recurring tax items linked to this charge. So the net, net tax shield included is EUR 10 million. That's the reconciliation. Inside this, cost of restructuring, out of tax effect, we can split of more or less EUR 7 million on the US, EMEA for more or less EUR 4 million, and other projects done on Bruichladdich, on whisky on Islay, for EUR 2 million. Now, a very important slide that is approaching, so cash flow, and we start before that with this impact on income statement with these net financial expenses, which were a charge of EUR 38.5 million in 2024, to be compared to a charge of EUR 17.6 million in 2023.
I have to remind you that it was clearly anticipated since June 2023, this specific point. So despite the huge increase, the guidance was clearly perfectly spot on, and maybe, it is, a slightly beat on that. Net debt servicing costs were up in absolute value, reflecting a context of rising interest rates and the renewal, as you've seen, of certain long-term credit lines, such as the issuance of a EUR 380 million private bond placement with an average 10-year maturity and an average cost of 5.58%, and the renewal, March 29, of the revolving credit facility for an amount increased to EUR 180 million on a maturity of 5 years.
So in a word, we increased the maturity of our lines, so despite the increase in the interest rate, there is more coherence between the long-term asset and long-term liabilities. As a consequence, our cost of debt was clearly up from on average, on specific, net debt on monthly basis, from 1.7% to 3.8%. At this stage, we expect, we guide our 2024, 2025 financial charges to increase by around EUR 10 million, corresponding to the integration on a full year or the twelve months basis of EUR 380 million private bond placement. As a reminder, it was booked only pro rata temporis this year, only six months in 2022, 2024. Net currency decreased from a loss of -EUR 2.5 million last year to a loss of EUR 2 million.
These charges, I remind you, are non, operational, linked to the hedging or intragroup financing. Finally, other financial expenses stood at EUR 4.8 million in 2024. Now, a very important spreadsheet, which is the cash flow generation and debt. Free cash flow generation to the EUR 13.8 million in 2024, compared to EUR 48.6 million last year, i.e., a negative variance of -EUR 34.8 million. This evolution clearly is linked, reflects a sharp decrease of the EBITDA, which was partially offset by two major element.
First of all, an improvement of the overall working capital items outflows, so a positive cash effect of EUR 50.5 million, which need to be split between a decrease in the working capital outflow related to ODV and spirits in aging process, a positive cash effect of EUR 35.7 million. And why that? It was driven by a lower increase, so not a decrease, a lower increase, I insist, of ODV and bulk purchases. On top of high comps, our purchases in ODV and our manufactured volumes were slightly lower this year. And a decrease, second point, of the other working capital items outflows for around EUR 15 million, EUR 14.8 million, mostly driven by a decrease of the accounts receivable, clearly in line with the slowdown of the activity and following 2022, 2023, which witnessed an increase.
Second element to explain the free cash flow generation is the decrease of EUR 52 million in the tax outflow. Why that? It is reflecting a lower level of profit. In the meantime, long-term investment, capex investment flow was slightly up for EUR 5.3 million, and included some investments related to very important strategic matter like CSR, manufacturing storage site, IT and e-commerce, hospitality infrastructure, and retail network. In parallel, out of free cash flow, other cash flow, outflow items strongly decreased by more than EUR 100 million, EUR 105.1 million. This was largely driven by the absence of the share buyback program this year, and to a lesser extent, a slightly higher level or earlier redemption of the OCEANE. So it is EUR 50.8 million, 2023/24 versus EUR 42.9 million last year.
This was partially offset by the increase of the cash dividend versus last year. Delta on that point is EUR 41.7 million. As a result, in terms of net debt, end of March 2024, our net financial debt stood at EUR 649.7 million, so up from EUR 536.6 million last year. The ratio is up from 0.84 last year to 1.68, so still very, very moderate, more than under control. So now let's move to a technical spreadsheet, which is very important for you, I know, so. And I highlight more or less every quarter. The group reported a negative translation and transaction impact of respectively EUR 57.2 million on sales and only EUR 5.7 million on operating profit. This mainly reflects the evolution of the US dollar and Chinese RMB.
But inside that, it's the Chinese RMB that has total losses, and the US dollar was partially positive. As you can see, comparing the two elements, the delta, it is the profitability is more or less 10%, it is lower than the rest. In other words, our hedging policies protect us clearly than the natural consideration of that. A little bit more technically, we face a deterioration of the average euro dollar, euro RMB translation over the period, which came out at respectively 1.08 per euro, compared to 1.04, and 7.79 compared to 7.14. But in terms of average hedge rates, situation is a bit different, improved 1.10 on US dollar.
That's the reason why I explained to you before, versus 1.11, but deteriorated 7.59 RMB for 0.10 EUR versus 7.38. But now it's more important to talk about the future, 2024, 2025. Assuming a conversion rate of 1.09 EUR/USD, and 7.75 EUR/CNY, as well as an exchange rate of 1.08 USD to 7.80 Chinese yuan, we anticipate an impact, as highlighted, negative 1 between minus 5 and minus 10 million on sales, with a third of that effect recorded in H1. And on the opposite side, a positive impact, I repeat, positive effect between 3 and 7 on operating profit, mostly driven by a positive effect in H1. So two reversed effects, between top line negative, bottom line positive, and two different phasings.
As you can read on the slide, the Forex sensitivity by currency is clearly shown, and the evolution of euro, U.S. dollar, also RMB, exchange rate remains very volatile. We will continue to update that with you every quarter. At this stage, for 2024-2025, we already covered 80% of our net U.S. dollar exposure, of which around 40% on option, and for the RMB, we have covered as well 80% of our net Chinese RMB exposure, of which around 60%, a bit more of option. So after this long explanation of Forex, but I know it's important for you, for your model, let's move on the overview of the balance sheet with total assets and liabilities total to EUR 3.37 billion, up EUR 184 million compared to last year.
On the asset side, global inventory increased by EUR 147 million to reach EUR 1.96 billion due to the purchase of young ODV, as well as an increase of our level inventories in the current context. Inventories account for around 58% of total assets, slightly up in terms of weight compared to last year. On the right side, on the liability side, shareholders' equity is up by EUR 90 million, mainly driven by the positive evolution and the net income and the early redemption of the OCEANE, the convertible bond for EUR 50 million. This has been partially offset by the payment of the cash dividend. Net gearing, so the group's net debt to equity ratio, was up clearly over the period from 31%-35%, reflecting decrease of our financial debt.
Now, let's talk about profitability about the employed capital, which is still important for long-term company. Clearly, our ratio came in at 15.5 in 2022-2024, down 8.9 points, more or less 9 points on a reported basis, and down 8.6 points in organic terms. This includes organic decrease on 9 points in the ROCE of the group brands, a negative swing, even if not important in absolute level, value of the partner brands ROCE. The ROCE evolution like that, the strong decrease, is the result of the clear asymmetry between an organic increase of 11.2% in employed capital, therefore the long term, and a strong decline of 27.8% in operating profit, as the group continues to invest for the future despite a challenging context over the short term.
This is particularly the case for the cognac division. Its ROCE declined by 11.2 points organically, to reach 16.9, on the back of an increase of 10.4% in employed capital, and a COP decline of 32%, so clearly an asymmetry there. In 2022-2024, the group continued to invest in aging inventories and CapEx for cognac, sticking clearly to its long-term strategy. Like the spirits division, ROCE increased clearly, so it's a very positive result, by 0.6 points to reach organically 14.6. But the needle, mathematically speaking, is clearly even more on the cognac side.
This evolution reflects continued investment beyond our brands, with employed capital being up +13.4, organically, organically on the side, an increase of 18% on COP, on operating profit, on the back of a solid improvement, clearly on the gross margin. A word on the employed capital, but the slide is quite self-explanatory. Overall amount increased by EUR 200 million overall, mainly split to an organic increase of slightly lower, 97.2, and a positive currency impact of EUR 3.9 million. On the organic side, 11.2% year-on-year increase in capital employed reflect a strong increase in aging inventory, 60% of this increase. CapEx, more than 10, as explained earlier, and other inventories. So basically, most of the increase is linked, I repeat, I rehearse, to long-term investment.
There is a decorrelation, but you cannot judge that at the same time with the same perspective. Last slide for myself, moving to the yearly dividend. Given the short-term headwinds and our confidence for the coming years, an ordinary dividend of EUR 2 per share, with the option of payment in cash or share, will be put to a shareholder vote of the General Assembly on July the eighteenth, 2024. Subject to approval by shareholders, Orpar has informed the controlling holding that they will ask for the dividend to be paid entirely in share, demonstrating clearly its confidence in the group's future growth. For your information, shares will trade ex-dividend on July 24, and dividend will be made payable starting the first of October, 2024, as usual.
Overall, total dividend equates to a payout of 52%, 52, based on a recurring EPS of 3.84, and the mathematical yield, it is of 1.58% on the—considered on the average share price of the fiscal year, which was EUR 126.38. So now let me hand back the mic to my boss, Éric Vallat.
Thank you, Luca. Let me now share with you the outlook for the year to come before we take the questions. Before that, I would like to give you some color on what is happening and what our plans are in the market. I have no doubt questions will come after, but let me try to wrap up our thoughts in the next 10 minutes or so. Starting with the U.S. on slide 29, this would be no surprise. As most of you know, we have implemented a new organization in the U.S. with the aim of gaining in efficiency while adapting to the context of and saving costs. While reducing the overall staffing by 10%, we have focused mainly on four priorities.
Priority 1, reduce the number of layers to gain in agility, initiatives, and commitments. Number 2, mirror our distributors' footprint to empower our teams, who are now accountable for the full P&L. This makes sense in a three-tier system market to make sure our commercial teams share the same scope and the same objectives as our distributors. It will help anticipate and coordinate activations with way more efficiency. Number 3, while acknowledging the specificities of the three-tier market and three-tier system, of course, also complying with its rules, we made sure we strengthen our sellout approach by gathering under the same umbrella, key accounts on and off trade, as well as a team of 24 in-house ambassadors and 35 distributor specialists dedicated to our portfolio nationwide.
Number 4, lastly, as you know, we are leveraging our Commercial Excellence Program to accelerate the growth of our non-cognac brands. On top, we have adapted our incentive scheme to our distributors. Let us now look at our plans in the U.S. beyond organizational matters on slide 30. We are, of course, in the process of activating a 360 boost plan on VSOP. We have always said that we need VSOP volumes to invest in the upgrade and in the value strategy. Having said that, life was a bit easy during COVID. Let's be honest, and we did not activate enough VSOP while increasing our prices this year. You will witness more product animation and below-the-line activities in a number of key cities and states to support VSOP.
I would like to remind you here that VSOP is a creative, gross margin wise, for the group. We are going to work on the desirability also to support the 37.5 centiliter, which is a great format to recruit in times of inflation, and it was a bit left over during COVID. But we are not going to decrease its price. So what do I mean by smart pricing for VSOP? I mean ensuring that distributors are focused on VSOP by incentivizing them. I also mean, no price increase this year to take into account the lower pricing power. And lastly, I mean recommending a smart retail price, bearing in mind psychological thresholds. This will not impact the average price ultimately, as it would mean a price decrease in some markets, but an increase in some others.
The increase will take a bit more time than the decrease, but this is the result of an in-depth analysis of our sales. Of course, these developments should not be performed, and will not be performed, at the expense of the upper range, which remains the most strategic in the long run, with focus on 1738, XO, and of course, Louis XIII. As you can easily imagine, we will keep focusing on proven levels to keep developing successfully the rest of the portfolio beyond cognac, and more particularly, Cointreau, The Botanist, and Bruichladdich, as well as Westland and Telmont, whose growth this year has been very strong in the U.S. Let's make sure we build on the momentum there.
This slide also gives me the opportunity to highlight that innovations this year is also designed to help address new occasions, as you can see, with XO Night, addressing on-trade, of course, whose launch in prestigious clubs in the past few months has been a real success. Last but not least, with our new organization in the U.S., we have opportunities to grow further in on-trade and e-commerce, two more resilient channels. Our new organization has been designed to help there as well. Let's now move to slide 31 with a word on China. China recovery post-COVID has been disappointing, as said. Here I speak macroeconomically as well. We achieved less than anticipated ourselves in 2023, 2024, but we managed to grow in depletions, thanks to the continued success of Club.
Our XO also gained market share, but in on a price segment which has been negatively impacted by the environment. We believe our investments through innovation, e-commerce, and local activations behind XO will pay, as did our investments behind Club. It's a question of time. We have two strong SKUs we can build on, and VSOP is very small for us in China, in China, sorry, highlighting an opportunity in less high-end venues than the ones we are targeting with Club and XO. We are fortunate to have a best-in-class team in China, which is not a given, and which helps activating various levels to grow our business. First, we have always been smaller than our competitors in on-trade, in on-trade, which is an area of focus while it slowly recovers from COVID.
Clubs have turned into live music venues, which are more cozy. It means probably less consumption in quantity, but not necessarily in quality once China starts recovering. We have a very comprehensive and dense plan to keep growing our commerce, e-commerce business, building on a team whose know-how and relationship with the key players is a true asset and a competitive edge. Third, like in other regions, we are deploying our Commercial Excellence Program. This program also addresses the need to leverage our capabilities for our entire portfolio beyond Rémy Martin, at a moment when the cocktail begins to break through. This is longer term, lastly, but we have an opportunity beyond the south of China and the Tier One and Tier Two cities to grow our cognac business.
Our commercial footprint is less than our competitors' and represents an important wide space to grow in the coming years. Last, but, not least, 2024, 2025 will mark an acceleration of the transition of Louis XIII towards a more retail direct model, meaning an omni-channel approach targeting the end client. We have developed tools and reorganized ourselves in China, mirroring the high-end watch brands to go one step further. This has driven a lot of innovation in the approach to the end client, that we will leverage with Rémy Martin, like, the creation of a real, fully integrated consumer data platform, for instance. One last word on the rest of the world. I am on page 32.
As we rebalance our geographic mix, and in particular in EMEA, in April, we put in place a new organization structure to ensure we can seize opportunities faster and build stronger relationships with our distribution partners. We now have four business units, headed by two developed markets managing directors and two future growth markets managing directors. We have also strengthened our marketing capability with new marketing directors in three of the four business units. Short term, we see high growth potential in the UK, France and Italy, and medium term in South Africa, Nigeria, and more longer term, but we're working on it, India. In Asia Pacific, we expect, so excluding Greater China, we expect Japan to continue to grow, driven by high-value inbound tourism and also a strong appreciation for luxury brands from Japanese consumers.
Telmont Champagne, for example, has demonstrated rapid growth, and we believe it will continue to grow fast in Japan. In the United Arab Emirates, UAE, we believe that the gradual opening up of the markets, such as Saudi Arabia, the reduction in sales tax last year in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and the casino sector entering the Middle East in 2026, create potential for high growth for our brand portfolio in the hotels, restaurants, and catering, and of course, GTR airport duty-free channels in the long run. Finally, India will take time, albeit demonstrates high potential for bottled in origin, as the demographic fundamentals are very positive. However, India remains a market with high barrier to entry and a hyper-complex route to market and to the end consumer.
As you can see, the challenging environment is also taken as an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves and to evolve our organization, which we believe will help in the long run. I am now moving on to slide 33, the last one before the outlook. I would like to summarize our mindset and our approach in the current context. It is all about managing short term with agility and pragmatism while protecting mid and long term with steadiness. We are currently facing headwinds and visibility is low, so our priority in the months to come is to protect volumes while not compromising on the value strategy. Hence, the VSOP boost plan, as described, the very dense innovation pipe and our investments behind growing channels, namely D2C, e-commerce, and travel retail.
In a challenging environment, to afford a strategy whose focus is more on medium and long term than short term, we are also adapting our organization to reduce our costs and to improve our efficiency. Meanwhile, the value strategy is confirmed in the long run. Our portfolio will, in part, be driven by scarcity, and more importantly, although inflation is undermining the purchasing power of our customers in the past month, the trend of drinking less but better is not challenged. When given the choice, for a given budget, two-thirds of our consumers would go for higher quality rather than more drinks, a trend visible across all countries. This is why we are determined to pursue the value strategy, but this can only work if we add more value to our products and if we boost their desirability.
Adding more value means innovating on the high end, like we did with Bruichladdich 18- and 30-year-old launch or the Aged Botanist range. Adding more value means strengthening our sustainable approach. Adding more value also means increasing prices selectively where we can. Growing desirability involves everything you see in the bottom right part of the chart. I'm not going to list them all, but I would like to share about our new Digital Factory, more particularly. Within the development of our digital strategy and to align further with market trends, our objective is to get closer to our customers, leveraging our digital ecosystem. To achieve this acceleration, the creation of our Digital Factory empowers and supports our brands on their unique digital strategy by embracing their DNA and supporting implementation in markets.
Ultimately, the goal is to develop customers' engagement and to boost our e-commerce sales with the aim of achieving 20% of our total sales in 2030. I would now like to conclude on page 34. Despite a sharp fall in 2023-2024, we continue to exceed the milestones set for our ten-year strategic plan. 2024-2025 will be a year of transition, and 2025-2026 will mark a resumption of the trajectory and targets set for 2029-2030. High single-digit annual growth in sales on average and on an organic basis. A gradual organic improvement in GOP margin. In a complex environment with limited visibility in our main markets, we anticipate a gradual recovery in sales in 2024-2025, with H1 negatively affected by continued inventory adjustments in Americas, a high basis of comparison in APAC, and mixed consumption levels in EMEA.
In this context, the group is determined to use tight cost controls and its value-driven strategy to protect its profitability while continuing to make the investments needed for tomorrow's growth. In 2024, 2025, the group will build on the resilience of its gross margin, thanks to a measured, selective rise in prices amid moderate inflation. We will also build on a normalization of A&P sales ratio at a level much higher than 2019, 2020. And lastly, a tight control of overheads to offset most of the rise in costs resulting from the reversal of temporary savings achieved in 2023, 2024. I would now like to thank you for your attention, and we are now happy to answer to your questions. Thank you.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for a moment to allow everyone an opportunity to signal for questions.
... We will take the first question from line Edward Mundy from Jefferies. The line is open now, please go ahead.
Morning, Ed. Morning, Luca. Thanks for your questions and thanks for the presentation. I've got three for you. The first is just a very big picture question. What was that time in your long history where you've been challenged? I mean, the 2013, 2014 period that struggled to involve the more severe. When you take a step back and you can kind of control the current period to back then, ten years ago, how do you think about the differences and similarities? And obviously, what gives you confidence that we're gonna see a similar recovery in the coming years, as you saw following that period back in 2013, 2014? The third question. The third question was really around the, sort of, U.S. VSOP boost plan.
Just any early feedback on how it's been received by wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. And then the third question about Luca, you know, clearly you try to balance the long term with the short term. Could you talk about some initiatives to help protect the margin as we go through the course of this coming financial year?
Ed, one technical point. We had some technical problem to understand clearly your question. So the second one is very clear, US VSOP. So please, to everybody, if you try to formulate that, because we have a very bad sound, unfortunately, today here, in a very synthetic and straight to the point way, clearly, because we have really some problem in terms of sound today. Sorry to bother you with that.
Sure. So, the first question, just to repeat, yeah, 2013, 2014, you had a severe impact on your business, yet you recovered. How do you think about the similarities and differences in the current environment relative to 2013 and 2014? And ultimately, what gives you confidence that we're gonna see a similar recovery? That's the first question. And then the third question, is, you know, what measures are you taking to help protect margin in the current environment as you balance, both the long-term and the short-term profitability?
I will answer, Luca, the third one on savings and...
Yes.
Okay. And, and, sorry, Ed. Question two, the VSOP boost plan. What was exactly the question? Sorry about that.
Yeah, the, that question was, how did... Any early indication on how it's being received by wholesalers, by retailers, and by consumers?
Okay. So, okay, thank you. So sorry, we are in our budget concern. We are doing in-house for the first time, so we are going to improve time after time, and I guarantee you that having you repeat the question is not a way to gain time and have less questions. We'll be happy to take them all. So just answering your the two questions that are for me. First, on the U.S. VSOP boost plan gives me the opportunity to insist on the fact that we've always said that the VSOP is a key pillar, definitely. So there is no change in the strategy there. But of course, while we want to grow faster the upper grades, we need to support short-term VSOP.
It's early to say, because this 360 is just being implemented now, and then, as you know, in the U.S., things take time before they are fully implemented. What I can tell you is that in the states where we have started the 360 , we do have positive signs. In one of the two states, we even have turned positive on VSOP. Now, it's been only a few weeks, and I would not draw conclusions on this. I am convinced that the whole will have a positive impact. I have no idea of the magnitude, and of course, as you can imagine, the plan is well received by our distributors. That includes also a well-received part on the idea of the 375 .
Cause in fact, when you look at VSOP, this is where we have lost the most in market share and in sales. It's the 375. While it's a good format in this inflation time, and that's why we believe it's a format that deserves some more activation. And on the point one, which is what makes us confident on a similar recovery, well, first, you know, I have no crystal ball. Crisis were different, and actually, I would probably more compare what is happening now to what happened in 2009 than probably in 2013, 2014, cause 2013, 2014 was for us a very difficult time in China.
While we are quite resilient in China today, the overall environment indeed is not helpful. But, you know, on-trade is only 10% of our business today. It used to be 45% in China, and it was not a profitable business. Today, it is only 10%. So, you know, for instance, there are, you know, some anti-lavish and measures taken against on-trade from time to time in cities with closures and so on. But the impact for us today is little because on-trade is only 10% of our business, and we are confident in our new model on-trade.
So it's more the global environment than the specific measures against the high-end that we saw in 2013, 2014, that are, let's say, a concern. Having said that, again, we have a great team and great plans in place, and still a geographical expansion potential in China, which is huge. On the U.S., it's a bit of a different story. I think that first, we don't see a lack of desirability for our brand. This is not what we witness, except on VSOP, on which we have to again activate, and which we haven't activated properly.
Second, we don't see in every survey we make and so on, and I shared some of the figures, but, for sure, the trend of drinking less but better is the one that is going to last and even recover. Question is when exactly, of course, but, the future in our business is not made of more volume at lower prices. It is made of, flat or less volume, but, at better prices, because people want to treat themselves, and they pay more attention to quality, and the younger you are, the more it applies. So, I am, I am, confident in, the fact that, it will recover. It's hard for me to say when exactly.
As you can see, we anticipate from second semester also because our comps will make it easier. Lastly, and I'm done, don't forget that once the trends start reversing, even if it's not crazily positive, it has a kind of exponential effect on our selling, which we will have to monitor, by the way, because our stocks are high in number of months, but in fact, they are low in absolute value. So the data starts reversing the trend, the impact will not be neglectable for sure. Luca, maybe you want to take a question three?
Yes. Let's talk about saving and giving more color, because I understand some points need to be clarified in this Q&A. So, let's take the question in another way, if you allow me. We clearly beat the EUR 100 million guidance, we're at 145. So what makes up this 45 beat in the H2? It made up of EUR 18 million in AMP to be adjusted also to the fact that the net sales were in the lower range of the guidance, -EUR 15 million to -EUR 20 million, and these are a one-off, and 27 on overheads, of which EUR 2 million, mainly in logistics, once again, and they will not last, and the remaining part, 25, in overheads. But this is overall.
In terms of split, EUR 145 million, it is, on one-off, is EUR 80 million, and what we need to be focused is not logistics and manufacturing because we stand. It is, first of all, the AMP. We said 70% of that, the AMP savings are one-off. So the answer is in the guidance, normalization of AMP/sales ratio in terms of AMP, a very high level. So whatever it is, the growth, the top line, the evolution of the AMP next year will be a maximum equal, probably a touch lower, because of the efficiency, because the fact that we already achieved a high level, 21.4%, of ratio compared to sales. So need to focus to overheads, no, clearly, which is the big part of the reversal, which is the dilemma, financially speaking.
The savings on overheads, we said were EUR 50 million all over the year. In terms of duration, the structural are 20 million, so they will remain, will last, and 30 million are one-off. If you apply EUR 30 million to the overheads of the group, it means that normally, if you don't do anything, no more costs, no savings, the overheads next year should be increasing more or less 11%-12%. This is not what will happen. This is clearly not what will happen. The guidance for next year is to have overheads low- to mid-single-digit increase. So we will continue to recreate savings, considering also the fact that we want to realize the budget, want to realize our goal.
So we're not counting now on saving on short-term benefits, because bonuses are there to be delivered in terms of budget realization. So, what we can do to offset a major part of the EUR 30 million? First of all, we made the restructuring plan. We have an exceptional short-term payback on the 12-13 million of restructuring overall, US, Europe, partially in Ireland for the whiskey operation. We account for more or less a little bit less than EUR 10 million saving that will be be drive the overheads containment on 2024, 2025. So remain EUR 20 million. And how we can reach that? I don't think we will reach a zero net effect.
We will remain some million, but major part of that will be offset by continuing our discipline in terms of continuous improvement, in terms of processes, efficiencies, T&E, reducing, again, consultancy fees that are not necessary, continue to not restructure, clearly, but to rightsize and to cut costs as we cut our, our nails, when they, they grow. So continuous improvement, once again, to be able to respect, and we will a low- to mid-single-digit on overheads next year. So don't be scared about the mathematical 12% of overheads increase. That will not happen. We will continue without anxiety and, being focused to cut, chunky costs to realize that. And I repeat, restructuring that was had been done this year has been, done with a very short payback, around EUR 10 million that will be realized next year.
I hope to have answered to your question.
Very good. Thank you.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. Maximum two questions per person. The next, we will take the question from Olivier Nicolai from Goldman Sachs. The line is open now. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. I've got two questions, please. Firstly, you highlighted that Americas is below COVID level. Do you see some risk on VSOP by holding on price, while the rest of the industry is becoming more aggressive on promotion, and your core VSOP consumer appears a bit more under pressure? And the second question, more specifically for Luca, in the context of slower demand, can we expect a stronger cash flow generation in 2025, as you won't necessarily need to buy as much aged eau-de-vie as you did over the last few years? Thank you.
Thank you for the question. So indeed, aggressivity is more than expected, huh? This is a fact. Now, you have to look at it state by state. As you know, the U.S. is not one country, it's a number of countries, and obviously it varies from one state to another. And it's true, it's a fact also that, let's say a $50 range for an entry price is high, definitely. Well, the question is more, where do we stand now, and can we grow from where we are? Personally, I believe that, the combination of, the VSOP plan, which I described, now, which again, is the first time we activate a 360 plan on VSOP since years.
I think we have to be humble and acknowledge that probably we had overestimated ourselves and seen ourselves too beautiful during COVID, and it is needed. But I believe that the only fact of putting the focus behind it, of incentivizing our partners and of activating it should have a positive impact. Now, the question, in fact, is what is a normative level for VSOP? First, you know, I think should competition become even more aggressive, I think we've taken the hit somehow. We are now disconnected from NSCVS, and it's been a number of months, huh?
We consider it a good news in a way, because we are a VSOP from Petite and Grande Champagne, and, you know, we shall not any way be in the same bracket. This hit we have taken, I believe that, the, the, the potential, including in the short, medium term for VSOP in selling, is more than our current trends, whatever competition, aggressivity, and so on. Selling, huh? Depletions, it's too early to say, but clearly in selling, we do have potential for more on VSOP. And, and, despite the current, the current context, now, we are still in the process of destocking, and this will take a bit of time, and the, the time it will take will depend on the speed of recovery in H2.
Cash flow. Cash flow in 2024-25, without guiding me, in a very precise way, because it's not our habit at all, but clearly will be improving compared to this year. But for other reason, compare what you highlighted, because we are committed on long term. We have a long-term contract. You can see that in off-balance sheet commitment with our partners. So we will not drastically lower. We respect our contract. We continue to buy, to build the future. So far, as you have seen, inventory has a little bit less than EUR 2 billion, of which 85%, 86% is cognac. We continue to build the future. So this positive delta will not be built by the strategic working capital part.
On the opposite, in fact, this year, we end the year with a very low level of accounts receivable, we might have, in a classical working capital, a slight increase. So we will increase the free cash flow before talking about dividend and so on, really free cash flow, operational cash flow. Because we will make some saving and see a reduction on a capital expenditure, which is not totally linked to the build of the strategic future. So we continue to invest, but the guidance that normally is 70-80 will be reduced to 60, more or less.
Then there will be some slight savings on the financial part and even more on the taxes part in terms of cash outflows, because clearly it's linked to the level of profit of this year, that is also deferred, and so on. So there are more other operational components than the fact that we think to reduce our buying pattern compared to our partners. It will not happen in 2024, 2025. We continue to respect our commitment, and like serious partner, there for the long term. This is for the free cash flow. But then there is another part, other cash flow, that will impact the debt, and I will not guide on debt because the debt at the end is the result of many, many things.
But you can see clearly, that is clearly shown that the decision of the controlling shareholder to receive the EUR 2 dividend this year in cash will determine everything equals, everything equals a substantial saving. I cannot I don't want to quantify that very clearly, but very substantial saving compared to this year outflow. So all in all, it will have an impact on overall cash flow and on debt, reducing debt compared to in normal flows. Free cash flow, I repeat, will improve. Not at the expenses of reducing the strategic partnership and compromising our future. We are very serious. We are there for the long term. We Rémy Martin, this year is 300 years. In 300 years, we'll be there.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. We will take the next question from line, Laurence Whyatt from Barclays. The line is open now. Please go ahead.
Thanks very much for the questions. I was just wondering, on your overall growth rate, your sort of high single-digit growth rate you're expecting from 2026 onwards, could you give us a more specific expectation on what you expect in China? I appreciate that you mentioned on the call that perhaps the current status in the country is not where you'd hoped it would be, but are you assuming that you're no longer gonna hit a sort of double-digit growth rate in that country? Thank you very much.
Hello. Only one question. The medium-term guidelines overall, as you see, there's high single digits. Clearly for the starting from 2025-2026, and all the region will contribute. There's a slight difference compared to the footprint in 2020, that's Europe and Travel Retail is showing a improved footprint on the medium- to long-term. We are not talking one quarter there, we are talking with some breath, huh? Our brain need to need to breathe, to to to to have this this kind of of vision. US high single, and China will be as before the high high single- to low double-digit long-term value algorithm for to obtain a high single digit as a group.
If you want to complete with more or less mathematical element or more, Eric, I don't know if you want to go in.
No, no, it's the question was more about indeed the percentage as such, and you perfectly said it, so.
Thank you. Céline, if I could just have the second question then. In terms of your overall guidance for 2025, looking for an improvement in your top line, can we assume that means you're expecting positive growth in organic sales in FY 2025?
Expecting what, sorry?
Uh,
You mean this year, right?
Okay. Well, it's too early to say. As we highlighted, visibilities are rather low. Having said that, we do have a good reasons to anticipate a recovery from H2. The question will be when it will start and the speed of the recovery. Now, we believe that we are in a much better position than last year. You know, in fact, what impacted us severely last year is also the fact that we did not anticipate, to be honest, well, such a sharp drop in sales. This year, I mean, first, we have adapted our existing structure. We are well prepared. And second, we do not anticipate such a sharp drop in sales.
We even expect the high comps, the low comps of the second semester and, the recovery in some of our key markets, to support the business, and to help recover from the H1.
Understood. And just to clarify then, you... The guidance of an improvement simply means better than the FY 2024 growth rate, rather than necessarily positive growth, is that fair?
It means definitely exactly a better second semester, and by improvement in the second semester, I mean growth, huh. Voilà. Now I can tell you that what we anticipate in depletions is at group level, overall positive as well. For the sell-in, it's too early to say, but depletions, positive depletions will change the picture. As I said, then it depends also on a number of factors, which is why it's too early to say. It could be that the recovery is way more or way less than expected, depending also on the cash disposal of our partners and so on.
Understood. Thank you very much.
Sorry to jump in. The aim, the will, is to improve the actual footprint. But remember what we said one month ago, a little bit more, we need also the spark. So there is a rhythm, the alignment between depletions in value and selling. So we are all... Everybody is committed to that.
Thank you.
... Thank you. We will take the fourth question from the line, Trevor Stirling from Bernstein. The line is open now. Please go ahead.
Hi, Eric, Luca, and Marie-Amélie. I lost you there for a minute or two, Eric, but I wondered if you could just make a little comment on the current level of sell-out in the US and China, and what you're seeing at the moment. Is there any slowdown in the rate of decline in the US, and are you still in positive territory in China? And then maybe if I can squeeze in a second one, which is around e-commerce. Do you see much opportunity for e-commerce outside China, or do you expect China to continue to be the big engine of e-commerce growth?
Thank you. So, the sell-out in the US and in China, so currently, we don't see an improvement on the depletions in the US. But we don't see a deterioration either. If you look at April and May, we are not going to give details, but it's broadly in line with what we anticipated. So there is no bad surprise, but there is no good surprise either. It's roughly aligned. If you take China, the thing is, April and May are very small months, so I would not draw conclusions on April and May depletion trends. As I said, we expect a positive depletions in China for the year. CNY was challenging.
Having said that, our level of stocks are healthy, so overall, we are quite confident in our ability to grow in China. Current depletions are no surprise to us either, but again, these are very small months. I think the next big rendezvous, in fact, is October and the Mid-Autumn Festival. There is also 618 in e-commerce, which is a big day, which for the moment is on track, but it's only June sixth, so it's a bit early to say, as you know, probably, but we start working on 618 a month ago, and it's a number of activations for a month. For the moment, it proves to be good. I would say that in China, in fact, banquets are quite resilient.
Off-trade is okay. On-trade is still in a very low recovery mode, with ups and downs, with a changing landscape. So, I am, let's say, probably a bit more, let's say, negative on On-trade short term than I am on the rest, particularly e-commerce. That's it for China. For e-commerce, first, indeed, we expect China to keep growing and to keep growing at a faster pace than our total sales. I was in China not so long ago, and I must say we are quite fortunate to have a fantastic team of close to 35 people, quite skilled. They've been working with us. They launched e-commerce a few years ago now.
And by the way, our head of e-commerce was doing yesterday a live stream himself, the head of e-commerce, on Tmall, gathering 1 million people attending. So I think we have a fantastic team and a great... We have the recipe, I, I would say, to succeed on e-commerce. So we expect China to keep growing and to be, to keep being the biggest contribution to the growth of e-commerce because of what I just described. Now, e-commerce has been growing faster everywhere than our total sales last year, of course, and it's been growing. I mean, if you take, for instance, the U.S., the U.K., we grew 25% last year, and it's now 27% of our business.
If you take the US, it grew, it grew 20%, so it's also a sharp growth. So we are betting still on e-commerce to grow faster than the rest, and we are still investing heavily behind it. And if you ask me beyond China, I would say UK first and US second. US being-
Sorry, what was that?
U.S., U.S. being more B2B and U.K. being more B2B and B2C, while China is interesting 'cause it's B2C and D2C also a lot, in fact. We have the biggest database in China, just to say, 'cause it's quite revolutionary in our business. It's something I have witnessed at Richemont before, or at LVMH, but in our business it's less so the case. But we have now a database which is huge and which is totally integrated because, you know, we have our own e-boutiques on Tmall and on JD. So we have a database that is omni-channel, and we can see who's buying on which site and what's their habits of buying elsewhere and so on.
We have a fantastic database that we just gathered a few months ago. E-commerce remains a key driver in China.
Super. Thank you very much, Eric.
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line, Sanjeet Aujla from UBS. The line is open now. Please go ahead.
Oh, hi, guys. Two questions from me, please. Firstly, just a clarification, coming back to the FY 25 outlook. I think your, your outlook comments talk about protecting profitability. Should I infer from that protecting absolute profitability, so kind of flattish, organic EBIT growth, or was that a message about protecting the percentage margin? So clarification there would be great. And then just more long term, Eric, I think when you became CEO a few years ago, when you were framing the medium-term growth ambitions for the group, there was a clear shift of emphasis more towards liquor and spirits than in the past. So as you look out and, and think about the high single-digit growth algorithm-... or growth ambition from fiscal 26.
Is your expectations on liquors and spirits still to grow faster, so more in the double-digit range? How has that thinking evolved? Thank you.
You want to answer the first one?
Yeah. Hello. First question, we are thinking margin. So speed or growth of habits, operating profit, the bottom line, to be compared to the top line, symmetry, with the levels of gross margin will be resilient, as we said very clearly. AMP normalized, and so it means that probably will be follow a pattern that was lower than the top line dynamics. And overheads, I repeat, is the point that I acknowledge that we are the most clear in term of guidance for next year, low to mid single digit, to be able to deliver that so clearly. This is the equation, so we are talking about margin. But at the same time, don't forget, don't forget what I said to Olivier Nicolai. Cash flow will improve. The first line of free cash flow is EBITDA.
Got it.
To your second question, first, to clarify, the idea was not a shift of emphasis, to put it the way, at least I wanted to express it. It's more moving from a cognac-driven organization to a real portfolio management, which is a bit different, of course, because cognac remains a key asset, and obviously, there is a huge emphasis on cognac as well as on liquors and spirits. This is where the newness is. And this has proven to work as we grew liquors and spirits 47%, and we keep growing them, and at least the depletions are still rather positive. So, what does it mean indeed for the future? Let's say 25, 26, and beyond. Does it mean double-digit growth?
So it will depend on the brands, of course, huh? But in the algorithm, you know, it could be that on year 1 and 2, it could be that cognac, in fact, grows faster, because of the recovery. As I explained, the once the trends start to reverse, there could be a positive or exponential effect. So I would say that, in fact, it's somehow similar to cognac over the 5 years, with probably a sharper recovery of cognac, in the, in, if you take year 1 and 2. But if you take the 5 years, you could consider indeed that it's a double-digit growth for our liquors and spirits, and less so for cognac, if you take the average.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line. Céline Pannuti from J.P. Morgan. The line is open now, please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Two questions, please. First one on the cadence of growth through the year. You mentioned a challenging H1. Is there any color you can give me, give to us? I think you mentioned the issue of inventory restocked in the US. China is something that you're happy with, but I understood that you had as well a very tough comparative base. Could you talk about, you know, how we think about Q1, Q2 in terms of growth rate versus the exit rate of H2, which was, I think, down in the double-digit level? And yeah, and obviously then, what it meant for H2 recovery that you are baking in. And then the second question is on AMP.
So I understood that you had around EUR 50 million of one-off benefit from AMP last year. You get into AMP rational, it's flat on growth, but seems to be more it's flattish, in fact negative. So, this EUR 50 million, they are not coming back? And how are you funding the SOP reinvestment that you mentioned in the U.S.? Would be great if you could clarify that. Thank you.
Okay. As to the cadence of growth, obviously, I'm not going to give too many details, but as we said, H1 is expected to be challenging. So both quarters. Now, if you take China, for instance, the challenging comps are on Q1 and Q4. More particularly, you have to remember that last year we were going out of COVID in China, the end of the confinement and refilling the pipe and so on. So it's a challenging comps.
In the US also, challenging comps for S1, but more particularly for Q1, because in fact, and it's linked to the one you're referring to, but in fact, last year, we had the windfall and the benefits of the heavy investment behind the Super Bowl on cognac in the US. So, indeed, in Q1, for instance, we had 2000 HPPs, so 2000 merchandising ex-specific exposure of the VSOP in 1738, building on our investment on the Super Bowl in 2000 stores. So this did not repeat this year. So Q1 is more challenging for our two biggest markets. Now, again, the whole semester, we expect to be challenging. On the AMP- it's so indeed, there was a one-off.
The one-off, so there were a number of one-off savings. It's a total indeed, that you refer to. It's a number of actions that have been taken everywhere. You know, part of it is cuts. Part of it is also better spend, meaning we get the same for a lower cost, huh? Because the beauty is that when it's tough for us, obviously, in the industry, it's also tough for the media industry. So, you know, you get better prices for the same exposure. So, you know, it's not only about cutting, it's also about optimizing the spend, renegotiating the fees everywhere, and so on. And that's something that really we are disciplining more and more on. Money was easy until half, 1.5 year ago.
Money is less for the past 18 months, which has driven better efficiency somehow. How are we financing a VSOP plan? You know, our spend is EUR 75 million more than what it was 4 years ago. Four years ago, we were much more—we are spending much more behind the value distraction on VSOP, on promotions, and so on. So we do have an amount of money that used to be spent on promotions that is now available for this kind of actions. And this will not prevent us from keeping on activating Usher on the above the line, huh? You will see things happening in the course of the year.
But definitely, we will rebalance some of the spend on BTL, and more targeted toward the VSOP and 1738. Again, on the total amount, which allows for a number of activations, anyway, it's a much higher amount than the one we used to have. In fact, in our original plan, the 20/30 plan, the plan was not to increase as much as we did on A&P. It's the fact that we are ahead of the plan on the gross margin and on the top line that drove to more A&P. But we have, we have what we need to properly activate, activate VSOP in the US.
If I may add one point, Céline. Clearly, the one-off nature is always the same, whatever the type of cost we are talking about, but the implicit flexibility is not the same. So when you have overheads, you have people that are hired, you build, you have depreciation. A&P are there for the long term, but is a more liquid concept inside that. There are companies also, they are considering the mix between a current operating profit A&P as a strategic disposal. One of... The company was working before Rémy Cointreau, for instance. So meaning that there is a much more liquid in term of, and flexible in term. So part of this one-off, which is totally sure, needs to be linked to the level, as Éric said, of the top line. Top line is lower, we need to also to rightsize that.
The criteria, implicit criteria inside that, is much more flexible than overheads.
Thank you.
Thank you. We will take the last question from the line, Jeremy Fialko from HSBC. The line is open now. Please go ahead.
Okay. Hi. Morning. Thanks for squeezing me in. So two questions. First of all, travel retail. Could you tell us what percentage of sales that was in 2024 and what you think it can grow at in 2025? And then the second question I've got is on your 33% COP margin target for 2029 and 2030. Obviously, you're gonna be around, say, 25%-26% in fiscal 2025, which means you'll have 700 or 800 basis points to do in 5 years. Now, that doesn't strike me as a particularly kind of gradual process as per your medium-term guidance. So I guess, how helpful is it having that 33% margin there, given actually it now seems to require, yeah, a really pretty significant annual increase from 2026 onwards? Thanks.
Okay. You want to answer question two?
Yep.
It gives me some time to try to recollect in my mind on the figure of, travel retail, and I will.
Thank you. The 2025-2026 average natural high single-digit top line, it's enough to feed the 33%. So far, we are beating, which is clearly shown and said by Eric, even if, despite the fact that we have 2023, 2024 was a bad year, we are beating the trajectory. In 2024 to 2025, we'll be on the same, on the same type of picture. So compared to the plan in terms of, I insist, ratio, gross margin 72% and 33% today, with the compounders I highlighted starting from 2025-2026, is not in danger. So your question is, are you-- can you realize 8 points, where they come from? Gross margin, after one or two years of pause, will be more accretive.
Top line will determine will implicitly additional gross margin in value to be reinvested. This journey of stabilization, normalization of A&P efficiency will last maybe a little bit more than the original plan. Also, because Eric just said it, we improved the baseline very fast and much more, at the speed which is much faster than the estimated forecast in 2020. And or I'll be fired, overheads need to be accretive big time to the total equation. So with high single-digit, our mission will be to be, you know, cap on overheads, clearly lower, low to mid, trying to remain in the low, in the low part. This is a global equation. In terms of absolute value, I repeat, the high single-digit top-line growth, starting from 2025, 2026 for four years, it's more than enough.
Thank you, Luca. You've been a bit too fast for me, but still I can, I can, of course, answer the question. Our percentage of GTR sales in total was below 10%, but I just don't have the exact figure in mind, but it was below 10. While if you take the normative level pre-COVID, it was 12. So there is still potential for growth, obviously. And we do plan, and we do expect, double-digit growth on GTR. Unlike for other regions, we are more positive and we are more ambitious with GTR. Two things to keep in mind: One, on the positive side is, ourselves, we are, let's say, over-investing on GTR because of the recovery.
Meaning, while we control our costs on every single BU, it's one of the business units where we hire people and where we strengthen our organization for obvious reasons. We are also reorganizing because during COVID, obviously, we had streamlined, and now we are again reinforcing. So that's point one. Point two is, we see GTR as an image driver. And obviously, we are going to also over-invest at our scale, but on visibility, focusing on the image-driven selling areas, meaning most more importantly, the airports. So we are probably, let's say, a bit more targeted than we were pre-COVID on our investment, investing where we are building image for our brands. Voilà.
Of course, lastly, in everything we do, we are driven by our value strategy. So, we are making sure also that pricing is correct everywhere, because price consistency over time and worldwide is a key enabler in the long run.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you very much. There's no further question at this time. We'll hand it back over to the host for closing remarks.
Well, thank you very much. There is no specific closing remark, except to thank you for your attention, and maybe see some of you next Tuesday in London. Thank you very much for your attention. The sound was getting better and better, so I think we now have a setup. Thank you very much. Bye-bye!