Sodexo S.A. (EPA:SW)
45.92
+1.56 (3.52%)
May 13, 2026, 5:35 PM CET
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AGM 2021
Jan 12, 2021
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good afternoon and welcome to everybody. I'm delighted you're attending today's shareholders meeting even though this year, for the first time in 55 years, we cannot be together in one place. I very much hope that you and your loved ones are in good health and that you have not had to suffer the most tragic The health of our employees and our partners and shareholders is naturally our number one priority. It is our duty to abide by all government health guidelines and to do our utmost to help prevent the spread of COVID-nineteen. As a result, We made the exceptional decision to hold a virtual shareholders meeting this time behind closed doors.
As you know, our shareholders' active participation is very important to us. Rest assured that we have taken all the necessary steps not only so that you can remotely and securely vote in this meeting, but also so that it is as accessible and interactive as possible. Indeed, we are broadcasting this meeting live from our company's website www.sudexo.com, our corporate website, where it will shortly be available for streaming in the coming few days. I would especially like to thank all shareholders who despite the difficult circumstances voted online for the resolutions we submitted for your approval and which all were supported. So that you can ask questions as naturally as you would have done at the Selmusical venue where we originally planned to meet, We've set up a phone line for you to ask questions live.
Those of you who want to As such, voting shareholders, Shareholders Club members and registered shareholders can ask questions spontaneously. No prior formalities in other words. Non voting bearer shareholders must show evidence of their shareholders status before asking their questions based on procedures that are specified on sodexo.com. So strictly adhering to social distancing rules, I'm talking to you today alongside members of the company. We have Denis Machuel, who is the CEO of Sodexo Mark Rolland, who is the Chief Financial Officer, the CFO and Cindy Carriault, our Board Secretary, who will also serve as meeting secretary today.
Please also note that 2 meeting scrutineers are attending today, Nicole Huard, who represents Belon S. A. And Arnaud Bastien, who represents the FCPE Group Sodexo PEPs, Sodexo Staff Mutual Fund. These are shareholders with the highest number of voting rights having accepted therefore the role of scrutineers here today. I therefore declare this shareholders meeting open, which I shall chair as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors.
Like you, our Board of Directors are attending the shareholders meeting remotely. PwC and KPMG are statutory auditors represented by Caroline Bruno Diaz from KPMG will talk to us about their audit reports by video. I would also like to point out that some Speeches aired during this shareholders meeting have been prerecorded given social distancing requirements. As we always do, I would like to begin our meeting by a safety moment. The video we would like you to watch now is particularly relevant in the current context.
I will now hand over to the meeting secretary, Cindy Carriault, who will present the agenda. Thank you, Sophie. Hello, everybody. Before I do anything else, I'd like to recall that the contributions at this meeting will be made in French, but there is a simultaneous interpretation into English available. As usual, this shareholders meeting is also accessible for people who I have hearing impairments, thanks to the interpreters using sign language.
I have before me all of the documents attesting to the regularity of the convening and deliberation of this shareholders meeting. In addition, The documents required to be made available or communicated to shareholders have been made available in compliance with the legal conditions and deadlines. I would like to point out that the Sodexo The Social and Economic Committee in France has been made aware of these documents and has made no comments. The agenda of the shareholders meeting as well as the draft resolutions were presented in the preliminary notices of meeting, which were published on the 2nd December 2020 and on the 16th December 2020 in the French BALO Gazette as well as in the notice of meeting published in the French BALO Gazette and in the French Journal of Legal Announcements on the 23rd December 2020. Please note that no request for the inclusion of Points or draft resolutions on the agenda has been submitted by the shareholders.
Furthermore, I would also inform you that we have received a written question from our shareholders. And as the Regulations provide the response to this question will be made available on our company's website in the coming few days. This year, given that this shareholders meeting is held behind closed doors, the final quorum and voting results were determined on Monday, January 11, 2021 at 3 p. M. I am therefore able to inform you as of now that a total of 943 shareholders voted remotely prior to the shareholders meeting or gave a proxy to the chairwoman Or to another person of their choice.
Dosto Curam was established at 122,396 shares with voting rights, representing a final quorum of 83.8 percent. In accordance with AMF guidelines, I would also like to inform you that the number of invalid votes received was 803 for 6 voting forms. The reasons for these rejections was late receipt for lack of signature. As a consequence, the shareholders meeting has gathered more than the legally required quorum for an ordinary shareholders meeting and the Bureau Committee has confirmed the validity of its deliberations on all of the agenda items. The attendance sheet has been signed by the members of the committee, the bureau as we call it and has ratified this quorum.
I am therefore pleased to inform you now that all of the resolutions submitted for your approval have been adopted. As usual, we propose that you exempt the Chairwoman from Exhaustive reading of the Board of Directors report. The full report can be found in the 2020 Universal Registration document, which is available on our company's website. The main elements will be presented to you during this shareholders meeting. I'll now give the floor to Sophie Belon, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors for her message to this meeting.
Thank you, Cindy. Dear shareholders, dear directors, Dear employees, dear friends of Sodexo, 2020 will stay forever in our memories as an extraordinary year, to put it mildly. I don't think it's an exaggeration of any sort to say that none of us were sorry to see it go. The pandemic has affected all of us in a very real and tangible way to varying degrees. Our health, our human and social ties, which to many of us seemed like a given were threatened.
2020 was a pivotal year for Sodexo II. Never before has our company been hit so hard. We are a link in the chain and when our clients are brought to a standstill, it affects us directly. We lost nearly a third of our revenue in the second half of fiscal twenty twenty. We had to make some difficult even painful decisions to compensate for the abrupt slowdown in certain areas of our business, Down 88% in Sports and Leisure, down 47% in Education, down 29% in Business and Every aspect of our development was affected.
This is a nonprecedented situation for Sodexo, which on a fundamental level has always been a growth company. And my ambition is clear. We will continue to be a growth company. This brutal crisis is also an opportunity to accelerate the transformation of our traditional value creation models, not only to secure the future of our company, but even more so to open up new development paths. I'm convinced that we will bring our revenue back up to pre crisis levels, but its nature and composition will be different.
The pandemic and lockdowns have accelerated trends that already existed. The demand for increased flexibility enabled by digitalization, the demand for more healthy organic and local food, Also a booming contactless economy. We were working on these beforehand and now we've stepped up the pace even more. Developing direct connections with our end users was already essential. It has now become vital.
Really putting consumers at the heart of our model involves structural changes to adapt our production modes to new consumption patterns, to offer game changing catering services, also to modernize our facilities management offering and to focus on the most promising markets. Our mission is to improve quality of life and it's never made more sense as it does now. It's up to us to focus our efforts on the areas of highest value. It's up to us to make the right choices. I want to highlight the Board's steadfast determination to support the company's transformation.
In close collaboration and in the relationship of Trust with Denis Machuel and the Executive Committee. Transforming our model Also means developing more agile and decentralized ways of working. This involves combining global vision and strategy with the autonomy to execute at the local level. Faced with the pandemic threat With support from our Transversal teams across the company, our operational teams were able to find concrete solutions to meet unprecedented challenges. In the heat of the moment, we were able to refocus on our core priorities, work differently and unleash personal initiative.
Not only is there no going back, but I want to accelerate the rebalancing of our organization towards the local level with greater autonomy for our teams on the field. After all, it is where we carry out our operations and in the daily contacts with our clients, consumers and suppliers that our true value is created. This is what makes our model unique. Our return to Sustained profitable growth is closely linked also to the acceleration of our supportive approach, inclusive approach in which generating wealth benefits all our stakeholders and ecosystems. While this goal has underpinned our business since 1966, it is now more relevant than ever before.
Few corporations are able to address world issues and have a social and environmental impact We are present in 64 countries through our 420,000 employees serving 100,000,000 consumers every day. So from this particularly tough year, I want to remember that 2020 Finally shone the spotlight on the vital importance and the tremendous value of The activities we pursue, the jobs we do in Sodexo. Our teams working in healthcare facilities and with senior populations have also been in the front lines. Our teams have to keep essential infrastructures running. Without them, There can be no economic recovery.
Our own recovery requires that we forcefully reaffirm the virtue of these These professions which are often in fact too often ignored. These professions are suffering from the current context, but they are instrumental to the smooth running of schools, universities, offices and hospitals and even society at large. As the pandemic was rampaging out there Everywhere around the world, our teams lived up to the values of team spirit, service spirit and spirit of progress, which they exemplify every day. We managed to weather the storm, thanks to their determination, their dedication and their courage. Once again, I want to express my sincere gratitude to them for their exemplary engagement throughout this extraordinary year.
I'm convinced that the key to our future success now lies in the implementation of an innovative management model that allows all our employees and clients to be both proponents of and players in Our and the world's transformation. We uphold strong fundamentals, our mission, the founding values that are the basis of our identity and our financial independence. Sodexo is the world leader it is today because ambition, boldness and the ability to adapt quickly in an ever changing world are an integral part of who we are. I have every confidence in our ability to create the conditions that will support the future development and growth of our company. Thank you for your attention.
I'd now like to ask you to watch this video that pays tribute to the outstanding dedication and courage of our teams since the pandemic began, since the very start of it. Thank you.
No one was ready when COVID-nineteen changed our world overnight. We were there on the front lines Supporting our clients first in Asia, then worldwide. We saw it coming. We learned, and we were prepared. With team spirit, service spirit, spirit of progress, we were there on the front line, always inspiring, dedicated, