[Non-English content] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Dear shareholders, I'm delighted, in fact, we're all delighted to see you here. On behalf of the whole group, on behalf of every single employee of the group, I'd like to wish you a very warm welcome to today's annual general meeting of shareholders, your AGM. As I'm sure you'll understand, a year ago, when our last AGM took place, it was unfortunately impossible to have you here in person. I asked our people to do everything possible to try and reestablish a certain conviviality about our so-called virtual AGM, but there is no replacing human presence. It's with great pleasure that we are here with you here today. Of course, we have to abide by all the various precautions, health precautions we need to take.
Unfortunately, we couldn't organize a cup of coffee for you arriving, but if the smiles that I can guess behind your masks are anything to go by, I expect that you too are delighted to be here at this AGM, which is almost a normal AGM. Just in case you asked yourselves, and I will have a few questions later on, some people have mentioned this to me, but there was no way we could possibly ask for proof of vaccination for today's AGM. Now, by law, proof of vaccination is reserved for so-called cultural, sporting, entertainment, or festive events.
Now, our AGM, which I hope will be entertaining or even festive given the results that we'll be presenting in a few minutes' time, unfortunately does not come within the scope of the law, and it would've been, in fact, illegal for us to demand any kind of proof of vaccination at the entrance to the AGM, which ruled out the whole idea of having a coffee together. This AGM has been convened in compliance with legal provisions in force. Nobody has requested the inscription of an item on the agenda or any other resolution. Since the notice of meeting was published in the Official Gazette last October 6th, we have drawn up an attendance sheet, which has been signed by shareholders and proxies in pursuance of the legal arrangements. I can now therefore declare this annual general meeting underway.
As president of this AGM, I propose to set up the bureau as follows. I'm going to ask Paul-Charles Ricard, who is representing Société Paul Ricard, and Priscilla Maters, representing the Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, to act as tellers for today's AGM. I'd like to appoint Anne-Marie Poliquin as secretary for today's AGM. This is Anne-Marie's first AGM. She is head of legal affairs and joined us last April. Welcome, Anne-Marie. We also have at today's bureau, Patricia Barbizet, who is the Lead Independent Director, and Hélène de Tissot who's Chief Financial Officer in charge of IT and operations, whom you also know. Our statutory auditors in the room, on the first row, by the way, are represented by Eric Ropert from KPMG and Marc de Villartay from Deloitte & Associés.
I see that the temporary quorum is 69.2%. Over 69.2% representing over 205 million shares for 7,242 shareholders in attendance or represented. The final quorum will be given to you before we start voting on the resolutions. This combined AGM, which is a combined ordinary and extraordinary AGM, has the required quorum, or the quorum required by law, I should say. On the desk here, I am putting, and I've made available to people in attendance, all the various legal documents. These documents have been sent out or made available to shareholders who requested them in the fullness of time. This AGM is therefore duly constituted and can conduct its business accordingly for all the resolutions on the agenda.
I'd like to remind you that this AGM has been convened to deliberate on the resolutions mentioned on page 42 of the notice of meeting, which you will have received when you signed in on the attendance sheet. We are now going to give you the group's business report, but before that, I wanted to share with you a short video which gives you some idea of the ambitions we have. Our vision as creators of conviviality has never been so relevant. Our goal is very simple: to accelerate this mission through digital because a world with conviviality is quite simply a better world. Please, video.
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Nearly two years ago, when we started this unthinkable global crisis, we set ourselves two goals. Firstly, to demonstrate the Pernod Ricard group's resilience, the resilience of our business model. Secondly, over and beyond our resilience, more importantly, to exit the crisis stronger than ever before. This is what we've achieved. Let's take a look at our financial performance to begin with. It's already higher than the pre-crisis level. In the middle of the pandemic a year ago, our sales were down 9.5%. Over the last financial year, our sales grew almost 10%. Likewise, with our profit from recurring operations. Over the last year, our PRO, as we call it, grew by 18.3%. If I add to that the first quarter where our the organic growth of our sales was 20%, that means an additional 15% more than the first quarter two years ago before COVID became a reality.
We are stronger than before the crisis. In fact, all our regions are posting growth. We see here that the Americas, that's North America, Latin America, is posting strong growth, 14% and 16% in the U.S.A., whether it's U.S.A. or Canada, but also very good growth in Latin America. This of course offsets travel retail in the North Americas. In Europe, a good score of +4%. This is good, strong momentum with the U.K., which posted strong growth. Germany and Western Europe, which also posted good growth, which this offsets declines in Spain, Ireland, and travel retail. Of course, here in France recorded 1% growth over the last financial year. Asia and the rest of the world, which accounts for about 40% of our business, grew by a very satisfactory 11%. This is a good reflection of good performance in China, Korea, Turkey, and India.
I'd like to say a few words briefly about our key markets. The U.S. recorded an extraordinary level of growth at +16%, 16%. I should stress that this is a record level of sales. For the very first time, we broke through the $2 billion mark in sales. Now, at the other side of the world, China with 44% growth also beat a record by breaking through a new barrier, that is the symbolic barrier, the first of hopefully many symbolic barriers, of EUR 1 billion. India has recorded its second-best growth ever in terms of sales, and I think we're on the right track for another record in India. Certainly over the last year, growth in India was 9%. Of course, global travel retail, which is one of our four key markets, dropped 40%.
I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel for travel retail because sales have picked up well in the first quarter. Of course, the quarter it's compared with was a very weak one, needless to say. All this due to our continued premiumization policy. If you look at it through the prism of what we call the brands house, we have, first of all, our international strategic brands, which grew 11%. Good substantial growth at brands like Martell of 24% or Jameson up 15%. Martell driven by China mainly, but not only, but Jameson driven by the US, but not only by the US. In fact, Jameson's performed well in all its markets. Might also mention Malibu, up 24%, or Glenlivet, up 19%.
There's the local strategic brands, which grew 7%, largely driven by our Indian whiskeys, but also by other brands such as Kahlúa, Passport or Ramazzotti. This brings me to our specialty brands. These are very often artisan brands or craft brands. Growth of 28%, bearing in mind that this particular portfolio or this particular segment has never weakened, even during the pandemic. I can't resist telling you that this is mainly driven by a little nugget called Lillet, for those of you who know it, but also our American whiskeys, our tequilas or an Irish whiskey, a niche whiskey, very high-end whiskey called Redbreast. Of course, the wines segment, which was stable, largely buoyed up by the very good performance of the Spanish brand Campo Viejo. All our regions posted growth with continued premiumization. Of course, we have made ground on all our social priorities.
Here you have our strategic roadmap for SG&A . I'd like to show you that in a video. If you would please start the video.
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In practice, we have these SG figures here. We set ourselves one of some of our bigger targets. We have about 30 in all, but you have much more detail on the website. If I take the four pillars of our roadmap in SG&A, beginning with preserving our terroirs, we've already undertaken 10 regenerative agricultural programs, including two on our own vineyards, in conjunction with our wine growers and farmers. Secondly, we have the risk map, which is 86% complete. This is the risk map for our natural ingredients. I'll tell you more about this later, but we've had 100 natural ingredients in all. Here, the idea is to obtain certification for our sources. Acting in a circular manner. Well, since 2010 and up to last June, we reduced our carbon emissions, what we call our carbon intensity, by 34%.
I'll tell you about our future objectives a little bit later on. We've also reduced the intensity of our water consumption by approximately 27% between 2010 and June of this year. Let's now look at enhancing human beings, or the importance of human beings. We currently have 29% of our top management who are women. This is up from 19% five years ago. That's a 10 percentage point increase over the last five years, which is quite significant, and we still have plans to go further. As for the pay gap between men and women, that has been reduced to 1.8%. The fourth pillar, which is very specific to our business at Pernod Ricard, which is being responsible or acting responsibly.
We have raised awareness among almost 500,000 young people in the field, thanks to our program called Responsible Party. This is a reference program in the industry, including for our NGO partners. We also reached out to no less than 42 million people this year alone, 2021, by means of our digital campaign called Drink More…Water, which is all about responsible drinking for young adults. I'd also like to point out, and I'll tell you much more about this later on, that we've set up a CSR committee. We talked about this last year at our AGM. This is made up of directors on our board. These are the progress we've made in SG&A, but we've also beefed up our brand portfolio.
This is part and parcel of our strategic roadmap under dynamic management of our portfolio. I think dynamic is the right word. I know we use it a lot in French. Here you have the acquisitions we've made or the stakes we've acquired over the last two years. In the field of gin, I think we've bought quite a lot with the acquisition of Malfy or Inverroche, Ki No Bi, which is the first Japanese gin produced in Tokyo, and even the alcohol-free gin with the acquisition of Ceder's. That's the snapshot of our American bourbon called Rabbit Hole. Another American bourbon called Jefferson's. We have a Texan whiskey, not a bourbon, but called TX.
As for whiskey as well, we also made acquisitions outside of the U.S. because we acquired a stake in a Mexican whiskey, which is very good by the way. We have other brands, Ojo de Tigre, St. Petroni Vermouth, La Hechicera rum, and of course, Italicus, which is a liqueur. I can't but mention, I can't but say, well, I can't really say what category it belongs to because we have a drink called a Horse with No Name. We're not 100% sure what it is, but it's very good. It's whiskey-based, let me reassure you. Now, not only have we reinforced our brand portfolio, we have also reinforced our various forms of cooperation. We have signed into a cooperation with a company in the U.S. called Lafayette.
Lafayette is what we call a route to market. It's a distribution network which is very good at incubating small brands. We like big brands at Pernod Ricard. We are a big ship, and we know how to look after large brands. But sometimes smaller brands need to be incubated before they can be passed on to the flagship. So we've signed a partnership with Lafayette for that purpose. We also made a recent acquisition, some of you may have read this in the press, of a wonderful high-end specialized platform called The Whisky Exchange. The Whisky Exchange is the leader in specialized e-commerce in Europe, and this platform is going to remain 100% independent. Furthermore, we have made various acquisitions to sign into a partnership with an American company called Sovereign Brands. They have a form of know-how that we haven't got.
They know how to make brands out of nothing, starting from scratch, just like a sparkling wine called Luc Belaire, which is really soaring in the U.S., but not just in the U.S. A rum called Bumbu. You can see the photograph there. Or a brandy called Villon. This is a partnership aimed at co-creation with this expert company. Over and beyond the acquisitions and various cooperation partnerships, we have our own innovation strategy, which is really at the very heart of our strategic roadmap. Remember that we are aiming at between 1/4 and 1/3 of our growth through innovation. Here you have a number of recent examples between the no- and low-alcohol at the level the launch of Ballantine's Light in Spain in particular. This is a 20% whiskey.
Whiskey is usually 40 degrees proof in the case of traditional Ballantine's, but also launched a Beefeater Light, again in Spain. We've been very active in ready-to-go beverages, which is a category with a very strong momentum, and that picked up particularly during the pandemic, quite simply because as the Americans say, it's convenient. This ready-to-go category is convenient. Of course, in France, we also launched Bewiz, and more recently, Suze Tonic Zero on the right-hand side. Of course, all of these innovations are around our major brands throughout the world. Of course, all that has enabled us to create a considerable amount of value for our shareholders, for all of you here. You can see the share price on this.
The total shareholder return or TSR, as we call it, by comparison with 1st of July 2014, including dividends, that's dividends reinvested. This was the year I took over as chairman and CEO. Well, since then, the share price has risen 165%. Now the share price, TSR included, over the last four years has risen by 69%. This is the period during which we've been carrying out our famous strategic plan that I had the great honor of telling you about exactly four years ago. This strategic plan has produced its results. Finally, the total shareholder return over the last 12 months has risen by 45%. Very strong creation of value for our shareholders. Now, we've achieved this by working on very strong fundamentals.
The first and foremost of these, and by far, is the commitment of our employees. The commitment of our 18,500 employees throughout the world. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them wholeheartedly, because throughout the pandemic, our employees were simply nothing short of remarkable. Now, over and beyond our employees, we have a global footprint. We are present throughout the world, thanks to 73 markets in which we operate directly, and more generally, we have products in over 160 countries. Of course, finally, we have the most extensive portfolio in the whole industry. Now, I said the best and most beautiful portfolio, but it's actually the most extensive. I may be a bit biased when I say the most beautiful, but that's my opinion. Anyway, we've done this while reinforcing our agility.
To my mind, this is one of the real lessons of the pandemic is just how agile we have become. Of course, through better resource allocation, we were much more energetic and dynamic than we've been in the past because of the large number of local realities caused by the pandemic, which affected the world in so many different ways. Of course, with a different time sheet in so many different parts of the world. We had to set up highly reactive governance to manage our resources very reactively. Now, we've proved just how resilient our business model is in that way. We've also improved in the way that we prioritize what we call the brand market combinations. Where do we invest? Where will this investment produce the best results given the prevailing environment?
Of course, we also set up organizations in the pool that are much more agile than in the past. We do this throughout the world using new working methods, more about that later on, and new tools, in particular, digital tools. Before going any further, I want to come back a few seconds to the wonderful commitment of our employees. Just one example. Les Embiez is our annual seminar which usually brings together about 1,000 employees in person. 1,000 people from all over the world on the island called Les Embiez to talk about our strategic challenges, resource allocation, the budget, and we all come together. This year, of course, we weren't able to be at Les Embiez in person, but we did hold a digital seminar, and you'll see this. Just one figure.
Everybody was invited to take part in the Les Embiez digital seminar. Out of 18,500, we had over 15,000 participants. 15,003 people connected to our virtual seminar. This is something we have every reason to be very proud of and clear evidence of the commitment of our employees. Video, please.
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It's a remarkable commitment, and I would like also to emphasize the remarkable commitment of our teams. It is thanks to them and to the comms teams that the digital version of the Les Embiez has taken place. Now, without this idea, the event would never have happened. The team could have decided, "Okay, well, you know, if we can't meet in person, let's just not do it at all." Some people would call this masochism. No, I think it's a remarkable commitment, so many thanks to the teams. Many thanks to the IT teams in particular. You've seen the numbers. Talking about the past is always good, but what I like about the past is that we get to learn from it. I much prefer to talk about the future. What about the future? What is going to happen in the future?
What happens tomorrow? More than ever, we will continue to fast-track our transformation in order to achieve our vision as creators of conviviality. Now, to this end, there are trends that we have already identified and that were just fast-tracked by the crisis and that we need to embrace, that we need to take on board. We had a three-year strategic plan. It's been four years now. We carried out a thorough analysis of what happened, the ramifications of the COVID crisis, and all of the emerging trends that we had identified previously. This took a lot of work. A lot of work done by 800 people across the world for a six months period, and the crisis simply fast-tracked the existing trends. Now, let me review those trends quickly, if I may. There are five top trends. Number one, and obviously, as a consumer-centric.
As a consumer-obsessed organization, obviously, our key priority is to satisfy the needs of consumers, but those consumers are changing. They're more versatile. They're much more demanding. They're more responsible. 61% of global consumers have changed their shopping habits. They make more environmentally friendly purchases that are more sustainable and more ethical. So when people ask me, "How do you reconcile the costs of CSR and performance?" Well, this is simply in line with the wishes of our consumers, and they're willing to pay the price for it. Our consumers are much more engaged. 65% of them report that the way that a brand responds to the pandemic will have a significant impact on their likelihood of buying that brand in the future. Lastly, consumers are much more connected. The numbers have gone up during the health crisis.
The estimated increase in consumer spending on social media by 2025 is up 216%. Much for these new consumers that we are dealing with. Over and beyond them, what we're seeing is the outstanding expansion of the middle and affluent classes. In 2021, they number just 3.6 billion people, and according to the Brookings Institution, this will ramp up to 5.6 billion people in 2030. If we look at our second or third leading market, China or India, the emergence of the middle class in those countries is at the very heart of what's happening in those two countries. A quick figure, if I may. In India, every single year, we have between 15 million and 20 million individuals joining the share of the population that is old enough to drink.
In India, between age 20 and 25. Over and beyond the middle and affluent classes, well, there are new ways of working that have emerged, and obviously it's the talk of the town. Remote working is on the rise. Now, this is something that we had anticipated, we at Pernod Ricard. This was already an emerging trend. We factored that into our plans to move our headquarters, so we put into place a remote working policy. In France, obviously, a maximum of two days per week of working remotely. Also, office space and the use of office space is changing. The reason for office space is changing as well. Office space is becoming a place where people work together, where they talk, where they engage in dialogue. Trend number four, which ties in with the previous trends, new technologies have to be taken on board.
The digital transformation has to be embraced. In 2019, just two years ago, there were 3,000 active monthly Microsoft Teams users at Pernod Ricard. Microsoft Teams is a virtual platform, so we switch between Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Pernod Ricard had adopted MS Teams before the crisis even broke out. That's a good thing, because overnight, we ended up spending our lives on Microsoft Teams. 3,000 in 2019, up to 17,500 active monthly Microsoft Teams users at Pernod Ricard in 2021. That's remarkable. The digital transformation also means a ramp up in online sales. Look at the past fiscal year. The share of online sales of e-commerce has increased by 63%. We expect a sustained pace of growth for this distribution channel in the coming years.
Now, earlier I talked about new working habits and now the digital transformation. I do believe that the best example of our transformation in terms of our new ways of working, our new tools, and more generally speaking, our strategy. The best example of that transformation is what happens in the field. Look at the Island. The Island is our head office. It brings together seven different entities. There's a quick video I'd like to show you by way of illustration.
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We talked about the new consumers. We talked about the expansion of the middle and affluent classes. We talked about new ways of working and also the technological revolution. The fifth and major trend is about understanding the new global challenges, whether the rise in political tensions. There's good news, actually, that came in last week.
The European Union made a decision to put an end to customs tariffs in terms of importing U.S. whiskeys in Europe. Obviously, we need to bear in mind currency volatility. This has cost us a lot of money, as we will see later when Hélène de Tissot speaks. There are new environmental issues as well. I don't think I need to dwell on that very much. This is something that we're all completely aware of, and we also need to embrace the uneven post-COVID growth recovery. This is why we need dynamic resource management. Five main trends and therefore five key priorities have been identified in order to build our future. Key priority number one, we need to fast-track our S&R roadmap. We have on the screen a number of examples. Take the IUCN, for example.
I was involved in the IUCN convention in Marseille. That was the perfect place for it, really. This event took place in September last year, and we are the first company to support the IUCN in their global initiative for sustainable agriculture. Now, I was very fortunate to be working with Patricia Ricard, Chairwoman of the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute. You got to understand that Pernod Ricard products are comprised of hundreds of different ingredients agave, fennel, sugarcane. I'm not going to review the entire list. That's not why we're here today. We have other fish to fry. Three hundred and twenty-five thousand hectares are held directly or indirectly with our partners. Thanks to this partnership, with help from a lot of experts, well, this is a public-private partnership.
We get to carry out in-depth analysis work on regenerative agriculture and biodiversity, and I think this will enable us to have a tremendous impact. Now you can also see our new internal campaign called Live Without Labels. It's a new roadmap, an internal campaign to develop a diverse and inclusive working environment. Earlier, I referenced our environmental outcomes to date, but obviously we have longer term objectives. For example, we have a target of net zero carbon emissions in our direct operations by 2030 at the latest. Obviously, we're trying to see whether it's possible to achieve that target sooner, but also across our entire value chain. This includes our glass makers, our other partners, our friends, our farmers, et cetera. So by 2050 at the latest, once again. Lastly, we need to be responsible.
We have an increased ambition to raise consumer awareness via our brand campaigns, and there's going to be more and more of those brand campaigns. But also our brand homes, which are visitor centers for all of our brands. The goal is to target 10 million visitors by 2030. Like I said, our key priority number one is to accelerate our S&R roadmap. Priority number two, which is very, very important. We need to invest in order to grow our talents. There's a true war, a global war on talents. We need to attract talented people. Obviously, talents come to us because we have a lovely roadmap, a lovely CSR roadmap, because we behave responsibly. That's all our candidates talk about when we conduct job interviews. For senior and pre-senior workers, we have a unique leadership model.
Ex Com has done the work with external partners, and we do our best to promote this culture based on collaboration and performance. Conviviality is a driver for performance. It is there to serve performance. What does it mean to be convivial? To be direct, to keep things simple, to be efficient, and to keep a smile on your face. Also, we have the Pernod Ricard University to support talent development. We have developed Coursera, and 100% of Pernod Ricard staff members have access to online training courses. I mean it. 100% of our staff across the world get to learn online. We have hundreds and hundreds of online courses available. Priority number three, we need to create the right conditions for a dynamic resource allocation. We need to manage resources dynamically.
In today's world, there's always going to be a crisis emerging somewhere, so we need to be dynamic in terms of how we manage our resources across the entire value chain. Obviously, we need to keep our structural costs under control while maintaining our industrial investments and also our strategic inventories. As you well know, this is a true competitive advantage. We also need to develop financial information and modeling systems that are increasingly effective. What we need to do is scenario analysis. We need to do simulations. We're really good at that since the crisis, and this helps us stay ahead of the curve and better prioritize in terms of our dynamic resource management policy. Now, I'm not saying that we're doing this in real time, but we are doing this as we go along.
Priority number four, we need to make our organization even more agile, even more efficient. We need to manage our resources according to every growth opportunity that arises. We are back to a dynamic growth trend, so let's make the most of it. Obviously, we need to innovate. I referenced our innovation roadmap so that we can continue to manage our portfolio as dynamically as possible. Lastly, we need to pool our skills through the creation of centers of excellence. This is something that we've done. This is something that we will continue to do. This goes from IT and HR to innovation and consumer research. Priority number five, this is the last key priority for Pernod Ricard. Here again, I'm referencing Arthur's movie, the opening movie. We seek to become a conviviality platform in order to fast-track our transformation.
What do we find at the heart of this policy? Data. Consumer data. Thanks to that data, thanks to what we do with it, we'll be able to target and provide each consumer with the right product, the right service, the experience they expect at the right time, in the right place, and at the right price on a very large scale. That's priority number five. I'd like to remind you of our strategic roadmap called Transform and Accelerate. What is our medium-term ambition? Assuming we're back to normal. We're not there yet, but in terms of business as usual, this means we're targeting a top-line growth between 4% and 7%. We do this by leveraging key competitive advantages and consistent investments behind our key priorities, which I referenced earlier.
We need to pay special attention, particularly right now, pay specific attention to pressing and also to building new initiatives for operational excellence. Another critical aspect is we need to maintain significant A&P, advertising and promotion, investment to support our brands. About 16% of sales. In other words, 16% of the sales generated is invested into our brands across the world, and obviously, is invested into our innovation efforts as well. We need to maintain our discipline in terms of structural costs, so we can invest into our priorities while maintaining the agility of our organization. We need to keep growth of structural costs below top line growth rates. This means improving our operating leverage of 50 to 60 basis points per annum, provided the top line remains between 4%-7% growth. Here's a quick reminder of our financial policy priorities.
Number one, we want to maintain our investment- grade ratings. These are the top four priorities in the right order. Number one, in terms of resource allocation, we want to continue to invest in our future organic growth. Obviously, we will continue to invest in our brands, our marketing strategy, but also our strategic inventories as well as our CapEx, particularly in our plants, for example. We will continue an active portfolio management policy, and this includes value-creating M&As across the world. If we find nuggets across the world, we will buy them, assuming they create value. A dividend payout of about 50% of our net profit from recurring operations. Lastly, last priority, our share buyback program which resumed last September. If I were to take away three key messages, now this is what I would tell you.
Never, never has our purpose been more relevant. This is something that I believe 200%. Never has Pernod Ricard been more ready to face the future. Lastly, never has Pernod Ricard been more confident about achieving our vision as creators of conviviality. Obviously, we would not be here today if we didn't have all of these amazing brands. Before I hand over to Hélène de Tissot, there's a quick movie I would like to share with you. A best of what we're doing on the ground, what the teams have been doing in the field to build the attractiveness and desirability of our brands. You have a few examples of activation efforts and also excerpts from our campaigns over the past 12 months. Roll video.
[Non-English content ] Thank you, Alexandre. Good afternoon. I'm now going to tell you about the consolidated financial statements for the period 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, and I'm going to begin with a brief synopsis. First of all, the pickup in business was very strong and financial performance was outstanding. Growth was very strong and diversified. The U.S.A. and China reached records that Alexandre already mentioned. The $2 billion mark in the U.S.A. and EUR 1 billion in China. Premiumization was strong thanks to the good growth of international strategic brands and specialty brands. Our operating margin improved quite substantially by 213 basis points. Our cash performance was exceptional with current cash flow at a record level. Given the circumstances, we propose a dividend at the same record level as in 2018, 2019, namely EUR 3.12 per share.
Finally, we've announced a share buyback program that will continue for EUR 500 million. About half of that is already underway in the first half of the period 2021-2022. The key figures now. Sales totaled EUR 8.824 billion. That's organic growth of 9.7% and nominal growth of 4.3%. The profit from recurring operations of EUR 2.423 million was up 18.3% in organic terms, and we reported 7.2% nominal growth. The group margin was also very strong. Net income was EUR 1.3 billion, up very sharply by almost 300% by comparison with last year because of the very comparable basis of comparison, which was very easy to beat. Free cash flow totaled EUR 1 billion, by the way.
Free cash flow, finally, was EUR 1.628 billion, up 96% by comparison with the previous period. This is thanks to very strong cash generation and the reduction of our financial expenses. Now, the breakdown of sales by region. Sales grew in all of our regions and has achieved pre-COVID levels. The Americas posted 14% growth for the period. With Canada and South America, which all offset the decline of travel retail. Asia and the rest of the world was up sharply 11%, mainly driven by China. China, Korea, and Turkey, but also India to a lesser extent. Europe saw its sales grow 4%, which is a good growth thanks to the U.K., Germany, and Eastern Europe. France was stable. Spain, Ireland, and the Travel Retail were all down. Now the breakdown of sales by category.
First of all, strong premiumization, and the performance was very good at +22%. Now the strategic international strategic brands picked up very strongly, growing 11%, largely driven by Martell in China and Jameson in the U.S.A. Our local strategic brands grew 7%, driven by the pickup of Seagram's in India, Kahlúa, Passport and Ramazzotti. Specialty brands again posted strong growth of 28%, largely due to Lillet, Aberlour, Malfy, the American Whiskies, the Avión Tequila and the Irish whiskey called Redbreast. Our strategic wines were stable with good growth for Campo Viejo and the decline of Jacob's Creek and Kenwood. The price mix impact was solid at +4%. Now a rundown of the income statement. I've already mentioned our EUR 8.448 billion sales.
Gross margin was up 11% on last year, with a gross margin, or percentage gross margin of 60.2%, which is up 64 basis points. A&P expenditure up 9% at a ratio of 15.8% of sales. Structural costs were virtually stable, plus 1%, which is a good reflection of our cost discipline. As a result, the profit from recurring operations of EUR 2.26 billion was actually organic growth of 18.3%. Giving us a PRO margin of 27.5%, up very sharply by 213 basis points by comparison with the corresponding period the previous year. Let me come back very quickly to the different items. The improvement of our gross margin, first of all, which rose 64 basis points.
This was mainly due to improved absorption of our fixed costs, price effect being stable. The ratio of A&P over sales was 16% of sales, or 16%, with good reinvestment in the markets and categories posting growth. Structural costs. This is evidence of good resource management and all these various items together led to a very good improvement of our PRO margin by comparison with the corresponding period the previous year. Let's move on to net results attributable to the group. PRO for the year of EUR 2.26 billion was up 142%. That's operating income, sorry. Net income of EUR 329 million was up very sharply by 297%, mainly driven by the fact that the corresponding period the previous year was weak. A few words now about our net debt.
Net debt at the end of June this year was a total of EUR 7.452 billion. In other words, down close to EUR 1 billion. More precisely, down EUR 972 million over the period, thanks to the excellent generation of free cash flow. This enables us to fund M&A for a total of EUR 122 million. We've been actively managing our portfolio. We also paid dividends amounting to EUR 704 million. We reduced net debt, which comprised a number of other positive effects of currency translation due to the depreciation of the US dollar or the weakening of the dollar against the euro, plus the negative impact, the EUR 95 million impact of rental costs. This is IFRS 16 for those of you of the more technical bent.
Moving on to the parent company accounts for Pernod Ricard S.A. Pernod Ricard's net income was a profit of EUR 657 million. That's EUR 522 million less than the previous year because of the fact that the previous period was a very strong period due to the sharp increase in intragroup dividends during that period. Let's now look at the proposed dividend. Today, we are asking you to approve the payout of a dividend of EUR 3.12 per share for 2020, 2021, which is very much in line with our 50% payout policy. This corresponds to a 17% increase by comparison with the previous year and will bring us back to the record level we achieved for our dividend in 2018, 2019.
We've also resumed our share buyback plan for approximately EUR 500 million, about half of which is already underway. Finally, we propose to set up a second employee share ownership program, a second ESOP for the period 2021-2022, subject to approval from the AMF, the market regulator, and this AGM. Let's now take a look at the first quarter of the current year. That's 2021-2022. We presented these figures just a few weeks ago. To sum up, for the first quarter, our sales totaled EUR 2.718 billion. That's organic growth of over 20% and over 20%-22% nominal. The pickup has been very sharp in all our regions with strong demand and a good shipment before the festive period. This is what happens in October, November, and December.
Off-trade is still resilient and markets are buoyed up by the reopening of on-trade, the on-trade sector. Finally, travel retail is still very limited, but of course, is compared to a weaker prior period last year. Now I'm going to give you the floor, Alexandre, for the outlook for the coming year.
Thank you, Hélène. For the period 2021, 2022, this is the current year, we expect strong sales momentum. Let's say, not as strong as in the first quarter. You know, over 20% was particularly strong. We also expect significant investments in A&P and the structure to, shore up our future growth. I think really the theme this year is the theme of growth. We will continue with our strategic goal, our strategic program, of course, Transform and Accelerate, particularly in terms of digital transformation.
As Hélène said, we will resume our share buyback plan with a total outlay of EUR 500 million, half of which is already committed in this first half year. I'm now going to call on Patricia Barbizet to tell us about the Group's governance.
Thank you, Alexandre. Dear shareholders, I too am very pleased to be with you today. I'm speaking to you as Lead Independent Director on the board, but also as Chair of the Nominations and Governance Committee, but also, Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility. In that respect, the role of the Lead Independent Director is defined in the board's bylaws, which can be found on our website. I propose to show you our board of directors. The 13 members , the 13 directors are on the screen. Two of these represent staff. That is, Stéphane Emery and María Jesús Carrasco López.
At the end of the financial period, the board had 54.5% independent directors, which is above the 50% mark recommended by the French regulator, AFEP-MEDEF. This is our reference. The proportion of women was 45.4%. Here again, above the 40% recommendation, or required by law, I should say. By the way, it's the proposed nomination of Namita Shah that, if you approve, will bring us to a perfect balance, gender balance, with six women and six men. Finally, four of our directors are of foreign nationality. On average, the board meets eight to nine times a year. This year it met nine times, and the attendance rate was 100%. We also met quite a few times by Teams.
We meet in The Isl and, which as you will have heard, is where we discuss matters among the board members. I'm not saying that of the 100%, we were all on the Les Embiez's digital platform to participate in this wonderful experience. In the course of the period, we followed the impact of the pandemic with regular discussions with the company's senior management. The board also closed the interim and annual accounts, examined the budget. The board prepared this annual general meeting and agreed on the resolutions put before you. We reviewed the Group's strategy. We assessed the variable compensation of the Chairman and CEO for the period 2020, 2021, and defined the CEO's compensation policy for the coming period, that's 2021, 2022. Obviously, without the Chairman and CEO being in attendance, that goes without saying.
The board also took part in an executive session aimed at reviewing how the board operates, the board and its committees operate, but also reviewing the Chairman and CEO's performance and the succession plan. This also took place without Alexandre Ricard being in attendance, and indeed, which also involved the senior management of the Group. We also reviewed governance and the composition of the board and its committees, and we reviewed how the board operated this year, as we do every three years. We were assisted by an independent firm. Now I want to report to you as Lead Independent Director. This year, I met with our main investors to talk about the Group's governance.
I chaired the executive session that was held after the board meeting on September 1st, and I organized the independent formalized assessment of the board and its how it works with this independent expert firm. A detailed report on this assessment was then submitted to the board of directors, and a synopsis can be found on page 50, pages 57 and 58 of our universal registration document. The French version, that is, for those pages. I'm now going to tell you about the Board's five Committees, the Audit Committee, the Nominations and Governance Committee, the Compensation Committee, Strategy Committee, and CSR Committee. The board delegates to these specialized committees the preparation of special subjects, which are then put before the board for approval.
I'm going to tell you about the composition of each of these committees, pointing out that the proportion of independence is always at least or better than the recommendations of the AFEP-MEDEF code. At the closing of the year, the audit committee was comprised of three directors, two of whom are independent, as you can see on the screen. This committee met four times. The attendance rate was 100%. The main tasks were to examine the interim and annual accounts, parent company unconsolidated, the follow-up of the group's cash and debt, risk management, and particularly the updated mapping of the group's risks, assessment of internal control and examination of the internal audit reports, approval of the group's internal audit program, and follow-up of the compliance program, particularly in terms of fighting against corruption and misuse of influence.
The nominations and governance committee comprises three directors that you can see on the screen, two of whom are independent. This committee convened four times, and here again, the attendance rate was 100%. In particular, the committee provided recommendations on the group's governance. It also examined the independence of the members of the board, reviewed the group's talent management policy and the succession plans for the senior executives. It reviewed the group's policy in terms of diversity and professional equality. It also followed up and reported on the triennial operation of the board and its committees, and finally, its proposed areas for improvement in the way the board conduct its business. The compensation committee has four members, you can see them on the screen, one of whom represents the employees.
The members of this committee, thus not including the employee representative, are all independent. The committee met six times during the period with an attendance rate of 96.43%. Its main activities consisted in examining the rules of governance and market practices, particularly regarding the compensation of the executive directors. It then reviewed the Long-Term Incentive Plan, the LTIP, as we call it, introducing a CSR criterion in the performance criterion. It also oversaw the plan to reduce all gaps based on gender. As you saw, as you heard earlier on, we have done very well in this area too. The strategy committee has five directors, three of whom are independent. This committee met twice during the year. The attendance rate was once again 100%.
This committee reviewed the key strategic challenges facing the group, in particular, the progress made in terms of digital transformation. It also paid great attention to the way our consumers are consuming, particularly in the light of the consequences of the pandemic. It also tracked the group's key markets and brands. As you heard during the management report, CSR is really at the heart of the group's concerns, as the chairman stressed earlier on. Our CSR roadmap is part and parcel of all our activities. In fact, our CSR strategy is a great lever, not just for performance, but also in terms of transforming the group. It emphasizes the importance of innovation. It attracts a lot of attention to talent, and it works to make a more convivial world.
This is why last year at the same AGM, we decided to create a CSR committee totally devoted to this particular strategic focus. The committee was set up at the end of last year and has three lady directors on the screen, one of whom represents the employees of the group. During the period, the committee met once. Attendance rate was 100%, and its main activities during the period were the review of the group CSR strategy and the achievement of our goals in each of the CSR roadmap targets. Secondly, it introduced our CSR criterion in the LTIP. We discussed the CSR commitments given to our various stakeholders and worked on the CSR reporting system in this context.
I'd now like to call on Kory Sorenson, Chair of the Compensation Committee, to join me here to talk to you about the compensation policy for our CEO. Thank you.
[Non-English content] In my capacity as Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee, I'd like to introduce to you the compensation policy for the executive director, and I will detail the ex-post vote reference on resolution eight, and also the ex-ante vote in resolution ten. You will find this information in the universal registration document on pages 63-81. The compensation items for Alexandre Ricard for FY 2021 reference in resolution eight include a fixed annual compensation of EUR 1.1 million, which is unchanged from the previous financial year. A variable compensation of EUR 1.98 million, that is 180% of his fixed compensation for a target of 110% and a maximum of 180%.
Details of the achievement of each criterion are given in the universal registration document. In addition, Mr. Alexandre Ricard's compensation for FY 2021 also includes the granting of 9,739 performance-based shares and 23,374 stock options. All of these shares and stock options are subject to achieving certain targets. Lastly, under the supplementary pension plan, Alexandre Ricard received an allocation of 619 performance shares and a cash payment of EUR 69,850 before tax. I would like to point out that Alexandre Ricard does not receive any compensation in his capacity as chairman of the board of directors. Let us now turn to the compensation policy for executive directors, which is the subject of resolution number 10.
The changes in compensation proposed below are made in the context of a second term of office for the Executive Director. Changes in Alexandre Ricard's compensation policy were initially considered at the time of the renewal of his term of office in November 2020, but the board of directors preferred to postpone any changes until this year in view of the health situation and economic ramifications of COVID-19. The objective of the board of directors is that the total compensation of Alexandre Ricard be competitive and motivating while being consistent with market practices. It also considers the financial performance of the Pernod Ricard group, which has accelerated significantly. By way of example, the share price has doubled since 2015, as well as the very good management of the COVID crisis.
Accordingly, the board of directors decided on August 31st, 2021 to retain the following elements for FY 2022, which will remain stable until the end of its mandate. A fixed compensation of EUR 1.25 million. The annual variable compensation target remains unchanged, representing 110% of the fixed compensation, subject to the achievement of targets capped at 180%. The granting of performance-based shares and stock options, all subject to performance conditions, and those are unchanged and may not exceed 150% of his fixed annual compensation. In addition, in terms of deferred commitments, the board of directors recommends maintaining the following provisions, a non-compete clause, a forced exit clause subject to performance criteria. The aggregate of the two clauses may not exceed 24 months of fixed and variable compensation.
Lastly, the executive director benefits from a supplementary pension scheme, the annual allocation of which is proposed to be 20% of his fixed and variable annual compensation, half of which is made up of performance-based shares, and the other half of which is paid in cash. In view of the above, we propose that you approve resolutions eight and 10.
Patricia, Kory, thank you very much for your presentations. Now, I would like to invite Marc de Villartay from Deloitte to present to you on behalf of the statutory auditors the report submitted to the general meeting of shareholders.
Thank you, Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, hello. It is on behalf of the board of the statutory auditors at Deloitte and KPMG that I have the pleasure of reporting on our assignment. We have issued a number of reports to help you exercise a good judgment while voting on the resolutions. In line with our regulations, I suggest we do not review this exhaustively. Let me just highlight the main points and express your conclusions, our findings. Please bear with me. Our reports on the consolidated financial statements and on the annual financial statements have been made available to you as part of this AGM. Respectively, they can be found in pages 240-243 and 267-269 of the Universal Registration Document.
We'd like to remind you that the goal of our work is to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements did not contain any material misstatements, that they were in accordance with the accounting principles, that they are accurate and fair, and give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities, financial position, and results of operations. We have worked both in France and internationally in every significant entity that is part of the group, and we have implemented an auditing approach that takes into account your specific features in terms of activities, geographic footprint, organization, information systems, as well as internal control. Our findings and how we have organized our work was submitted to senior management, to the financial division, the Audit Committee, as well as the Board of Directors of your company.
Our reports on the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements contain the key highlights of our audit, as well as the work carried out in order to achieve that outcome. In terms of the consolidated financial impacts, we have evaluated the brands as well as tax risk. With regard to the annual financial statements, the key highlight of the audit was about evaluating the equity investments. Both sets of financial statements are true and fair, they are accurate, they give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities, the financial position, as well as the results of operations. We have issued certification reports without any reservations. We have also verified the accuracy and the fair presentation of disclosures in the management report, as well as the other documents sent to the shareholders.
We also attest to the accuracy and fair presentation of disclosures regarding compensation and benefits paid to corporate officers. We also attest to the fair presentation and consistency with the financial statements of the information relating to payment deadlines. Lastly, in line with the new ESEF, European Single Electronic Format legislation, our conclusion is positive regarding compliance with the ESEF electronic format when it comes to the Group's consolidated financial statements and the parent company's financial statements included in the annual financial report. Now, moving on to a special report on related party agreements, which you can find on page 270 of the universal registration document. No new related party agreements have been submitted to the approval of the shareholders meeting.
In addition, there is a reference to the related party agreement previously approved by the shareholders meeting that remain in force during the financial year, a credit of EUR 2.5 billion euros under the multicurrency revolving facility agreement. Now, regarding the resolutions having to do with the share capital of the company, those are extraordinary resolutions. We have issued the six special reports which are presented on pages 299 to 301 of the universal registration document. There's a report on the reduction in capital by cancellation of treasury shares purchased up to a maximum of 10% of the share capital. A report on the issue of ordinary shares and/or various securities with retention and/or cancellation of preferential subscription rights.
A report on the authorization to grant bonus performance-based shares existing or to be issued to employees and executive officers. A report on the authorization to grant bonus shares existing or to be issued to Group employees. A report on the issuance of ordinary shares or securities granting access to the share capital reserved for employee members of company savings plans. Lastly, a report on the issuance of ordinary shares or securities granting access to share capital with cancellation of preferential subscription rights under resolution number 25. For all of these resolutions, our reports do not contain any specific observations. It being specified that the proposed transactions to which they relate comply with the provisions set out by law. All necessary disclosures meant to enable you to assess the proposed cancellation of the PSRs have been brought to your attention.
The Board of Directors report does not specify the methods for determining the issue price of future securities issued pursuant to resolutions 15, 19, and 20. Therefore, we cannot express our opinions on the items used to calculate the issue price. As the final terms and conditions of the issuances have not yet been determined, we do not express an opinion on those and on the proposed cancellation of preferential subscription rights. Lastly, I'd like to inform you that we will issue an additional report if necessary, if and when your Board of Directors uses the authorization to issue ordinary shares or securities. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, this is a summary of our reports. Thank you very much for your attention.
Many thanks for this quick presentation. Now, I'd like to hand over to Anne-Marie Poliquin, Secretary of our AGM. She will now present the resolutions. Thank you very much.
Let me begin with the presentation of the resolutions under the authority of the ordinary shareholder meeting. The first resolution concerns approval of the parent company financial statements for the financial year ended June 30th, 2021. In the second resolution, we're asking you to approve the consolidated financial statements for the same period.
The purpose of the third resolution is to allocate net profit for the financial year. As Hélène said earlier on, you are being asked to set the dividend for the period at EUR 3.12 per share. An interim dividend of EUR 1.33 was paid on 7th of July , and the remainder, which is EUR 1.79, would then be paid on November 22nd, with a recorded date of November 23rd and actually paid on the 24th. Detached on 22nd, paid on 24th. In the fourth resolution, we propose to renew the directorship of Anne Lange for a four-year term of office. In the fifth resolution, we are asking you to renew the directorship of Société Paul Ricard, represented here by Paul-Charles Ricard for a four-year term of office.
In the sixth resolution, we're asking you to renew the directorship of Veronica Vargas, also for a four-year term of office. In the seventh resolution, we propose that Namita Shah be appointed as a director for a four-year term of office. By the way, I'd like to ask Namita Shah to introduce herself to the shareholders. Madam.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Namita Shah. I am Indian. I'm married. I have two children aged 20 and 22. I also forgot to say that I am 53 years of age. I'm in legal affairs. I did my studies in India and the USA, and then I worked in law firms in New York for 9 years before arriving in France in 2002, where I began the company now known as TotalEnergies.
At the time, it was TotalFinaElf, where I began as a lawyer, and I was in M&A, merger and acquisitions, then involved in business development before moving into operations. I was CEO of the subsidiary in Burma, Myanmar. Then I joined the head office, finance, HO. In 2016, I became a member of the executive committee at the head of an organization known as People and Social Responsibility. I was group head of HR, and I also managed a team called Engagement Société Civile, which is the group's CSR policy and the discussions with our stakeholders in the field of safety, health and safety of our employees. I am now in charge of a team called OneTech, 3,400 engineers in the group. We work on the transformation of TotalEnergies.
I would be very happy, very pleased to join Pernod Ricard's board of directors. Well, why? First of all, because Pernod Ricard is a company that has great ambitions. Great ambitions, a roadmap and a global footprint. Pernod Ricard is a modern company and a company which products put it in contact with what's happening in people's daily lives. These products mean that we see what's happening throughout the world on a daily basis. I would bring my experience, my knowledge of India and the United States and quite a number of other countries where I've lived and worked, but also of corporate social responsibility. I would hope to help your growth and within the confines of your ambitions. Thank you.
Thank you, Namita. I now give the floor back to Anne-Marie, who will continue to tell us about the resolutions.
In the eighth resolution, we are asking you to approve the fixed and variable components of the total compensation and benefits paid or granted in respect of fiscal 2021 to Alexandre Ricard, Chairman and CEO. The various components are presented in the universal registration document on page 64 -8 2 of the French version. In the ninth resolution, we are asking you to approve information concerning the compensation in respect of 2021, the compensation of each of the corporate officers. All this information is found in the Universal Registration Document on pages 72 and 74 - 82. In the tenth resolution, we are asking you to approve the compensation policy applicable to Alexandre Ricard, our Chairman and CEO. These policy items are found on pages 65 - 72 of the French version of the universal registration document.
In the 11th resolution, we're asking you to approve the compensation policy applicable to the directors, members of the Board. This information is on page 64 of the URD, Universal Registration Document. In the 12th resolution, we're asking you to authorize the Board of Directors to trade in the company shares up to a maximum of 10% of the stated capital. This authorization will be for a period of 18 months, with the maximum purchase price set at EUR 280 per share. In the 13th resolution, we're asking you to approve the related party agreements referred to by the statutory auditors, bearing in mind that no new related party agreement was approved during the 2020-2021 financial period. This brings me to the resolutions under the authority of the extraordinary shareholders meeting.
In the 14th resolution, we are asking you to authorize the board of directors to reduce the share capital by canceling treasury shares up to a limit of 10% of the share capital. This authorization will be for a period of 26 months. The purpose of this 15th resolution is to ask you to authorize the board to decide on share capital increases with maintenance of preferential subscription rights for a maximum nominal amount of EUR 134 million or approximately 33% of the share capital. This is a total combined maximum for all resolutions concerning the capital increases. This authorization would be for a period of 26 months. The 16th resolution asks you to authorize the board to decide on the share capital increase without preferential subscription rights for a maximum of EUR 41 million or approximately 10% of the share capital.
This authorization will be granted for a period of 26 months. In the 17th resolution, we're asking you to authorize the board to increase the number of shares to be issued in the event of a share capital increase, with or without preferential subscription rights in the case of additional shares being requested. This would be granted for a period of 26 months. The 18th resolution would authorize the board to issue ordinary shares or equity securities within a limited circle of investors without preferential subscription rights for a maximum nominal amount of EUR 41 million or approximately 10% of the share capital. This delegation of authority would also be for a period of 26 months.
In the nineteenth resolution, we're asking you to authorize the board to increase share capital by way of remuneration of contributions in kind granted to the company. This would be for a period of 26 months. In the 20th resolution, the board will be authorized, subject to a limit of 10% of the share capital, to carry out share capital increases in the event of a public exchange offer initiated by the company. This would be for a period of 26 months. The 21st resolution would authorize the board of directors to decide on share capital increases by capitalization of premiums, reserves, profits, or other items up to a maximum nominal amount of EUR 134 million. This would be for a period of 26 months.
In the 22nd resolution, we are asking you to authorize the Board to allocate performance-based shares to employees and executive directors of the company and group companies up to a total limit of 1.5% of the share capital and a sublimit of 0.08% of the share capital in the case of executive directors. The final attribution of shares will be subject to conditions of presence and performance. This authorization will be for a period of 38 months. The 23rd resolution asks you to grant the Board of Directors the right to allocate existing shares or issue shares free of charge to employees of the group up to 0.5% of the share capital. Final attribution of shares will be subject to the conditions of presence. This authorization would be for a period of 38 months.
