Fellow shareholders, good afternoon. In this context of the fight against coronavirus, Saint-Gobain has given itself as a priority to guarantee the health and security of everybody. That is why, according to the regulations applicable to the shareholders' meeting right now, again this year we are going to convene behind closed doors. We regret that situation because this shareholder meeting is a unique opportunity to meet our shareholders. This is why we have devised a solution in order to be in touch with you. I know that you appreciate that and you really use those devices. Thank you for your participation. You have voted remotely before the general meeting, the shareholders' meeting, and I really look forward to exchanging with you on the webcast platform that we have set up. This is Mr. Benoit Bazin, the CEO; Mrs. Claire Pedini, responsible for digital transformation; Mr.
Schröder, the CFO, and Antoine Vignal, he is responsible for CSR. Mr. Henri Villers is also here in order to take care of the regulations and the compliance with all the regulations. I think that I should now read the agenda. I have the honor to chair this assembly. The two tellers have been appointed amongst the 10 shareholders having the largest number of votes. The employee savings group, Mrs. Cécile Denis, and Amundi, represented by Mrs. Corinne Ferrier, they all attend the shareholders' meeting remotely, and both of them have accepted this position. With the agreement of Mrs. Denis and Mrs. Ferrier, I would like to appoint Mr. Antoine Vignial as shareholders' meeting secretary, and I give him the floor now. Thank you very much, Pierre-André. Good afternoon, fellow shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, and directors.
The agenda of this meeting is the following: ordinary general meeting, approval of the company's non-consolidated financial statements, approval of the company's consolidated financial statement, appointment of Mr. Benoit Bazin, renewal of the terms of office of four directors, approval of the compensation components of Mr. Pierre-André de Chalendar and of Mr. Benoit Bazin, who has been appointed CEO. We will discuss the ex-post compensation, approval of the compensation of the corporate officers and the ex-ante compensations, approval of the compensation components for the corporate officers, and share granting program. You are also requested to give your opinion about a set of resolutions giving power to the company management in order to increase or decrease the share capital with increase in the subscription rights or cancellation of the preferential subscription right.
It's also about the increase of share capital and in-kind contributions, increase of share capital with the capitalization of premiums and reserves, increase in share capital for the members of the group savings scheme, decrease in the share capital by cancellation of shares and powers. This agenda has just been read, and now I would like to talk about this meeting. A quorum of 20% of shares is requested with voting right for the 10 first resolutions concerning the ordinary meeting and 25% quorum of the voting right for the extraordinary part of this meeting. According to our indications on the attendance sheet, set on the basis of the instructions that we've received by postal vote up until yesterday, Wednesday, the 2nd of June, the day before the meeting, it shows that more than 68.3% of voting shares have been expressed, and the requested required quorum has been even exceeded.
In the file, which is on the desk, we have the legal components necessary for the meeting to be held, all the documents for convening the meeting, the board reports, auditor's report, resolution text, a copy of the bylaws of the company, and a list of shareholders, registered shareholders. All those documents and regulatory documents have been made available for the shareholders according to the statutory regulations. This meeting is validly constituted and can start. For your information, there will be a first presentation concerning our impact and performance with a presentation of the financial results by Sridhar and a presentation of our non-financial results by Claire and Antoine. Another presentation by Benoit, COO, concerning the strategy and prospects of the group, and two prerecorded presentations concerning the group governance, Jean-Dominique Senard, lead independent director, and Mrs. Idrac, chairwoman of the compensation committee. Mrs.
Cécile Saint-Martin is going also to make a prerecorded presentation for the auditors and questions and debates in order to encourage a dialogue with our shareholders. We wanted it to be possible to ask questions in writing during the meeting. It's very simple. In order to do that, you have to click on the button and ask a question. It will appear on your broadcast screen provided that you have identified yourself as a shareholder. I would like you to be brief in your questions in order for everybody to have the possibility to ask their questions. We will have the announcement of the voting results by Antoine, and the meeting is going to be closed. I would like to give the floor to Sridhar. Thank you, Pierre-André. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. I'm very happy to be able to present the results for 2020.
2020 has been, of course, affected by coronavirus. After a nadir in April, the results have picked up for the group. We have noticed a return to a normal situation in most countries as of the month of June 2021. In the second half of 2021, as soon as the second half of 2020, our results have improved, and particularly the prices have picked up. Concerning our turnover, our sales volume, EUR 38 billion over 2020, and on a like-for-like basis, 3.8% thanks to the 4.8% pickup or increase recorded in the second half of 2020. The operating income, EUR 2.9 billion, limits its drop at 9% over the whole year, thanks to an increase of 22% in the second half of the year. Concerning the operating margin, down 50 basis points in this year, it has picked up by 10% in the second half. It's a 150 basis point increase.
Let's go on with other key figures for 2020. EBITDA, EUR 4.4 billion for this year, 2020, down 9%, but it picked up by 13% in the second half. The EBITDA margin reached 11.6% with a 20 basis point increase over the whole year and 200 basis points during the second half of 2020, and 13.3% margin. The recurring net income reaches almost EUR 1.5 billion over the year, a drop of 23%, but during the second half, it reached EUR 1.2 billion, a 23% increase during the second half of 2020. The free cash flow in 2020 has reached a record level, more than EUR 3 billion, a 64% increase. Two comments concerning the results according to each reporting segment. The high-performance solutions have been, of course, the most affected by the sanitary crisis.
The turnover has decreased over 2020, but it has picked up in most industrial markets, manufacturing markets in the second half, with an operating margin of 11.1%. In Northern Europe, sales have dropped over 2020, but they have increased in the second half with the sound trends on the market in all the regions. The operating margin has found the same level as last year, 6.2%. Concerning Southern Europe, this region has been more affected by the sanitary crisis than Northern Europe. However, there has been a sharp pickup in the second half, driven by France, with a sharp increase in the rehabilitation works. The operating margin reaches 5.2%, which is very close to the percentage of last year, 2019. In Northern and Southern America, we have a double-digit increase, which is fine growth all over the year.
In Northern America, North America has been driven by the building market and very good price management. In Latin America, after the turmoil in the second half, sales have picked up, driven by significant market share gains. The operating margin has increased all over the year, reaching 11.5%. Finally, the Asia-Pacific region has posted a drop in sales in 2020, and the first half of the year has been strongly affected by the sanitary crisis. However, China and India, the two main countries in this region, have contributed to a strong pickup in the second half of the year. The operating margin has slightly increased, reaching 10.7% in spite of the sales decrease. Ladies and gentlemen, a few words about the sound financial discipline that we have shown once again. We have made EUR 320 million in savings after our Operational Excellence Program.
In the framework of the Transform & Grow Program, we have posted EUR 135 million additional savings, and our objective has been reached one year ahead of schedule, EUR 240 million in savings. Thanks to the temporary drop in discretionary spendings and our adjustment measures, the group has posted EUR 240 million additional in savings. As I told you before, our free cash flow has reached a record level, EUR 3 billion in 2020, a 64% increase with an exchange rate of 81%. Our balance sheet structure has been enhanced, strengthened, and our credit rating is still very strong. A few words on the first half of 2021. The group has started this year with a record organic growth, 14.3% versus the first half of 2020, and plus 9% versus the 2019 first six months. This growth is driven by the very comprehensive offering of the group.
Also, it's due to gains in market shares and good momentum in underlying markets, particularly rehabilitation market in Europe and building market in America and Asia. Concerning the return to shareholders, we recommend the payout of a dividend of EUR 1.33 per share with a comprehensive payment in cash. This represents 48% of the recurring net income. Moreover, the group has decreased by EUR 12 million the outstanding shares, in line with our objectives. Concerning our share price, you can see the very nice trends on this graph for Saint-Gobain compared to its benchmark index. In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, our group has been strengthened by this year 2020, and this group begins 2021 with a lot of confidence thanks to a sound balance sheet. We have outperformed on our markets. We have profitable growth ambitions, and our teams, our staff are very much mobilized and dedicated.
Thank you very much for your confidence and your attention, and I would like to give the floor to Antoine. Thank you, Sridhar. Now with Claire, we are going to present the non-financial results for 2020, and it will be an opportunity to recall our CSR approach and our roadmap for CSR, climate change, circular economy, inclusive growth, business ethics, health and security all throughout the value chain, engagement, and staff diversity. For each of our pillars, we contribute to the UN , fight against poverty, health, welfare, education, water, low carbon energy, decent work, economic growth, innovation, decrease of inequalities, sustainable communities, responsible manufacturing, peace, justice, and efficient institutions, and protection of the environment. Before giving the floor to Claire, I would like to recall that CSR is our core business and our DNA at Saint-Gobain.
Our solutions protect our planet from climate change with recyclable materials like plaster or glass, and we have been created more than 300 years ago, and it's evidence all throughout those years that this is very important for us. I would like to give the floor to Claire for the first pillar. Thank you, Antoine. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders. Let's start with the climate change. Of course, it's a key feature in our CSR policy, and it's very important for our planet and its inhabitants. Our goal at Saint-Gobain is to contribute to the emergence of a low carbon economy able to protect our common good. We have committed ourselves to have carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2020, we have had important milestones concerning our CO2 emission, 10.4 million tons, down 20% versus 2017, or increase in renewable energy reaching 19% last year.
We have decreased by 5% our water discharges, and we have increased the number of our environmental reporting for our products, more than 1,300. We have also finalized our CO2 roadmaps for 2030, perfectly in line with the Paris Agreement guidelines, and it has been validated by the Science-Based Target Initiative. I would like to share with you a fine example of Saint- Gobain investment towards zero carbon.
Hello, Lars.
Good afternoon, Claire, and hello everyone.
Lars, could you share with us information about our Swedish investment project?
The gift job for the Dijkstra plant to become the First Zero CO2 plasterboard factory in the world. By transforming all processes from LNG to clean electricity from hydropower, we will eliminate more than 23,000 tons of CO 2 emissions. While increasing capacity with 40%, we will improve the energy efficiency with more than 30%.
This is a pioneer project in the industry where Saint-Gobain leveraged the industry-leading technical capabilities of the TIC team and the operational excellence of GIFA Gjovik for the Dijkstra. I believe this can have industry-wide implications. Plasterboard is a key building material, and this project is a significant contribution towards a more sustainable construction sector. In fact, with a massively improved CO2 footprint, it will make plasterboard more competitive in a low carbon future. When the conversion is done early 2023, plasterboard from GIFA Gjovik for the Dijkstra will be in a class of its own with a unique low carbon product, and I expect GIFA Gjovik in Norway to deliver solid growth in the coming years. It shows that sustainability and business performance can go hand in hand. Goodbye, everyone.
Thank you, Lars. Moreover, we have continued with our sustainable energy investments.
Their share should be multiplied by two this year, particularly with significant investments in the United States. We also have materialized our biodiversity commitment with Act for Nature, and overall, our approach is quite clear-cut. We want to fight against the impact of climate change. On the one hand, we want to, on a regular basis, decrease our CO2 impact, and we also would like to propose to our customers energy efficiency and low carbon solutions in order to avoid carbon emission increases. Another really significant pillar of CSR, circular economy. We want to continue with growth and development. Everybody must be in a position to improve its way of life, but we want to promote the integration, inclusion of commodities and recycling of those commodities. For instance, in 2020, thanks to multiple substitutions, we have avoided 10.1 million tons consumption of commodities.
We have decreased by 14% the use of non-recycled waste. I would like to give the floor to Emma Caldeira in Portugal. Hello, Emma.
Hello, Claire. Using waste products allows to reduce consumption of raw materials. In this case, slag and rubber granules. Slag is a byproduct of the metallurgical process with composition and reactivity similar to Portland cement, reducing then the amount of cement needed. The rubber granules result from the processing of end-of-life tires and work as a light aggregate, reducing the impact associated to the use of aggregates of natural origin. The benefits achieved have exceeded expectations on sustainability. Less virgin raw materials, reducing CO2 emissions associated to the use and to the transport, is 5% lighter than the previous product. On health, lightness on handling, uneasiness and comfort during application, less muscle fatigue and less noise, and finally, corporate image.
T he product was recognized and distinguished by three external entities with three different awards: Consumer Choice, Five Star, and Sustainability.
Thank you, Emma. Another example, we have made available for our customers more than 120 waste collection points or stations, and by 2030, we would like to decrease by 80% our non-recycled waste. We would like to increase by 30% our avoidance of commodity use, and 100% of our packages should be recyclable. We also would like to make available to our customers stations where they can recycle the glass, or the glass can be recycled in our factories. Those services are made available to our customers in Nordic countries and, of course, France, as well as in the U.K.
Those solutions aim at more and more integrating recycled and recyclable materials in the proposals that we make to our customers, in our offerings to our customers, and we work with our customers in order to improve the organization of waste collection. I am going to give the floor back to Antoine, who is going to talk about business ethics. Business ethics, the third pillar of our roadmap, it is very important because it determines the confidence that our staff, our clients, our suppliers, civil society can show, and how confident they can be in the sustainability of our operations. Of course, training is a very important part of this pillar because it is a guarantee of compliance. In 2020, we have trained 97% of our new managers as of the first year, onboarding year, and 80% of our staff members are trained concerning fight against corruption.
Now, highlights in 2020, we have a professional website in order to report some corruption facts anonymously. We have a new policy to combat corruption. We already had one, but now it's more visible, more understandable. Moreover, our responsible buying program has been accelerated. We also have made more transparent our policy concerning the wood purchases. Our approach concerning business ethics is to use our ethics code in all circumstances. We want, in all our factories, in all our offices, this ethics code to be well known and used on a daily basis in order to support our decision-making process. In our operations and our value chain, we want this ethics code to be applied. Our staff members and all throughout our value chain, at each level, we want to comply with this ethics code. Inclusive growth is our fourth pillar. Inclusion is becoming more important in public debate.
It has always been very important at Saint-Gobain. We are very careful about our staff members and our clients and the people who have difficulties. We are very careful about professional insertions, the increase of open spaces, the improvement of open spaces, and also we are supported by NGOs. We have many resources. We have the Saint-Gobain Foundation, and we also are helped by local initiatives. I would say that we have received EUR 10 billion in donations, which has tremendous impact. More than 50,000 people in 2020 have been helped by our foundation. Concerning the highlights, I would like to say that there are four of those highlights.
The first is the care program to protect our employees and their families, i.e., more than 500,000 people benefited from this program.
I will also mention the new development and training program to train trade professionals in Morocco, in Kenya, or in France for sustainable construction. Many solidarity-based initiatives were taken in the face of the pandemic. This was an exceptional circumstance, and the response was exceptional. Pierre-André and Claire will mention this later in the presentation to end. I will mention that the apprenticeship training center was created in France, one of the first in France, which over the next three to five years will train some 250 apprentices in any given year. We have had a diverse approach and the foundation and the sponsorship program are the visible tip of the iceberg, but there are many more with many achievements in the various countries at the local level. I would now give the floor to Claire, who will be focusing on health and safety. Thank you, Antoine.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, as you know, protecting the health and safety of our employees above and beyond our stakeholders is our foremost and primary responsibility. Here again, we have clearly improved our performance in 2020 with an injury frequency rate of 1.8, down from 2.2 in 2019, as you see on the curve, a very positive curve over the last 10 years. This is a milestone, a step towards our goal to have zero accidents, zero injuries on our worksites and facilities. Now, 2020 was marked by the pandemic in which Saint-Gobain got heavily mobilized by multiplying by a factor of 15 the components to manufacture respirators to be used across the world, or by swiftly investing into four production lines to produce face masks, which have made it possible to produce more than 11 million face masks last year.
Our obsession, and again, this is the case this year with the pandemic crisis still present, has been to protect our employees and to protect all people on our facilities. All our procedures, processes, and systems were reviewed and revised in 2020 to offer full protection. The COVID crisis, of course, did not have us deviate from our training programs on the health and safety risks for all our subcontractors and employees and people on our worksites. In the health sphere, we developed a performance indicator on managing risk connected with noise, which has made it possible to work on reducing noise exposure. Here again, our approach has been to design solutions which incorporate health, safety, and the well-being of all of our stakeholders, including our employees, of course, but of course, also our clients and the final end users of our solutions.
The last pillar of our CSR policy has been engagement and diversity of our employees. Our goal and ambition at Saint-Gobain has been to create a working environment which will foster self-actualization for all categories in respect of people and integrity. In 2020, we had a global satisfaction survey, and 78% of our employees responded, which is a response rate which has been outstanding. 82% of Saint-Gobain employees stated that they were engaged, and 88% of employees stated that they have been well trained. Our commitment as a company towards our employees involves a rich social dialogue. More than 2,800 collective bargaining agreements and labor agreements were signed across the world last year. Last year also, we reached many key milestones in the field of diversity and engagement.
The care program by Saint-Gobain, which Antoine mentioned a few minutes ago, aims at providing each and every employee, irrespective of their home countries and nationalities, supports to parenting and medical coverage and death and disability coverage. This program, in the first pillar, was rolled out, enabling every woman, every female employee to benefit, irrespective of the rules in place in their countries, to benefit from 14 maternity weeks. In 2020, we reached our first goal, which we had set for ourselves a few years ago with respect to gender balance, to have at least 25% of female managers as part of our management line. We also set more stringent goals and targets which will make it possible to keep improving gender balance and reach 30% of female employees and members of our executive committee.
Last year, again, we also developed lots of training programs to combat stereotypes, as an example, to keep making Saint-Gobain an inclusive company. HR, policy, labor dialogue, openness, kindness, and care, helping to develop talent via our care program are the foundations of our policy in this respect. I will now give the floor to Antoine, who will give concluding remarks on these aspects. Thank you, Claire, says Antoine. By way of conclusion, I would say that the ESG, non-financial performance of the group, testifies to continued improvement on the CSR pillars. This performance has been supported by defining operating programs to reach our targets with medium-term roadmaps to guide our action, and also strong, consistent values to give meaning and purpose to our approach.
You will understand that at Saint-Gobain, CSR is used to generate value by way of developing the growth of the group, especially with the impact of our solutions to combat climate change or promote circular economies, shared and common growth, including the stakeholders, as we mentioned. How to best illustrate our purpose? Making the world a better home. Thank you, Claire. Thank you, Antoine. Thank you, Srira. As you see, we put social, societal, and environmental responsibility and commitment at the heart of our strategy. Performance and impact, growth and responsibility are interconnected and form an integral part of our developing model. We have showed this and proven this in the course of 2020, which was a very special year in many respects. I suggest now that we watch a short video on 2020. The film you're watching was made while shooting as little footage as possible.
Zero, to be exact. Zero, like our roadmap to net zero carbon in 2050. We will get to that a little later. It will just be my voice and the key events of the last 12 months, much the way we posted them across social media and all over the globe. Starting with, of course, the care we took with the health and safety of all our employees and everyone, and the expression of our purpose. Making the world a more beautiful and more sustainable home is our common goal. The materials and solutions we design, produce, and distribute are made to have the greatest positive impact on people's lives and the least possible impact on the planet. They bring spectacular results, even when they are invisible to the naked eye.
The past 12 months also marked the successful completion of Transform & Grow, our transformation plan for the group, one year in advance. It affected a profound change on Saint-Gobain, with a new country-based organization bringing greater proximity to our markets, a portfolio of renewed and value-creating solutions, and capital investments that will drive growth. Our dynamism did not go unnoticed, neither did our sense of responsibility. We are taking an active role in the creation of a world that is fairer and more sustainable, more open, and more engaging, and less carbonized, thanks to our roadmap to carbon neutrality in 2050. Starting today, we're doing everything we can to achieve this essential goal so that tomorrow is not business as usual. Last but not least, this film, of course.
If we had shot all the footage you just watched, its carbon footprint would have been 16.3 tons of CO2. In fact, it's only 317 kilos, which is already 98% less carbon. For the end of a film, that's a great start.
I spoke about 2020 as a very special year. I would like to tell all our shareholders and employees who were affected by the pandemic that our hearts and our thoughts are with them. Undisputably, the most marking fact and factor in 2020 was the pandemic. It put the global economy to its knee, and it stalled abruptly the very fine momentum in our markets and our operations we recorded in Q1. It, without any doubt, upended our societies and the communities in which Saint-Gobain has been operating.
It has also revealed what I can be very proud of, that is the formidable ability of our teams to engage and mobilize to play out the value of solidarity in the heart of the crisis, to reinvent itself, to keep serving our clients and ensuring the continuity of our operations. Finally, to bounce back and capture market opportunities connected with economic recovery everywhere in the world. Their creativity to provide support and help to the doctors and nurses and the sick and the most vulnerable was limitless. Gypsum partitions and drywalls being provided to the field hospitals or to the nursing homes, materials being made available to create a huge medical center in London and to convert stadiums and gymnasiums into transitory hospitals as we did in the U.S., or to produce face masks as was done on Saint-Gobain production lines in the Abbé Pierre Foundations.
All these initiatives testify to the corporate culture in Saint-Gobain, which promotes trust, confidence, empowerment, and collaboration. These were, and these will remain, the key precious assets in order to make the difference in the fields at the closest level and the closest contact of our clients and stakeholders. This unwavering commitment of our teams, without ever sacrificing our humanistic values in a very brisk dynamic construction market, has made it possible after a collapse in trading between March and May of 2020, which severely impacted the earnings of the first half, enabled us to generate record performance in the second half of 2020, as the CFO showed. The sales exceeded that of 2019 by 5%. Operating income, operating margin, EBITDA margin, and the recurring net income and free cash flow all reached historic record levels. The reasons for this fine performance is multiple.
The first, as I said, is the expertise and level of engagement of our teams to serve our clients, support them in their recovery across all their markets, including in those sectors and industries which were the most affected, as that of mobility. The second was very fine business performance, both in terms of volumes and selling prices. Construction market booming, driven by consumers looking for comfort after months of lockdown. The third reason is our savings and cost-cutting programs, which reached some EUR 700 million in savings for the year, which was conducted with discipline and rigor. The fourth and last reason is success and the successful completion of our transformation plan called Transform & Grow, one year ahead of schedule, which was the culmination of a program of cultural change which was started a number of years ago.
This plan had two areas of focus: profoundly reorganizing our organizational structure, no longer by product, but by countries, especially for the local construction businesses. It also involved optimizing our portfolio to improve our offerings and create more value. This new country-based organization, closest to our markets and to our clients, has now been fully, completely rolled out. It has showed its relevance, generating strong commercial and business synergy as well as industrial efficiency gains. It is this strategy and new organization which makes it possible today to offer our clients complete, sustainable, innovative, and differentiating solutions versus our competitors, which very often have a single line of product.
This organizational structure was very precious during crisis, making us agile to act swiftly in full respect of the economic and health and sanitary measures as decided by local governments, following a simple and efficient principle: act locally and coordinate at a global level. Also, the rotation of our portfolio, which had started with the divestment of our distribution business in Germany, this was announced in the summer of 2018, knowing that the goal already had been achieved in late 2019, went on in 2020 with 13 acquisitions, including the very successful acquisition of Continental Building Products, a key player in the drywall industry of North America, and its integration in the group is going smoothly and will benefit from the brisk recovery in the construction market in the U.S.
Similarly, new divestments were conducted with a total amount of EUR 5 billion of sales from the beginning of the launch of our plan, to be compared with the initial goal of divestments of EUR 3 billion. As soon as late 2020, one year ahead of schedule, we exceeded all goals and targets set for in this plan. Its rolling out and steering and management day in, day out was done by Benoit Bazin, which I had suggested to your board that he be appointed as CEO in late 2018. With the perfect execution of this transformation plan, Benoit Bazin confirmed his ability, his talent. I consider that he was now ready to occupy the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Saint-Gobain Group.
As the group is faring very well and that we have to prepare the next strategic plan for the next three to five years, it was logical and it was timely that he should take the helm of the company starting from this summer. Your board of directors approved this proposal, and I'm happy with this. I have known Benoît for many, many years. He is a man who owns the values of the group. He's a man of conviction who inspires teams so that they give the best of themselves. He also has a long-standing and extensive experience of the group, both in France and internationally, combined with a strong client culture, deep, extensive knowledge of the markets of the company and of its operation.
It will be his task to write up, with the support of the board of directors and the teams in the group, to write up a new page in the 300-year history of Saint-Gobain. Benoît Bazin will be able to do this building upon a very robust foundation. That is the baseline reality of today. We are a group who's been profoundly transformed, which has been equipped with an exciting purpose, with the benefits of having a promising long-term vision statement, with very strong values which are embodied by talented teams, with a robust, strong governance system, with very positive prospects benefiting from the right positioning in buoyant markets. I would like very quickly to review each of these fundamentals, which today are the strength of Saint-Gobain currently.
The first of those is our new purpose that we have formulated following a participatory work which engaged more than 15,000 employees in the group and which we summarized, which we've been summarizing since September of 2020 in this fine inspiring and engaging sentence, and I quote, "Making the world a better home." One of the words which comes out most importantly in this purpose is home. In English, the word home is more inclusive than it is in French, with a strong emotional charge, very strong in fact. Home both translates the infinitely small of everyone's home and the infinitely large of our common shared home, that is the planet, the globe. It both embodies a fundamental need by humanity, that is universal aspiration at every place in the world and a smooth, harmonious intertwining of the physical and emotional spheres of the private and collective spheres.
This purpose clearly states what we are, that is a multi-local organization which is driven by the desire and ambition to take action every day to make the world a better and more sustainable home. Let's watch.
A fundamental need since the dawn of humankind. A universal aspiration shaped by specific needs depending on where we live on the planet. A harmonious interplay of material and emotional components, personal and shared experiences. Infinitely small individual homes and our infinitely vast shared home, the planet. A challenge that's never been more essential for society to reconcile performance and comfort while preserving resources. As historical market leaders, we now have the responsibility and the power to better inhabit the world, making. For more than 350 years, we are manufacturers and distributors.
We design materials and solutions that have a tangible, positive impact on people's lives, including the way they work, take care of themselves, and travel the world. We are a worldwide multi-local organization with a global ambition to protect our planet and invent a more sustainable future. A better, dedicated, with continuously improving and innovating. Our teams work hand in hand with our partners to imagine solutions that enhance people's individual quality of life and address the social, societal, and environmental challenges facing the planet. We care about our employees, our customers, and our communities. Home. We build places that spark dreams and aspirations, and we work every day to make the world a more beautiful and more sustainable home for us all to live in, making the world a better home. That's our purpose.
The second of our fundamentals is the strength of the vision that we have to steer the group's development. When the executive management was given to me 14 years ago, I set the ambition for it to become the benchmark company in sustainable habitat. The word habitat, to acknowledge the very significant rotation moves in the portfolio of the group, Jean-Louis Beffa, which led us to have the construction market account for more than two-thirds of our business operations. Habitat, because I wanted to define the group by its markets and no longer by its products and materials. Also, I wanted to define the group by its customers, by its clients, by demonstrating our ability to bring solutions. This client focus has always been our guiding theme.
I'm very proud to have helped steer and develop the corporate culture of the group until the deep, profound change in the organizational structure, which was launched when I considered that the group was ready and that the execution risk was low. "Sustainable habitat," quote unquote, because my intuition back in 2007, leading the pack, I would say that the issue of protecting the environment and the climate change challenges would become major issues and that our group had everything it took to become a key player in energy transition. This is this belief, which was shared in the context of the COP21 conference, which led me to set ambitious goals to reduce our environmental footprint and to equip ourselves with the needs to achieve these goals.
Some two years ago, I decided to cross the line again by committing the group and engage it towards carbon neutrality by 2050. 2020 was a new significant year since, as Claire explained to you, we finalized our roadmap in order to achieve these intermediary goals to reduce our CO2 emissions by 2030. This was combined with other environmental goals. Among these goals to be achieved by 2030, it is a question of reducing our carbon emissions by 33% in the so-called Scope 1 and Scope 2, that is direct CO2 emissions and indirect CO2 emissions. Knowing that we already have reduced CO2 emissions by 40% since 2020, it is also a question of reducing by 16% our Scope 3 emissions, i.e., emissions produced upstream and downstream from our value chain. This is to be achieved by 2030.
This comprehensive roadmap is cascaded by every country, by every market, with ambitious action plans, with six areas of focus: energy efficiency, the mix of energy working in our processes, formulating our products, transportation, mobility, and all of our procurement and supply chain. We also equipped ourselves with tools and instruments, and we've been devoting significant means and resources to make sure we successfully conduct this roadmap. Benoît will speak about this again. These new commitments, in fact, go in the direction of the priorities set by the carbon neutrality trajectories and the stimulus plans which have been adopted in Europe and in the United States.
At the heart of this, you have the energy renovation of buildings, one of the most useful measures in the world in order to both create local jobs, improve purchasing power, and reduce the energy bill by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gas. For Saint-Gobain, knowing that it is the first and largest market, this is a huge opportunity for the upcoming years going forward. This eco-responsible positioning, building upon our industrial and manufacturing practices and building upon our products and solutions, is one of our greatest strengths. Our ambition to be the leader in sustainable habitat has gradually become a reality. Your group has transformed itself gradually into a leader in urban renovation and sustainable construction. The conditions under which we're able to announce 10 days ago the planned acquisition of Chryso are one of the latest illustrations.
We've been able to attract this golden nugget thanks to the talent of your future CEO and the team which has been supporting us, but also it is due to our great attractivity and the strength of our development model. Being the leader, being the reference, being the benchmark involves accepting to set the example and to pioneer the way in everything we do. Setting the example and pioneering the way first by how we pay attention and care for the well-being and development and growth of our employees. You've seen the level of engagement and commitment. Our talents are our most precious asset. For the sixth year in a row, we were awarded the Top Employer Global award, which is a very fine consecration. We are setting the example and pioneering the way in our force of innovation.
For the 10th year in a row, we are ranked among the top 100 most innovative companies in the world by Clarivate Analytics. Saint-Gobain, in fact, is the only French company to be awarded this label 10 years consecutively. Only three European companies achieved this. Setting the example and pioneering the way again by the speed and swiftness by which we have engaged the group in digital technology and the digital revolution, which was even accelerated by the pandemic. In the construction industry, which is possibly more conservative than others, Saint-Gobain wants to lead the pack and be ahead of the game in order to improve client experience, but also to aim for operating excellence in its production processes. This digital revolution, as any revolution, has been done recklessly thanks to the mobilization and engagement of each and every employee.
I'm very proud, together with them, of the way we've traveled. This concurring spirit is only meaningful if and as it is anchored into founding and non-negotiable values. After the purpose, after the vision statement, the third and last of our fundamentals is our values, which are the legacies of our history. They are formalized in our behavior principles, which have been guiding our way day in, day out. Engagement, respect for people, integrity, loyalty, and solidarity, as well as our principles for action, which are respecting rules, respecting the environment, respecting health and safety, as well as good labor relations. These principles were, for me, a constant guide in my action. I know that they are also for Benoit as well as for all group employees.
Let me add that we have a very robust governance.
I would like once again to thank all the board members, Jean-Dominique Senard, our lead independent director, Anne-Marie Idrac, Chairwoman of the Remuneration and Appointment Committee. They are going to report about the board activity. They have supported me constantly, but they have been very demanding in order for our governance to be at the highest level possible. All those forces in the group are reflected by our results, very buoyant results and prospects promising. We will reach new records. Yes, Saint-Gobain is in very good condition. Saint-Gobain is positioned to outperform. The financial markets have started to recognize that. The share price, you're very sensitive to that, and that's quite normal, has increased. It is not finished. The financial results of the second half of 2020 have reached, Sridhar has showed it to you, have reached unprecedented levels.
I can tell you today that the first half of 2021 results should be even better. Indeed, after a first quarter with very strong growth, more than 9% versus 2019, April and May have confirmed this acceleration versus 2019. Comparison with 2020 is not really meaningful in view of the sanitary crisis. Under those circumstances, the operating income of the first half of 2021 will be above, obviously, the income of the second half of 2020, and the operating margin will reach a new record. At the end of June, the financial results of the group for the last 12 months will have been the best in our long history. They go hand in hand with our fine non-financial performance. Against this background, I would like to reiterate my confidence in the choice that your board has made in order to ensure the management of the group.
I am going to focus on my role as a Chairman. Based on our results, based on very buoyant trends, based on the talent and experience of Benoît, Saint-Gobain has an outstanding future in front of it. It is at the heart of the major challenges in our world. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very proud to have managed this group for the past 14 years. I can, in that way, hand over this management under the best circumstances. I am very emotional when I think of the outstanding human adventure that I have experienced at the helm of this outstanding team and thinking about the 170,000 staff members of our fine group. I would like to devote my last words to them, saying thank you. Benoît, over to you. Shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I'm very moved by what you said.
On my behalf, on behalf of the Saint-Gobain staff members, I would like to express all our gratitude. Thank you for all those years, those 14 years. A large part of your life has been the Saint-Gobain life. It is 170,000. You have changed the group very deeply. You have opened two main objectives and two main approaches. First of all, client-centric approach, which was not the group approach when you started to be its manager. You had a vision. You positioned the group on the development of sustainable habitat. You have been able to combine care and kindness and also an aspiration to perfection for excellence. You also had a vision about our values. You have a team spirit. It made it possible for us to make progress, to combine the long-term approach with the day-to-day approach.
Of course, you had to withstand a few crises, the welfare crisis, your management years. On my behalf, I would like to thank you for your relentless and demanding support that you showed for me. You expected a lot from me. I really am very grateful for that. This is priceless. I do not count the thousands of hours that we exchange our views on the Saint-Gobain strategy and on the staff members. We spent hours and hours discussing all that. It is for me an honor to accept this position as CEO under your chairmanship. I am very, very happy that the group is such in a fine condition today. It is in this way, the best way possible, that all the Saint-Gobain staff members can pay tribute to your dedication, to your commitment, and can say congratulations. Well done.
You know, Pierre-André, because you have experienced that at one point in time, in one story, in one experience, you know that you are in the right position. You're happy about this position. This is what I feel today. I owe it to you. Thank you, of course, to all the staff members, all the teams. They have given me a lot. I've learned a lot with them. Thank you to the board members. Thank you to the shareholders for your confidence, which is an honor for me, but also a commitment. Dear shareholders, I would like to introduce myself and talk about my experience. I've been at Saint-Gobain for 22 years in various positions. I have been in most of the Saint-Gobain business lines in France as well as abroad.
I know that experience is priceless, very valuable in order to know about all the talents of the staff members, in order to leverage the potential of those talents, in order for Saint-Gobain to go faster and further. I'm 52 years of age. I was born in Normandy. As many people born in Normandy, I am very grateful to the United States. The Americans came to France in order to defend our culture and idea of freedom. My daughter was born in the United States. I studied at the MIT. I'm constantly in touch. I've been constantly in touch for the past 20 years with our American teams. At present, the U.S. is the first country as far as the results, financial results, are concerned. I've been very attracted by the manufacturing sector, particularly in my country, because I like to manufacture, create.
I joined the group in 1999. First of all, alongside Jean-Louis Desphare as the planning manager, I've learned a lot. As of 2001, I prepared my first experience with the Placo board sector. Saint-Gobain, in 2002, sent me to the U.S. as a general manager of our abrasive business line. It's my first operational experience. I really liked it. I liked to manage teams. I liked the American pragmatism and the way they decide very quickly. Of course, I lived through the September 2001 tower attacks. I came back to France. I worked in the financial business lines. Those were four years with a lot of work, public tender offer bids, the tender on British Placo board, and the experience of the financial crisis in 2008, 2009. It was a challenging period. I worked through that crisis with Pierre-André de Chalendar.
He helped me a lot going through this crisis. There was a second crisis, the COVID-19 crisis. In 2019, I was appointed head of the distribution and building business line. I worked on the digitization of our brands and the optimization of our country-by-country portfolio. I was in the field. I was working with the teams in the field. It was an unparalleled experience for me. I worked on the quality of all the details for the product that we make available to our clients. In 2016, I worked in the construction department. I changed it in order to better serve the construction of the building market. It was successful. Growth increased. At the end of 2018, Pierre-André and the board members appointed me COO. As COO, I was responsible for this radical transformation of the group on the basis of two pillars.
First pillar, new organization, leaner and more agile country-by-country organization and market-by-market organization for high-performance global solutions. The second pillar, the optimization of our assets portfolio. We went through that in compliance with the dialogue with the staff members and the trade unions. I have a very deep knowledge of the group. I was very dedicated in order for this new plan to be successful. It was rolled out faster. It was more successful than we expected. It changed completely your group. Our scope of business is very wide. We can take advantage of this new growth. We have very accountable teams and staff members. Our organization proved to be particularly efficient in order to manage the sanitary crisis. Now, you can see, ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders, that I'm very much attached to the Saint-Gobain group. I worked from bottom to top.
I am very familiar with all the cogs of this group and with many, many staff members. I pay a lot of attention to all the aspects of this group and to all the staff members. I am convinced about their talent and their diversity. I'm also very keen on acting very fast in a very fast-changing world. Success is based on the quality of our work and on our cooperation within teams. We have to share the same performance values, values of excellency, solidarity, respect for people, care, kindness, and confidence and trust. Now, what about the future? What will be our roadmap and our assets? My ambition is to step up our growth, the group's growth. Saint-Gobain is at the very heart of the most significant challenges of our time. 40% of greenhouse gases come from the building sector.
The consumption of natural resources has been multiplied by three those last few years, even though the population has only been multiplied by two. During the next 30 years, urban population growth should be multiplied by two. 121 countries, the equivalent of 70% of the worldwide GDP, have committed themselves to carbon neutrality. None of those countries will succeed if the buildings themselves are not low-carbon buildings and do not have carbon neutrality. My ambition for Saint-Gobain is to be the worldwide leader of sustainable buildings, sustainable construction. It's my responsibility. I think it's a great opportunity for Saint-Gobain. As of now, we have solutions available in order to promote carbon neutrality for our construction. We have a global footprint. We have the ability to invent the future solutions driven by our innovation on many industrial markets, manufacturing markets.
Our growth strategy is based on the rollout of Saint-Gobain organic solutions. We can switch from single products to product systems, based on our know-how and giving value to our value chain. For instance, sustainable performance, the integrated availability of facades, recycling solutions for materials. Claire was talking about that earlier. Multi-product delivery and trade professionals' training by our distribution network. This is a very complicated challenge. We used to have a linear economy. Now, we have switched to a circular economy. Saint-Gobain has to play a pivotal role here. We can bring one-stop solution for the energy-efficient rehabilitation in France. In order to renovate schools and hospitals, we can offer high-performance solutions for sustainable mobility in order to build new houses in the United States or elsewhere. In order to illustrate the strategic approach and the solutions, I would like to listen.
Hi everyone.
It's a pleasure to be with you.
Renaud Thorenson in Brazil.
The main challenge is to innovate in the constructive system in the Brazilian market, therefore bringing well-being to customers. One single system offering all Saint-Gobain products made in the country in a synergic way. The system features high productivity, innovation, and mainly the offer of integrated services to our customers. In a market traditionally focused on masonry, our dry construction solutions, which allow a faster and lighter process with less waste, have a gradually growing space amongst any construction companies. We offer the Brazilian market certified system solutions from Brasilit, Isover, Laco, and Viber, jointly and absolutely aligned with installers and builders. What we do? We help in the design phase of the projects and the specification of the materials. Then we sell the system.
After that, we control the delivery on site with Saint-Gobain materials and monitor all the phases of work execution to ensure the quality of the installation. We have 85 external partners, including trained installers available all through the country. Indeed, lots of opportunities.
Our solutions are in line to the three challenges I have mentioned. First of all, thanks to our solution, the CO2 emissions in buildings are decreasing. Europe has committed itself to reduce by 55% its emissions by 2030. The rate of rehabilitation of buildings has to be multiplied by two. This is a long-term growth, of course. The worldwide market of rehabilitation represents 50% of our sales. Our offering on the residential and non-residential market represents 400,000 customers in France, with one agency, one branch located at an average of 9 kilometers away from each customer.
It's our contribution to the CO2 reduction in the building sector. Now, the second approach concerns the consumption of natural resources. Our solutions are saving the decreasing the consumption of natural resources on a sustainable basis. This is all about light building and recycling of glass or gypsum. As an example, we have offered to architects a solution of light facades and a system of airproofing, which divides by two the CO2 consumption and the water consumption. This focus on light construction makes our prospects huge. Now, the third approach is to build quickly and on a sustainable basis in emerging countries. We want to support the emerging countries' growth, particularly in their cities, the population of which will be multiplied by two over the next years.
Once again, your group has an ideal position to do that, thanks to the light construction solutions, which makes it possible to save 20%-50% of time versus the traditional building methods. All our solutions are part and parcel of our CSR policy. Saint-Gobain has been a pioneer. It is rooted in all our operational processes. You can count on me in order to continue all the actions that have been initiated by Pierre-André. Our engagement with the commitment with communities, continuation of our foundation, promotion of diversity. We have set new ambitious objectives by 2025. Claire knows about that. Our focus on our staff members' security and health. We carry out in-depth surveys in order to know about our staff members' satisfaction. Those are satisfaction surveys. Concerning the environment protection, Pierre-André has shown the way. As of 2016, there was a minimum price for carbon.
We have increased it by EUR 50 for all our investment decisions. I can see the path that we have crossed and all the milestones that we have with the very well-established roadmap for each country in order to support our progress towards 2030, 2050 with carbon neutrality. We are going to invest EUR 100 million per year for that. I know that everybody is going to support us. A carbon fund has been set up in order to give more value to the initiatives taken by our teams. I'm impressed by the dedication of our teams. Our CSR roadmap is enshrined in our operational conduct of our business with the same desire for excellency.
As far as I'm concerned, as far as all the teams are concerned, it's a fundamental commitment, which is quite in line with our purpose, giving the world a better home and with my strategic vision for Saint-Gobain. You probably have understood that we have focused our solutions on two growth drivers, which are at the very heart of my proposal: sustainability, then performance. Sustainability is an English word. It cannot be really translated into French, but it expresses all the components of sustainable development in the world. Sustainability includes protection of the environment and the welfare of the final user. Performance is added value, the added value that we give to our customers and the user's experience, of course. At present, ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders, at present, your group has an ideal position with more than 70% of its turnover, of its sales volume, which includes sustainable solutions.
Our value proposition is based on our innovation, which is based on cross-fertilization between our research and our marketing departments. Our research department is very close to our customers in six Saint-Gobain countries: France, Germany, the U.S., India, China, and Brazil. We focus our innovation on three objectives: eco-innovation, first of all, to combine the building environmental footprint with the use of bio-sourced materials and the user's welfare. Secondly, open innovation, which is underway jointly with our customers and startups and the academic world. Thirdly, sustainable and efficient solutions, very often customized solutions. I'm very confident in our ability to innovate. It represents a unique asset in order for Saint-Gobain to be in a position to take up the challenges of this world. We have digital tools. We use the many data generated by our business.
Digital business, digital tools, it makes it possible to step up our business with our customers, to customize our products, and offer differentiated products, which is very useful. It's very useful also for our operational excellence in order to optimize the product design, introduce data in predictive maintenance or logistics. Our digital transformation and the strategic management of our data are major instruments for the success of your group over the next few years. Our growth strategy would not be possible without the new organization set up by Transform & Grow since 2019. General Manager, country by country, have a certain leeway to serve their clients. They implement the synergy between their product lines and the synergy between their teams in order to find the best solutions possible. Same thing for the General Managers worldwide for high-performance solutions.
This organization, to which I devoted a lot of time, is lean and agile. It has a very fast decision-making process. The dedication rate is very high, above the benchmark. It embodies a new form of leadership based on confidence, accountability, and cooperation. We are going to continue to promote that. Your group has become multi-local. 90% of the managers are citizens of the market. They have been born in those countries. They know a lot about those countries. We have an increasing organic growth everywhere in the world. I would like to thank all the teams around the world and congratulate them on your behalf. We are ready to go even further and faster because we have significantly reorganized the group scope. One of the highlights is the public offer for the U.S. company Continental Building Products.
We have Jay Bachman with us today. He used to be the CEO when we made this acquisition. Now he's the manager of all our plausible business in the U.S. Very glad to see you. Very happy to see you, Jay.
Good morning, Benoit. It's really a pleasure to be here today with you and the group. Continental Building Products is a U.S.-based company. Manufactures drywall. Drywall is the panel that makes that nice smooth finish in your home or in your office. Continental represented about 10% of the U.S. market for drywall and was acquired by Saint-Gobain back a little bit more than a year and a half ago in February of 2020.
At the time of the purchase, I was the CEO of Continental and really appreciate the honor to be asked to join on and actually lead the combined business of U.S. gypsum in Saint-Gobain here in the United States.
Jay, can you tell us how we built up this common shared project between Saint-Gobain and Continental?
When we look at the success, it really came down, in my mind, to three things. One was culture. One was alignment. The third one was speed. If I kind of take a mentor's told me from a culture side, culture will always win over strategy. No matter how good your strategy is, the culture of the business, the culture of the teams coming together is what's most important.
The nice thing here is when I look at the culture of Continental and that of Saint-Gobain, we both very much believe in our people. You look at trust and power and collaboration and the importance that both organizations put on that made that culture, therefore, become the foundation for success. The next step was to make sure we had alignment. My son is a rower. He rows in school, rows in competition. For me, one of the beauties of rowing is when you see the entire team on the boat rowing in exact harmony with one another. For me, an organization to be successful, not only do you have that culture there, but you now make sure that people know where they're going. For us, it's a focus on safety. It's a focus on customer engagement.
It's a focus on employee engagement, low delivered costs, and innovation. By having that strategy and focus of being aligned, that direction, that helped with success. Finally, it was speed. Acquisition causes a lot of anxiety. The faster you can get through those initial steps, the more successful you are. We had speed in getting the organization in place, the branding in place, the systems in place that has created really something great today.
Great integration, Jay, and especially in the COVID crisis. Before I conclude, Jay, some prospect for growth in the U.S. market.
When you look at the two combined businesses, we now, for gypsum drywall, represent about 20%, a little more than 20% of the U.S. market. It's the largest market in the world. It's growing.
We will continue to grow as you take a look at the strength you're seeing on the residential construction side and some of the future upside that we're seeing on the commercial business. When you bring these two organizations together, you have the strength of us being together in a growing market. You combine that with also the overall portfolio of products and solutions that Saint-Gobain brings. It will just mean that we will be able to better serve our customers, provide better solutions to them, be it on the retail side of the business, be it on modular construction, or be it on commercial solutions that people want. Really excited about what the acquisition brings being part of this great organization.
Thank you, Jay. Congrats. It was a pleasure to have you with us today. Thanks.
My intention is to go on with this strategy to change the group structure. It's a healthy strategy. It is critical in the life of a group like Saint-Gobain as it contributes to improving our performance levels with respect to growth, profitability, and return on capital employed. It also makes our strategic alignment stronger. Now, the acquisition of Chryso, which is the leader of building chemistry, which we announced on the 20th of May last, is the second significant move in the last few years. Chryso is a very fine company, very profitable, which generated annual growth of 8% per annum for the last 20 years. I am very happy that this talented team joins us today. It contributes a growth platform in mature countries as in emerging countries, which is fully strategically aligned with the two areas of focus that I mentioned, that is sustainability and performance.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I have full confidence in the strength of our group. I am ready to write up the next chapter in the history of Saint-Gobain and its growth and development. I have an ambitious vision and view for the group. That is one of being the central player in sustainable construction in the world. It has growth and future in the group as it meets essential needs of our societies and in our time. It is the convergence of three thrusts. Strategically, the development of sustainable and efficient solutions enhanced by our innovation capabilities and digital technology as deployed in many countries by specifically strengthening our presence in Asia and in North America. Financially speaking, we will be accelerating our growth and will be increasing our margins sustainably by maximizing cash allocation and capital allocation and cash management, providing attractive returns to our shareholders.
We have the potential. The stock price doubled since the launch of the strategy of our group in the last few years. The third thrust is to set the example, set the example with respect to engagement and commitments with respect to our CSR roadmap. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, dear directors, I would like to thank you for your trust and confidence. You can count on me. We have what it takes to achieve our ambition. We have the spirit needed, collaboration, and trust and confidence to give the best of Saint-Gobain's talent and expertise. 2021 will be an excellent year for your group. The prospects are very bright going forward. Pierre-André, I would like to thank you. I would like to hail the gracious, smooth, and harmonious transition which you have organized. I know that I can count on your support.
I know I can count on our close relationship, our intimacy. I can count on discussions which will be both respectful, which will be calm and rich. I would like to congratulate all Saint-Gobain employees on which I know I can count on. Pierre-André, over to you. Thank you very much, Benoit. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, as you can see, your group is in good hands. I would like now to suggest we watch the pre-recorded presentation by Jean-Dominique Snard, our lead independent director. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, as independent lead director of the Saint-Gobain Group, I'm delighted to review key activities of your board in the course of fiscal 2020. As you know, the activities and work by your board have been intense. I will review the key tasks and activities we conducted.
I will review those activities which are more connected to my role as the Lead Independent Director. I will mention also the self-assessment conducted by the board as well as the succession of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. For this year, 2020, the board worked along four key areas. The first, it won't come as a surprise, is with respect to managing and responding to the COVID crisis and pandemic. We had two exceptional meetings in the first half in March and in April, which were fully devoted to responding to the crisis, in addition to all the board meetings during which we closely monitored the developments in the pandemic and its impact on our group. We systematically took stock of the health situation. We systematically reviewed and examined the development in the financial situation and position of the group and our business operations.
We looked into the operating impact of the pandemic. As you know, the priority was given to the health of our group's employees as well as all of our stakeholders as well while maintaining our business operations at the highest possible levels depending on local situations. We monitored how the sites reorganized as development went on. We also monitored the ramp-up of digital tools with several thousands of webinars being organized, 36,000 employees working from home. We had a strong increase in e-commerce activities in the course of 2020. We were able to develop the use of digital applications in the plants and factories. We also closely monitored other aspects, including the management of the group's cash and liquidity. A EUR 1.5 billion bond was issued in March of 2020.
We secured a syndicated credit line of EUR 2.5 billion, which was canceled, in fact, in late September of 2020. Given the cash position then, we exited from Sika in May of 2020 for an amount of EUR 2.4 billion, which generated proceeds, net gain in cash of EUR 1.5 billion. Of course, the constant activities on cost cutting for a total of EUR 690 million with a positive impact on our cash position. With respect to dividend payout, we decided that no dividend would be paid out in 2020 for fiscal 2019 given the pandemic. This year, we suggest that dividends for fiscal 2020 should be set at EUR 1.33 per share in cash, similar to the dividend which was paid in June of 2019.
We also contemplated measures regarding the compensation of corporate officers, which will be put forward by the Chair of the Compensation Nomination Committee. The second area of work for our board was on the group's organization strategy. We very closely monitored the rollout and execution of the Transform & Grow program, which was completed, as you know, in 2020, one year ahead of schedule. We monitored the cost cutting program. During each of our board meetings, including during the strategic seminar meeting of our board, we closely monitored and analyzed the situation of Saint-Gobain with presentations and reviews of strategic positioning of the group or any other aspects, especially the COVID pandemic.
We assessed the acquisition plans, including Continental Building Products in the U.S, also the envisaged disposals, including Sika, Lapeyre, and the building distribution business in the Netherlands as part of the group's portfolio optimization plan, which is one of the two pillars of the Transform & Grow program. We systematically monitor and track the developments of the main competitors, putting our group strategy into perspective. We monitor, of course, decisions made with respect to capital allocation and the change in the share price. The third area of work is around risk management. We review the mapping of financial and non-financial risks. We review the risk management system in a very close manner, focusing on cybersecurity, which won't come as a surprise. We also closely review the key main litigation proceedings and the change in the regulatory front.
With respect to our statutory auditors, we decided to choose Deloitte, whose appointment as a statutory auditor will be put forward in the 2022 shareholders' meeting to replace PricewaterhouseCoopers, which will be coming at the end of its assignment. The fourth area of work relates to corporate social responsibility, starting from and building upon the purpose which was published this year, making the world a better home, which was the result of a very deep and collaborative process. Starting from this purpose, you have everything else, including the Saint-Gobain strategy, including the CSR component. We worked on climate change and on reducing CO2 emissions. We paid close attention during strategic seminars, including during the strategic session we have every year with 20 activities, which helped directors to be abreast of and get knowledgeable about all these issues: carbon neutrality, energy efficiency.
Saint-Gobain has been a leading player in combating climate change with very strong commitments taken on carbon neutrality by 2050. We also took and set goals over the short or medium term, let's say 2030, on reducing CO2 emissions, which were approved by the science-based target initiative in order to get carbon neutral by 2050. There's a clear commitment by the group to provide its clients solutions to help them decarbonate and reduce their respective environmental footprints. In this respect, we also looked into aspects of diversity. We approved the gender diversity policy, especially within the key executive groups by 2025. As you know, the goal is to have 30% of women at the executive committee of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, up from 25% in 2021. We also want to achieve 30% of women in the executive committees of the business units.
We also review aspects of safety, of course. At every board meeting, we have a full presentation on performance and results on safety, as well as all other aspects, including the CSR roadmap, biodiversity, as well as activities and measures taken for inclusion and society engagements. Some of the roles of the lead independent director involved identifying any conflicts of interest. There were none, in fact, identified, as well as any possible management if the case arose, which was not the case. We also analyzed the status of independence of the directors and potential directors. We spent time also on meeting with and engaging in dialogue with several shareholders in the context of Saint-Gobain's governance mechanisms. During these sessions, I noted that the CSR component of the group strategy was more and more highlighted.
We also proceeded with conducting self-assessment of the board, as we do every year. We did it between September and November of 2020. The scope of this assessment is a conventional one. As every year, we review the way the board works, its composition, and the individual contributions of the board members. If I were to summarize the key results of this assessment, I would say that in the way we operate, it was considered as highly positive, with very constructive, rich discussions, despite the fact that the meetings were mainly conducted remotely in 2020. Board members have stated that discussions were very free and open, especially in the context of the implementation of the Transform & Grow program and the management of the COVID-19 crisis. With respect to the composition of the board, it is considered as well-balanced with varied and complementary experiences and expertise.
We also review the needs for future board member appointments with a feeling that in the future, the future board members of the Saint-Gobain Group, knowing that we'll have to rejuvenate this board with very special sets of expertise in the field of building and construction, or with more special types of expertise, including experience in some regions which are of importance for Saint-Gobain's future. There are, of course, improvements to be made, as always, and areas we need to dig deeper into and continue. Climate change will very likely be at the top of our list: change in the stock price, innovation, and more generally speaking, all the factors and sources of growth.
In the context of preparing for the succession of the chair and CEO, we worked extensively on this line of work ever since 2019, as this work was started, which we conducted with the help of the chairwoman of the compensation and nomination committee, with the help of a recruitment firm. We had two executive sessions fully devoted to this succession plan. The board of directors considered it was critical for Saint-Gobain to ensure a smooth transition at the helm of the group. We did that by separating the roles of the chairman of the board of directors and that of the CEO. Upon the proposal of Pierre-André de Chalendar, the board unanimously decided to appoint Benoît Bazin as Chief Executive Officer, effective on 1st of July 2021, with Mr. Pierre-André de Chalendar continuing to serve as Chairman of the board of directors.
At the same time, we suggested that Benoît Bazin be appointed as director of the Saint-Gobain board of directors. It seemed to us that this corporate governance mechanism was the best way to ensure the smoothest and best type of transition in the context of the succession plan for the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Dear shareholders, thank you for your attention. Thank you, Jean-Dominique. We will now turn to another video, which was also pre-recorded by Anne-Marie Idrac, the chair of the nomination and remuneration committee. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, hello. I will start with some pieces of information on our board. There are 14 board members on this board. 82% are independent directors, including the chairpersons of the committees, 45% of women. We had 16 meetings in 2020 with a rate of attendance of 99%. You have the other information shown here on the screen.
Expertise and experience of board members are, as you see, very diverse and very complete. A bit more than one-fourth of board members are non-French. In fact, female directors are those. On the right-hand side, you can see the skills and experience showing great diversity and complementary fit. Now, in the context of future appointments to the board, based on the self-assessment of the board, we want to give preference to new expertise in the construction, public works, and housing industries with younger members and the increased proportion of non-French members and profiles of operational experience and exposure in regions of great importance for Saint-Gobain.
We have three board committees: the audit and risk committee, which has been chaired by Philippe Varin, who will be leaving us, and I want to pay tribute to his work; the CSR committee, which is chaired by Agnès Lemarchand; and the nomination and remuneration committee, which I do chair. As you can see, you have the pieces of information connected with these three board committees. Now, a point of importance for the future: governance mechanisms will be changing, effective on the 1st of July 2021. That is the 1st of July next, with a change which is as follows: Pierre-André de Chalendar will be appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Benoit Bazin will be appointed as Chief Executive Officer, if you so accept it, as a board member.
This is a result of a process which was conducted in line with the best corporate governance practices under the leadership of myself and the lead independent director in order to prepare for the succession plan for Pierre-André de Chalendar. The choice of the future CEO, Benoît Bazin , was done following an assessment process which was conducted by a recruitment firm or with the help of a recruitment firm. Now, you have the five resolutions which are put forward with respect to the composition of the board of directors. The first aims at appointing Benoît Bazin as a new director. This is in line with the separation of roles between Pierre-André de Chalendar and the new CEO, Benoît Bazin . You have a reminder of Benoît Bazin 's biography here up on this slide, which vindicates his appointment not only as CEO but also as a board member.
Now, the other four proposals are with respect to reappointments of board members, including Pamela Knapp as an independent director who will be chairing the audit and risk committee effective today, Agnès Lemarchand, the chairwoman of the CSR committee as a member of the audit and risk committee, Gilles Schnepp, a board member, member of the audit and risk committee, and Sibylle Daunis as a director representing the employee shareholders. All biographies are appended in the documents which have been circulated with respect to compensation aspects. Now, some general principles first. The compensation policy of the executive corporate officers has been set by the board upon a proposal by the nomination and remuneration committee. It reflects the group strategy, and it aims at aligning the compensation practices with group's performance and the long-term interests of its shareholders.
We see to it that the compensation of the executive corporate officers are in line with the recommendation of the French AFEP and MEDEF corporate governance code and meet performance measure requirements. We take into consideration some benchmark practices for listed companies. One important point of note is that CSR commitments of the group are included in the executive corporate officers' variable compensation packages since 2013 for the Chairman, and they are part of the criteria applying to the long-term compensation since 2015. Let me give you a brief reminder for fiscal 2020. In the context of the COVID pandemic, it was decided, back in April 2020, to revise and to reduce by 25% the fixed compensation paid out to Pierre-André de Chalendar and to Benoit Bazin for fiscal 2020.
With respect to the partial employment and to reduce the variable compensation for fiscal 2019 to the extent that it was paid out in 2019, all this reduced by 25%. With respect to Benoît Bazin , it was decided to cancel the increase from 120% to 150% of the ceiling of his annual variable compensation and to defer to postpone this increase. Remember that this compensation policy was largely approved by your meeting of last year. As a brief reminder, it was proceeded with a reduction of the attendance fees of the board members, and they were called for solidarity in line with Saint-Gobain's efforts. You have the detailed information about the reduction of the attendance fees here up on your screen. Now, this brings me to tell you about ex-post compensation. First, Pierre-André de Chalendar for fiscal 2020. As you can see here, you have the numbers.
You have the reduction of the fixed portion for 2020 and the variable portion for fiscal 2019, which was paid out in 2019 for the reason I mentioned earlier, that is the voluntary reduction that they agreed on last year. With respect to Benoît Bazin's numbers, you have them up on the screen. Here again, as you can see, the fixed portion has been reduced, which was paid out in 2020, and for the variable component of fiscal 2019, which was paid out in 2020. Let us now focus still with respect to fiscal 2020 on variable compensation packages. Now, with respect to the ceiling levels in 2020, 170% of fixed compensation for Pierre-André de Chalendar and 120% for Benoît Bazin are capped. Similar goals for the two executives, quantifiable objectives by two-thirds. OFCF, wrote sheet group operating income, group recurring net income per share.
We observed, based on these quantitative criteria, that the achievement rate was 74% against the target. Now, with respect to qualitative objectives, they are weighted one-third, and they reflect the strategic directions taken by the group. It covered the further execution of the portfolio's rotation, the further implementation of the Transform & Grow plan, and the group's digital transformation, implementation of the CSR program, and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The achievement rate was assessed at 143% against the target. Total overall achievement rate, both for quantitative and qualitative objectives, was assessed as 97% against target. The third source of compensation is the long-term compensation allocated to Pierre-André de Chalendar and Benoit Bazin with the same performance terms and conditions. You have brought sheet.
You have performance of the stock price versus the CAC 40 stock market index and CSR with an increase of the weight allocated to CSR versus 2019. You have the caps: 85% of gross maximum compensation, 10% of the authorization to issue shares by the shareholders' meeting. You have here the allocations as well as the IFRS values on the date of grant. That is November of 2020, which enables me to go to the ex-ante compensation policy for fiscal 2021. It will be divided into two half-years given the change in the governance mechanisms effective on the 1st of July, as was already mentioned. For the first half, you have here a summary view without any change on the fixed portions. Pierre-André de Chalendar will receive EUR 1.2 million. Benoit Bazin will receive EUR 750,000.
These compensation levels are aligned with the median levels of CAC 40 industrial companies comparable to Saint-Gobain. The caps of variable portions are 170% of Pierre-André de Chalendar's fixed compensation, 150% of Benoit Bazin's fixed compensation, and the distribution is two-thirds based on quantitative objectives, one-third on qualitative objectives. Now, let's focus on the variable portion and the associated criteria. Quantitative objectives remain unchanged versus 2020. You have them on the left-hand side of the table. Qualitative objectives were adjusted with some new aspects in order to reflect the new strategic plan, including the development of a new strategic plan and its presentation to investors, the implementation of the CSR policy, harmonious development of the new governance mechanisms, management of the human resources in the context of returning to normality post-COVID-19.
Now, the new terms and conditions effective on the 1st of July and applicable to the second half, you can see that Pierre-André de Chalendar will be compensated EUR 450,000, which is a compensation below the median level of compensation paid to non-executive chairmen for CAC 40 companies comparable to Saint-Gobain. There is no variable portion anymore. With respect to Benoît Bazin , the new CEO, fixed compensation will be EUR 1 million. Compensation level, which is below the median level of the CAC 40 companies comparable to Saint-Gobain. With respect to the variable portion, it can reach 170% of Benoit Bazin's fixed compensation with two-thirds of quantifiable objectives, one-third of qualitative objectives with the same targets as those applicable for the first half. You have specific information on long-term compensation at the end of this presentation in the appendices.
Now, some additional principles to be mentioned here going forward for the future effective on the 1st of July. You have them here on the documents, and they are in line with market practices. The CEO will be entitled to a severance pay and a non-compete as well as a supplementary pension plan. The Chairman of the Board will not be entitled to any severance pay or non-compete indemnity at the end of his term with no multi-year nor exceptional compensation nor any compensation for board members in other group companies. Now, with respect to the compensation or attendance fees for the board members, the general budget is EUR 1.1 million with respect to compensation for directors. The distribution rules are showed up here on the screen with a fixed annual portion, a variable portion per meeting based on attendance, based on actual attendance.
The chairperson gets specific compensation as well as attendance to committee meetings. The chairperson and CEO will not get any compensation, any attendance fees in respect to their role as directors. Payments are conducted on a half-yearly manner, and the lead independent director did not wish to receive any compensation with respect to his position. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you, Anne-Marie. I would like to specify that these two presentations were posted on the website so that they could guide your voting despite the in-camera session. I suggest that we watch the pre-recorded video of Cécile Saint-Martin, who will be presenting a summary report for the group of auditors. This presentation was made available to shareholders on our website.
Mr. Chairman, shareholders, I have the pleasure on behalf of the auditors to present the various reports for you and report about the execution of mission according to the bylaws. There are five reports which have been made available. All of them have been made available to you with the documents for this meeting, for the shareholders' meeting. I would like to sum up the main items. Reports on the financial statements. You will find our two certificates and reports in a registered document, page 328 to 332 for the consolidated financial statement, and 361 to 364 for the other financial statements. We would like to have reasonable insurance on the true and fair financial statements, and we would like to be sure that there are no significant misrepresentations.
In order to do that, we have applied due diligence in all the significant units contained in the scope of your group, more than 1,000 units distributed over more than 100 countries. Our approach is adapted to the various business lines of your group. It is an international footprint, and it covers the recurring business as well as one-off events. Of course, specific conditions related to the pandemic for the audit of the closing of the account have been taken into account in order to adapt our due diligence. Our work is based on a frequent summary for the management and for the audit committee. We can certify in an unqualified manner that we can certify the consolidated financial statement for the Saint-Gobain company. According to the EU regulations, your company, as of 2021, will have to adopt the new single electronic format in order to publish those financial statements.
We give details about the key points of our audit as well as the main due diligence that we've made. Those are the most sensitive topics, according to us, amongst the assumptions adopted by the management. There are three items concerning the consolidated financial statements concerning goodwill, intangible assets, the assessment of litigations, and provisions concerning the asbestos-related litigations in the U.S. and Brazil, and the assessment of the suppliers' rebates. You can see here the main diligence that we have applied. Concerning the annual financial statements, we have one key point concerning the value of financial assets. You will be asked to request to approve those financial statements in the framework of the first and second resolution that you will have to vote on. I'm going to give you a summary of the other report that we have prepared for the specific checks according to the law.
First of all, we have a specific report on the related party agreements that we know about, 215 to 216 of the registered document, the on your new related party agreements that we know of during the past financial year. Moreover, there is one agreement that you had already approved in a former meeting, and it is still implemented. It concerns the labor contract for Mr.Benoît Bazin , as COO, and it has not been applied during the financial year closed on the 31st of December 2020. Next, we have the report of one of the auditors appointed as an independent body concerning the non-financial performances in the management report of your group. This report does not include any specific remarks that should be reported to you. Fifth and last report concerns the share capital transactions: 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, and 26th resolutions of the meeting.
It concerns authorization that you have to give if you want to your board in order to issue shares or securities giving access to the share capital of your company. It is described in each of those resolutions, and it aims at canceling or preserving your preferential subscription right. I would like to point out the 21st resolution to you, which requests you to grant full power to your board in order to decrease the share capital of your company up to 10%. For all those transactions, we have applied due diligence in order to guarantee that the terms of those transactions are in line with the regulatory framework. We have no comment to make concerning those provisions that are proposed to you. When you vote for those resolutions, if necessary, we should draft additional reports in order for those transactions to be completed. That's it, Mr.
Chairman, and ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much.
Of course, you can always ask questions via the meeting's webcast. We have received some written questions asked by the Forum for Responsible Investment and Mr. Bernard Delpes and Mr. Gilbert Lucas, who are individual shareholders. The board has given answers to those questions, so they are getting put online on the Saint-Gobain website, the page called Answers to the Questions During the Shareholders' Meeting. I would like to give priority to the direct questions. I'm going to read out the questions. First question: Do you plan to enshrine your purpose in the bylaws of the group? Now, the formulation of our purpose has been made on the basis of a very corporative, deliberative process involving more than 15,000 staff members. Of course, the text has been validated by the board.
The board has discussed whether it was necessary to enter this purpose into the bylaws, but at present, it seems that this is not really interesting to do so, and the board decided not to do so. Second, this was a question put by Mr. Patrick Kühner. Second question put by Mr. Pierre Oduro. Good afternoon. What about the actions concerning rehabilitation? Are those actions reflected by the results in the first half of 2021, or do we have to wait for the second half? Now, what do you mean by actions concerning rehabilitation? Do you mean that the energy efficiency actions initiated by the government in France?
Now, in that case, we have started to see a slight impact of the renovation premium or rehabilitation bonus that has started to be felt in the second half of March and have real impact, actual impact in April and in May, but it's going to be felt all throughout the second half of 2020. Given the governmental measure for public buildings, I'm not expecting any impact before the very end of 2021, but rather all throughout 2022, 2023. We will feel such an impact, obviously. Third question, Mr. Éric. Year. You have sold a significant stake in Sika to reinvest this cash in a promising competitor. Could you tell us what's the final objective that Saint-Gobain would like to achieve?
You have to recall that we had a significant stake in Sika after an agreement that we had found with the various stakeholders, and this was a financial stake. We sold it last year with a nice additional profit, and the Chryso transaction is part and parcel of this. Of course, building chemistry is an interesting objective as far as I'm concerned. Benoit, could you specify our objectives in the Chryso acquisition? Chryso is bringing a solution to the decrease in the carbon content in the building sector. This is a trend which is going to accelerate in the developed countries. Major building players have made the commitment to have 90% of low-carbon concrete by 2030. What we call building chemistry is very important for those players because it's important to use the Chryso additives in order to manufacture concrete.
It is quite in line with the growth in the developed and developing countries and emerging countries. You know that Chryso has made an acquisition in Russia, for instance. On the whole, we post EUR 3 billion at present concerning all activities in building chemistry. Philippe Franc has put another question. In order to meet the expectations of the government concerning the lack of energy efficiency in the hospitals and the schools, what would be the solutions that Saint-Gobain could apply? Benoit, you have already mentioned that, of course, we're going to participate in this campaign. This question is very relevant because it mentions the word solutions, and our strategic approach is based on solutions. What we've done for schools and hospitals is to convene teams of experts preparing all those worksites on the basis of governmental calls for tender.
With the hospitals, we already have a partnership based on solutions supply. We also have a Saint-Gobain catalog of solutions for schools. If we add all our Saint-Gobain solutions, we have a huge impact from a CO2 decrease and from a soundproofing point of view in the schools, which means that absenteeism will go down because students are not going to be disturbed by noise. There are many solutions in line with our sustainability and performance approaches. It is a nice growth opportunity for Saint-Gobain. Next question, Gilles Lemonnier. In order to encourage the creation of a stable shareholding structure, do you think that do not you think that we should award a bonus to those shareholders who have held their shares for more than two years, just like other companies? Yes, Mr.
Lemonnier, we have always thought about that at the board, but it is not the best solution as far as we are concerned, as far as the board is concerned, because it would lead to an increase in the number of outstanding shares. We have a regular payout, dividend payout. If you have a registered share, you have had a registered share for two years, you have two voting rights. Sorry, but I cannot say yes to your proposal. Question put by Mr. Michel Bousquet. Young people have suffered a lot from the sanitary crisis. That is true. Have you adopted specific solutions for them? We have thought a lot about that. A few figures. Last year, we have hired about 8,200 young people under 32 years of age. If I look at this figure for France as a whole, 2,350 people under 26 were hired.
We have created two training centers for apprentices. We are going to have 145 apprentices during the first year, and it is going to be concerned marketing and sales excellency. Furthermore, we have also opened 2,000 sandwich courses. That is to say that young people spend half their time learning and half their time in companies. Those courses very often lead those people to young people are being hired after having been in those courses. Another question. We hope that Chryso acquisition is going to be completed. Can you tell me that this green chemistry business line for the building is going to be a growth sector and that you are going to think it is a priority? Yes, of course, it is a growth sector, but it is not the only one.
We have several high-growth business lines, and I think that Benoît is going to continue to develop this strategy, for instance, related technologies and new countries. Obviously, I would say that this acquisition is a duo, and we're very happy to see them join our group. Green chemistry is in line with what we said before about eco-innovation and bio-sourcing in the glass insulation. I think it's very important for the future. I don't see any other questions. I'm going to give the floor to Antoine Vignal. Concerning the results of the voting processes, the General Secretary of the group is going to make a presentation or has made available a presentation of the resolutions on our internet site. Results of the resolution voting process. First resolution, approval of the non-consolidated and consolidated financial statements. The resolution has been adopted. 99.98% votes for.
Second resolution, approval of the consolidated financial statements. This resolution has been adopted at 99.98%. Third resolution, appropriation of income and determination of the dividend, adopted 97.17%. Fourth resolution, appointment of Mr. Benoît Bazin as new director. The resolution has been adopted. 99.09%. Congratulations, Benoit. Fifth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mrs. Pamela Knapp as an independent director. Approved 96.51%. Congratulations, Pamela. Sixth resolution, renewal of the terms of reference for Mrs. Agnès Lemarchand, independent director. 99.34%. Congratulations. Renewal of the term of office of Mr. Gilles Schnepf, director. Adopted. 86.79% votes for. Eighth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mrs. Sibylle Dionis as a director representing employee shareholders. Adopted. 99.79%. Congratulations. Ninth resolution, compensation components paid or granted to Mr. Pierre-André de Chalendar for 2020. Adopted. 67.43%. Tenth resolution, compensation components paid or granted to Mr. Benoît Bazin in respect of 2020. 91.44% adopted.
Eleventh resolution, information concerning the executive corporate officers and directors' compensation, including in the report of the board of directors. Adopted. 97.91% adopted. Ex-ante compensation policy of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for 2021 until June 2021. Adopted. 93.12%. Thirteenth resolution, compensation policy of the Chief Operating Officer for 2021 until the 30th of June 2021. Adopted. 97.09%. Compensation policy of the Chief Executive Officer for 2021. Adopted. 95.17%. Fourteenth resolution. Fifteenth resolution, compensation policy of the Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2021 as from July 1, 2021. Adopted. 98.58%. Sixteenth resolution, compensation policy of the directors for 2021. 99.94% adopted. Seventeenth resolution, share buyback program. Authorization given to the board of directors. 97.46% adopted. Let's move over to the eighteenth resolution, financial resolution, delegation of power with a continuation of the subscription preference of an outside or excluding an offer period. Adopted. 99.52%.
Nineteenth resolution, delegation of power in order to cancel the preferential subscription right with a priority for the shareholders, increase of the share capital, public tender offer up to 10% of the share capital. Adopted. 91.39%. Twentieth resolution, delegation of power in order to cancel the preferential subscription right, increase of share capital, Article L411-2 of the Financial and Monetary Code, up to 10% of the share capital. Adopted. 87.69%. Twenty-first resolution, delegation of power in order to increase the number of shares according to the nineteenth, twentieth, etc. resolution. Adopted. 97.31%. Twenty-second resolution, possibility to increase share capital with cancellation of the subscription preferential rights in order to compensate for contribution in kind up to 10% of the share capital. Adopted. 96.06%. Twenty-third resolution, delegation of power in order to increase share capital by capitalization of bonus share reserves profits up to 5% of the share capital.
Share capital. 99.64%. Adopted. The twenty-fourth resolution is an authorization to cancel the preferential subscription right. The price issuance price. 98.07%. Twenty-fifth resolution, delegation of power in order to cancel the preferential right, subscription preferential right. It's up to 2.4% of the share capital for the members of the employee savings scheme. Adopted. 91.63%. Twenty-sixth resolution, authorization of the board to decrease the share capital up to 10% of this share capital. 98.01% in favor of this resolution. Finally, the last and twenty-seventh resolution, power for the formalities with a majority of 100% in favor of this twenty-seventh resolution. Thank you. Thank you very much. The agenda is closed, and at 5:29 P.M., I close this session. The next meeting is going to be held on the second June 2022, Salle Pleyel, and I do hope it will be in person.
I would like a certificate, power to vote, and it will make it possible to decrease the number of documents in paper or printed documents that will be sent to the shareholders. This is very important. Thank you.