Only four left, only four to go. In the 24th resolution, we're asking you to authorize the Board to decide to increase the share capital for the benefit of ESOP members up to a limit of 2% of the share capital. This maximum is common with the 25th resolution, and the authorization will be for a period of 26 months. In the 25th resolution, we're asking you to authorize the Board to increase the share capital reserved for certain categories of beneficiaries and subject to a limit of 2% of the share capital, bearing in mind that this maximum amount is common to resolutions 24 and 25. Again, this delegation of authority would be for a period of 26 months. In the 26th resolution, we're asking you to amend the Articles of Incorporation to bring them into line with legal requirements.
There's a new comma, a new chapter in French Commercial Code concerning listed companies. This amendment would simply change the numbering of certain articles, as specified in the articles of incorporation. Finally, the 27th resolution asks you to grant powers to carry out the necessary legal formalities. This presentation of the resolutions is now complete, and I'm giving the floor back to our chairman, Alexandre Ricard.
Thank you, Anne-Marie. We've had 13 written questions sent to us by a shareholder with one share. We've received these questions and in compliance with regulations in force, Anne-Marie Poliquin is going to read the answers that we have prepared. I didn't touch a thing. Just a few words beforehand. We are legally obliged to review our replies to this question. We have timed Anne-Marie. This is going to last approximately five minutes.
We have summed up our answer to these questions in 11 points, and I'm asking you as of now to bear with me. We will not be reducing the time allotted for questions and answers because of these replies. We're asking you to be patient for 5 minutes. That said, what Anne-Marie is going to say is also very interesting. May I ask Anne-Marie Poliquin to read our answers to these written questions.
Thank you, Alexandre. The questions that Alexandre has referred to concern our CSR commitments, particularly investments required and the risk of loss of biodiversity, our purchasing policies, our compensation, our fiscal and social reporting, our lobbying practices, and our relations with our social partners, broadly speaking. We are going to give you very brief answers, I promise.
In our universal registration document, you will find all additional information you could possibly require. As presented in the management report, Pernod Ricard has accelerated its roadmap called Good Times from a Good Place 2030. However, we would like to underline a certain number of the main points. There are 11 in all. First of all, we have a target of net zero emissions, Scope 1 and 2, by 2030 at the very latest. Our objectives now, our current objectives for carbon reduction are in line with the scenario that is well below 2 degrees, and we're trying to align them with a scenario based on 1.5 degrees. We have decarbonating projects, particularly for our distilleries, including in Ireland, the U.K. or Canada, for instance. Secondly, our core business is directly linked to nature.
This is why we have committed to preserve each and every terroir and its biodiversity to guarantee the quality of our ingredients, not just now, but for future generations. We have mapped out our priority terroirs and developed biodiversity and sustainable and regenerative agriculture programs. Thirdly, we have taken a variety of initiatives to help our partners who have been weakened by the pandemic, particularly by adjusting terms of payment, including off trade, on trade, I should say, and by supplying hydro-alcoholic gels, as we call them. Health and security are at the very heart of our concerns and are in our taking care of each other policy. Since the very start of the pandemic, we have organized reinforced support measures for our employees with not just psychological support, but also physical support, providing equipment, online learning, sports classes, relaxation online.
Fifthly, the group's compensation is in line with local market practices based on an external benchmark. Incidentally, the group's suppliers also have to abide by standards following the following clause. I quote, "Compensation programs must abide by or exceed minimum legal requirements or appropriate standards in force in the industry." Sixthly, the profit-sharing agreements at Pernod include SG&A criteria such as water consumption, recycling and so on. Some ESOPs also have a responsible label. We have one called CIES, SFDR 9, which is fully invested in SG&A, for instance. Seventhly, we have rolled out an employee share ownership program or an ESOP, which is open to 75% of our employees. There is a second edition, which would involve even more of our employees, is due to be set up this year, subject to approval from the relevant administrative authorities.
In fact, this is what we are aiming at in resolutions 24 and 25. Eighth point, gender balance is, of course, one of the group's key strategic objectives. We expect it to reach a ratio of at least 40/60 by 2030. As far as our management is concerned, we have made a lot of progress since 2016 by increasing the number of women in the top 500 from 19% to 27%. 27% in the ExCo and 40% in the Executive Board. We publish the equity ratio for Pernod Ricard SA, but also this year for the broader scope of France. This is taking into account managing compensation to ensure that we have full fairness. Ninthly, the group's governance and tax fiscal policy is part of our ethical practices. We apply GRI 207.
We publish in particular the total amount of tax paid by the group, and we abide by the country-by-country reporting obligations in pursuance of local tax laws. 10th point, all our lobbying is carried out openly, transparently, and ethically. Our commitments can be found on our website and indeed in the declaration that we have signed alongside other companies involved in Transparency International France. Finally, one last point. We have, and have always had, throughout the group's history, a whole culture of constant ongoing dialogue with our social partners, sharing regularly our plans of action in the subsidiaries, including at group works council level and European works council level. In fact, I refer you to the Universal Registration Document, which we publish all the aspects of our vigilance plan as well as all the aspects of our non-financial performance. I will now give the floor back to Alexandre Ricard.
There you are. Thank you very much, Anne-Marie. I can now declare the Q&A session finally underway.
Good afternoon. I missed being here. I missed attending Pernod Ricard's annual general meeting of shareholders. It's such a pleasure to be back. If we look at France's medieval history, remember the Knights of old who received accolades for being brave, well, you are one such knight, kind sir. I have a couple of questions. What about Havana? Does it belong to Pernod Ricard, or does it belong to someone else? What about the Cuban exports? Is there a conflict there? Is there a competition there? My second question. I understand there is trouble in India, and there is trouble in Colombia. Can you tell us more about that? Number three, China. Are you worried about the latest statements from the Chinese leadership? I am concerned. Who knows what will happen one day.
The media keeps saying that one day China will go back to sleep. Do you believe that'll happen? Do you think that one day China will indeed go back to sleep?
First of all, thank you for your questions. Secondly, thank you so much for your kind words of introduction. You are too kind. Regarding, I will answer regarding Havana Club and China, and Anne-Marie will take your second question. The Havana Club brand is part of a joint venture, a 50/50 JV, held by Pernod Ricard and held also by Cuba Ròn, a company based in Cuba. We own 50% of Havana Club. There's nothing exclusive with our partners, and you may have read in the media that some of our competitors are starting to develop Cuban rum brands as well.
Likewise, as I showed earlier while presenting the management report, we have bought quite a beautiful nugget, La Hechicera. It's a Colombian rum brand. In the meantime, Havana Club is a brand that sells 5 million crates, approximately. The U.S. is the largest rum market. Unfortunately, we don't have access to it at the moment. Who knows? Maybe one day we will. Before handing over to Anne-Marie, let me discuss China briefly. Well, China is our second leading market, just after the U.S. and just before India. In the course of our presentation, you may have noticed that the U.S. market just beat record highs, $2 billion in sales. China accounts for about EUR 1 billion in sales. The record has been broken, too. How do I feel about China?
Well, from a business point of view, because you may have noticed that, in the environment in which we operate, we have identified the geopolitical risks as a potential problem. From a business perspective, we have a clear strategy when it comes to China, and this is a strategy that we introduced in 2018 to all of our investors. Our goal is to double our penetration rate in China. Now the ratio, the percentage represented by a premium, spirits brands imported into China, we wanna double it. 0.8% of the total amount of alcohols sold in China, we wanna jump to 2% in 2025. That was back in 2018. We're now in 2021. We've already reached 1.5%, so we are well in line with our strategic plan in China.
Obviously, this is based on the expansion of the middle class in China. The latest statements of intent from Chinese authorities, while speaking to their own domestic market and speaking to the rest of the world as well, is about sharing prosperity. The goal being to promote the rise of the Chinese middle class. From a purely business perspective, the bigger the middle class and the higher the purchasing power, and this is something the Chinese authorities seem to pursue, well, the better for business. Now obviously, there are geopolitical risks. As far as that's concerned, my take on things is as good as yours, and unfortunately, we do not have a crystal ball. We can't tell the future. In the meantime, China is one of our top markets, and it drives much of the group's growth.
Now, remember that this is something we experienced during the health crisis in 2020. Pernod Ricard's business model is its balance. 1/3 in Europe, 1/3 in the Americas, 1/3 in Asia. We have a very broad portfolio of brands. We are well-balanced geographically, but also in terms of our brand portfolio. We manage things dynamically, and we will avail ourselves of any opportunity that arises, bearing in mind the existing risks. Anne-Marie, why don't you talk about Colombia?
Yes, we do have a litigation. We do have a dispute in Colombia since 2017. It was in 2017 that 2 complaints were filed with the competition authorities against Pernod Ricard S.A. and Pernod Ricard Colombia, as well as one of our competitors. These two complaints alleged that we violated the Colombian anti-competition legislation. They allege that this has given us an unfair advantage over local producers. Of course, we strongly protest those allegations. The litigation is still underway. Things are moving very slowly. What about question number one? Do you remember what it was?
Yes. More than ever, Chairman Claude [inaudible], I have two questions. Question number one has to do with the head office of the new Pernod Ricard France, the company on the Docks in Marseille. My second question has to do with the new global headquarters of Pernod Ricard called The Island. Before I ask my two questions, I would like to remind you that you recently initiated a global campaign to encourage young consumers to drink more water.
Along the same lines, earlier this year, you confirmed that all of your products would, in the future, display on the labels the following reference: "Forbidden for minors," in addition to the already existing warning: "Do not drink and drive," and, "Do not drink if you're pregnant." Last July, in the docks of Marseille, you broke ground on the new head office of the Pernod Ricard France company, which was born in 2020 when the two companies merged. Meanwhile, you also opened a 1,000 sq m concept store called Mx. It's both a museum and a boutique, a store. It's a cocktail bar. It's a restaurant, you name it. The secret goal is to convert young adults. They may not be familiar with this new taste, aniseed, and you wanna convert these new believers.
How do you reconcile the Drink More Water campaign on the one hand, and the come drink Ricard Aniseed type drinks in Mx? How do you reconcile the two? This brings me to question number two. The new global headquarters is called The Island, and it just received the prize for the best development project of the year in the medium corporate building category according to Interior Design, a benchmark interior design magazine. Now, the Saguez & Partners agency, which is responsible for this project, has created a working area that promotes collaboration, the sharing of experience, as well as synergies between the 900 or so workers who will be working out of the new headquarters. This is a place that is supposed to bring to life your culture of conviviality on a day-to-day basis.
How do you reconcile that goal of conviviality with the necessities of protecting one's health and working from home? Lastly, I wanna say that we have missed you so much. Thank you.
Thank you for your questions, and thank you also for your kind words. We have missed you too terribly. Let's start with Pernod Ricard France and its new headquarters, as well as the Mx complex, which I was fortunate enough to break ground on two months ago. Now, any resident of Marseille worthy of the name wants to beat Paris, and obviously they had to break ground on their own place before we did that here in Paris.
If we go over our history, we realize that this new location is located just in front of the dock where ships would board coming from all over the world, bringing in anise seed to make pastis. We have a very clear vision. We are here to create conviviality, moments of friendliness. Let us be clear, there is no such thing as conviviality when you have excess. No matter what form it takes, by definition, you need moderation to have conviviality. Now, I bear the same name as this company, therefore it is important to me that we maintain this vision over the long term, so we need to act responsibly. We need to drink and host responsibly. Of course, we have the right to recruit, enlist, convert new consumers and young adults.
It's okay for them to consume alcohol, and if they wish to consume alcohol, it's not an obligation of course, but if they do that, please do so in moderation. We have a lot of campaigns advocating moderation, and you have just referenced our very first large scale digital campaign, which we initiated this summer. Why did we do it this summer? Well, bars and cafes have now reopened, and there are lots of young adults aged 20 to 25 who've been cooped up and isolated for so many months during the COVID pandemic, and now they're all flocking to bars and cafes. Therefore, it is very important for them to understand that if they want to party, that's fine, but drink in moderation. Be responsible. That's the goal of our campaign. Let me be clear.
It's a major global trend, and we are in line with that trend. Our premiumising strategy is all about drink less, but drink better. This is what generates conviviality. This is what creates value both for Pernod Ricard and for our shareholders. You talked about the Mx location. Well, this is an opportunity for me to head north a little closer to Paris. Before I talk about the island, let me talk about Drinks & Company. Drinks & Co is the concept store which is located. Feel free to go check it out. It's absolutely beautiful. Over 10,000 SKUs. It is just outside Gare Saint-Lazare, the train station at the heart of Paris. There's a bar, so you get to sample the drinks, you get to have a meal, and I tried it for myself.
There's a whole team of bartenders and baristas, and they are able to mimic alcoholic beverages, and they have a non-alcoholic version of every single cocktail. I tested it for myself. Now, getting back to the island, when we reopened the island after the multiple lockdowns, obviously everybody flocked back to our headquarters. What we need to strike now is the right balance. Across the world today, we simply cannot tell people that they have an obligation to come to the office every single day of the week. That simply cannot do. Yes, there may be times when, for various reasons, we may need to stay home. Let me tell you, when I realized that, it was during the strikes. Remember the media coverage years and years ago? There was no such thing as digital technology at the time.
People struggled to get to work. They would walk for hours because the trains would not run. Then more recently, traffic was impacted by the strikes. We had to adapt. We asked people to work from home. Now we have flexibility. We struck an agreement with our staff, and it works really well. Maximum two days a week. You get to work from home two days a week maximum if that's what you want. I travel all the time and I walk around the office. Let me tell you, people come to the office. The office space is full. Thank you for reminding us of that. What I like is the terminology that we're using. You get to meet people that you did not expect.
We designed our office space to make that happen. As to generate, to increase the probability of meeting unexpected people. There are 15 bars or cafes where people can congregate, and there's so much happening there. You get to meet people every day in those bars and cafes. For those of you who've never seen the island, multiple entities within the group are brought together, not just the global headquarters, but also the headquarters of EMEA, Latin America head office, and also for Africa, the Middle East, Havana Club International, the headquarters for Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët, and the former headquarters of Pernod that used to be in Créteil, and also the sales division of Pernod Ricard, which is now the regional sales division of Pernod Ricard France.
In addition to that, because we couldn't possibly forget them, on the ground floor, you will find the former Ricard Foundation, now called the Pernod Ricard Foundation. It's a magical place. It really whets your appetite. We truly were pioneers because the vast majority of our staff members, I can't give you the exact figure, but if I was a betting man, I would say over 90% of our staff want to go to work every day. This is something we experienced during the lockdown. The lockdown caused depression among a lot of people. Now, I respect those who don't wanna go back to the office and prefer to work from home full time. I understand that. We have a mission. We have a vision.
We are creators of conviviality, and as such, obviously, maybe this is not the right place for them if they really wanna stay home every single day of the week. I respect those needs. I'm so happy to go to work every day to see the smile on people's face when I ride the elevator.
Now, question number five, maybe.
Hello, my name is Jean Richard. I'm an individual shareholder. A couple of quick observations and a question. Let me start with my observations. First of all, thank you so much. It all looks perfect, the share price, the dividend payout, but I'm thinking of the company, and I'm thinking of the staff. As both the staff and the company have made so many inroads under your remarkable leadership, and it really was a tall order.
Well, thank you for agreeing with me.
You took up office under difficult circumstances, and yet you have managed to maintain the positive legacy from your grandfather and your uncle, and now you're doing your bit without destroying the legacy of the past. Very few trust kids managed to do that, and yet you did. Congratulations. You follow in the footsteps of your grandfather and your uncle. Congratulations. Now, there are other examples, but let me focus on just one. You've done a great job of surrounding yourself with an amazing team. I don't know whether a lot of people are familiar with Ms. Patricia Barbizet, but good on you having her on your team, considering her prestigious past, her prestigious track record, and also Ms. Namita Shah. The only question is, will Namita Shah be elected by 100% of the votes or just 99.9%?
Now, considering her track record, considering the quality of her French, her command of the French language, outstanding. Now, I wouldn't want to hog the microphone. I wish you to continue on the same path. Thank you for whetting our appetite. But regarding the headquarters in Paris, is there any way that a number of shareholders could get a tour? Maybe you could have a rotation system and shareholders could take turns and visit the headquarters. That would be my only question. Congratulations, and keep up the good work.
Well, let me start by thanking you for your kind comments. Every time I attend an AGM, it is true that every single time, it's an emotional time. I think of Patrick, I think of Grandpa, and your kind words regarding our staff. Well, let me tell you, my grandfather used to say, "Success doesn't boil down to one man. It's all about teamwork." One day, Patrick said to me, and he said that again at a seminar in Les Embiez. I dare to remember, actually. He said that Pernod Ricard is an extraordinary story which is being written by remarkable teams. Thank you for your kind words. It is right. It is true that the story of our group is being written by our staff, by our people, our women, our men who continue to show tremendous and remarkable commitment.
Everybody is fully engaged, and I find that extremely touching. Now, regarding Namita Shah, you will get your answer to your question when we vote on those resolutions a little later. Fingers crossed. Thank you very much. Sorry, just concerning the visit to the island. Well, we try and organize that. Obviously not everybody at one time, but if there are volunteers. Yeah, you could talk to our shareholder relations people. We can organize small groups. We'd be delighted to do that. I was going to say you'll see my office. Well, you won't because I don't have one. We'd be delighted to welcome you. Thank you for that suggestion.
Good morning. Jean-Claude Laurente. I'm an individual shareholder. I've been attending these meetings since the early 2000s. Initially, I was surprised because the resolutions were voted by raising of hands. Then one year, a shareholder asked, "How come we're not voting by the electronic vote system?" I think it was your uncle who said at the time, "Electronic voting is expensive." At the time, he said, there used to be a buffet, and you could choose. He said, "Look, you have to choose. It's either the buffet or the electronic vote." That year, the buffet won hands down. Unfortunately, a few years later, a number of shareholders misbehaved, and I think your uncle decided to avoid any mayhem. Maybe the buffet should be canceled. Last year, we didn't have an AGM in person, and I didn't follow it on internet because I wasn't interested.
As a previous shareholder said, I'm delighted to see you back. Terribly happy to be back here with you. Yesterday, the share price hit a record price of EUR 206.30. Like everybody else, naturally, I'm very happy about that. Despite that, I think that for you shareholders, young people in particular, EUR 206 is maybe a little high. Let me give you two examples. A year or two ago, La Française des Jeux, FDJ, was privatized, and the state set the price at almost EUR 20. It was close to EUR 200 of investment. 10 days ago, the issue price was EUR 22. Here again, you needed 10. If tomorrow you were to issue a free share for every four held, that would reduce the price to EUR 160. I'm not saying you should do that, but think about it. Would you consider artificially reducing the share price?
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you for your questions. I'm going to go to Hélène de Tissot. Leave her the pleasure of answering your question about the share price. Actually, you should say artificially, because we do not want to reduce the share price intentionally because of poor performance. If I could just say a word about electronic voting. I think nowadays electronic voting is the market practice. Voting by a raising of hands is still legally possible. Just imagine how long it would take. You know, well, with digital technology, even though it does come at a cost, we do save a lot of time. Time is money, as the expression goes. Electronic voting also makes us much more efficient. Hélène, what about the share price? Thank you for your question.
As you said, the important thing for us is to create value and keep creating value for all our stakeholders. Mainly for our stakeholders, mainly for our shareholders. The share price performance of our share price is a good reflection of our ambitions. The idea of rewarding loyalty is also part of our ideas. It's in the share price and the dividend payout. This dividend is paid in cash intentionally because our balance sheet and financial situation enable us to pay out a dividend in cash. Our financial policy has been reinforced over the years. As you said, since the early 2000s, the payout ratio has improved substantially. It's now in the region of 50%. Long-term shareholders are also rewarded in the form of double voting rights when they've registered shares or they've held registered shares for 10 years.
These are all important aspects in terms of having an attractive policy for our hopefully happy shareholders. As for the nominal price, as you suggested, we have no intention of reducing it. This does not actually create any value. It's just a headline effect. I think next question, number two.
Thank you, Chairman. First of all, I'd like to point out that in the reference document, Paul-Charles Ricard has been a director since the age of one. I'm sure he was very precocious, but was that a mistake?
More seriously, I'm not going to praise you to the high heaven, because when we look at the sales figures since 2017, what we see, give or take, 1% or 2% or EUR 100 million or so, that our sales figure has been very constant with a low in 2019 because of the pandemic and a very sharp increase this year. I'm somewhat concerned about our sales figure, which despite the group's premiumization policy, which is a great policy, by the way, our sales figure is relatively stable. Okay, the profits are good because the group is very well managed. Costs have been reduced. For future reference, if, for instance, there were to be a stock market crash of any type, I'm quite sure that the share price would be well below the 160 mark referred to by a previous speaker. I have my doubts about that.
Another little problem is that Mr. Ricard's pension program this year, the contribution was EUR 150,000. If we approve resolution number 10, it will increase to EUR 650,000 or EUR 700,000, which is about 4x more. I wonder if that's a good signal to be sending out to your 18,500 employees during these difficult times. Also, because you receive EUR 500,000 in dividends every year. I think it's not a good signal to be putting out for a family-owned company. Of course, we're a far cry from the excesses of the likes of Bernard Arnault. I think that's a step in the wrong direction if we were to approve resolution number 10.
Thank you for those three comments. Concerning the first point, no, I can confirm that Paul-Charles Ricard, as specified in the chart, is 39 years of age. Correct me if I'm wrong, Paul-Charles Ricard. The number of years on the board is the number of years that the company he represents has had a seat on the board. This is actually a seat that I held in the past, that my aunt Béatrice Baudinet also held in the past. The 38 years of presence on the board refers to the presence of Société Paul Ricard, represented nowadays by Paul-Charles Ricard. The chart is quite correct. That's not a mistake. Maybe I could ask Hélène to answer the second question.
Thank you for your question concerning the sales figure. The best way to answer that would be to talk about our exposure to Forex, because the amount is in euro. This does reflect what we call nominal or nominal growth after Forex. This is why in all our presentations, we give you nominal and organic growth, which is not including currency translation or Forex effects. This is how we analyze the quality and consistency of our performance. This exposure to foreign currency has worked against us in recent times. Over the long term, it's much more cyclical, and it tends to work out as neutral. Last year, maybe I spoke about this too quickly, but last year the Forex impact was quite significant because in terms of sales, it was approximately EUR 200.
A - EUR 500 million, about half that amount in terms of PRO. For the combined effect of those two, because of the foreign exchange rate of the euro against the dollar and our exposure to emerging currencies. As for the euro dollar exchange rate last year, the average was 1.19. Currently, if things remain unchanged, this should be much more favorable to us at the end of the year. That's just an illustration of the kind of swings from one year to another. Of course, our exposure to American emerging currencies was much more favorable to us in the first half year. Not all, but very much favorable with the Chinese RMB.
This is a reflection of our exposure to various parts of the world and all the regions in which we have operations, the USA, Europe, but mainly in the Eurozone, but also emerging countries. Our hedging policy is very limited, quite simply because hedging can be very costly, particularly in emerging economies. In fact, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to organize for regulatory reasons. As for the dollar, we have what we call natural hedging because our balance sheet is protected insofar as a substantial amount of our debt is in dollars.
Thank you, Hélène. Maybe regarding your third point, maybe the Chair of the Compensation Committee, Kory Sorenson, would like to provide some information to answer your question.
As for the difference in pension funding, the reason it was so low this year, the EUR 150,000 that you refer to, the reason it was so low is because it's contingent upon his fixed and variable annual compensation. Last year with COVID, the variable compensation was quite low, meaning that he only benefited by EUR 150,000. Now, the difference between EUR 150,000 and EUR 600,000, remember, this was a very weak year in terms of performance last year and in terms of compensation because of the pandemic. Now, when we took a look, and we took a very close look at the benchmark, that's the rest of the market, we looked at the other CAC 40 companies with the programs similar to ours. What we found is that the average pension percentage was 25%.
We increased from 10% to 20%, which is still below the benchmark, and we packaged this with compensation, the bonus, the fixed, variable compensation, the LTIP and pension, which all told is about average for the, or in the median for the CAC 40, but it's still slightly below that average. We feel that 20% is fair, and the discrepancy between the two years is very closely linked to the poor performance last year and the very good performance this year.
Thank you, Kory. I'm told that we've time for about 10 minutes left, so we can take a few more questions. Are there any more questions? Yes, we do have another question. The lady who has the mic, and then the number ten. They will be the last two questions. Thank you.
[Non-English content] Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to know if the Pernod Ricard Premium Club has been done away with. This premium club was for shareholders, and it proposed a great variety of activities, very interesting activities. Does that club still exist, or are there any chance of reviving it?
Thank you for your question. Really, thank you, because this is an opportunity for me to say that, no, this club has not been done away with. Far from it. We did take a break strictly because of the pandemic, which prevented us organizing convivial activities. I can assure you that this club will resume. It's just been suspended during the pandemic. Very much alive and kicking. One final question from the back of the room.
Good afternoon, sir. I haven't got a question. I'd like to say that the people in charge of security did not welcome us when we entered this room. I was almost pushed and shoved. I was threatened with being denied admittance. I was asked what I was doing here. There are other areas where you can hold an AGM in Paris.
Thank you for your comment. We will look into what happened, and we will very clearly take account or take into account your comments. Thank you, madam. Okay. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your questions. I hereby declare the Q&A session closed and propose that we now move on to the resolutions which we're about to vote. This year, voting will be on tablets in the AGM. We have a short video to show you how these tablets are to be used, how the electronic voting will be carried out. Video, please.
[Presentation]
Okay. We're now going to vote on the resolutions, bearing in mind that the final quorum is 79.252%. It was 79.217%. The final quorum is 79.252%. Okay, the first resolution concerns approval of the parent company financial statements for the financial year ended June 30th, 2021. Voting is underway.
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Voting is now over. The resolution has been approved. The second resolution concerns approval of the consolidated financial statements for the period ended June 30th, 2021. Voting underway.
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The voting is over. The resolution has been carried. The third resolution concerns the allocation of net profit for the financial year ended June 30th, 2021, and setting of the dividend. Voting underway.
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Voting is over. The resolution has been approved. Fourth resolution concerns the renewal of the directorship of Anne Lange. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been approved. The fifth resolution is asking you to renew the directorship of Société Paul Ricard, represented by Paul-Charles Ricard. Voting is now underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been approved. Sixth resolution concerns the renewal of the directorship of Veronica Vargas. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been carried. Seventh resolution asks you to appoint Namita Shah to the Board of Directors. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been approved. Eighth resolution is asks you to approve the fixed and variable components of the total compensation and benefits of any kind paid or granted during fiscal 2021 to myself, Alexandre Ricard, Chairman and CEO. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been approved. Ninth resolution, approval of the information relating to the compensation of each of the corporate officers. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been approved. 10th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the executive directors. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution has been approved. 11th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the directors. Voting underway. Voting is over.
The resolution is approved. 12th resolution, authorization to be granted to the board to trade in the company shares. Voting is underway. Voting is over. The resolution has been approved. 13th resolution, approval of related party agreements under Article L. 225-38 et seq. of the French Commercial Code. Voting is underway.
Time's up. Resolution carried. We're now moving on to the extraordinary resolutions. Resolution 14, reduction of the share capital by canceling treasury shares. Please vote.
[Non-English content] Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 15, share capital increases with maintenance of preferential subscription rights. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 16, share capital increase with cancellation of preferential subscription rights. Please vote. [Non-English content] Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 17, increase of the number of shares to be issued in the event of a share capital increase, with or without preferential subscription rights, realized in accordance with resolutions 15, 16, and 18. Please vote. [Non-English content] Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 18, share capital increases through a private placement in favor of qualified investors or a restricted circle of investors with cancellation of the preferential subscription right. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried.
Resolution 19, share capital increases with a view to remunerating contributions in kind granted to the company. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 20, share capital increases in the event of a public exchange offer initiated by the company. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 21, share capital increases by capitalizing premiums, reserves, profits, or other items. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 22, authorization to be granted to the board of directors to freely allocate performance-based shares. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 23, granting of bonus shares to group workers. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 24, share capital increases reserved for members of company savings plans. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 25, share capital increases reserved for certain categories of beneficiaries. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried.
Resolution 26, amendment to the company's bylaws in order to ensure alignment with the new laws and regulations and also renumber the articles of the Commercial Code contained in the bylaws. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. Resolution 27, powers to carry out the required legal formalities. Please vote. Time's up. Resolution carried. There being no further business, I declare the meeting closed at 4:41 P.M. sharp. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, many thanks for your attention.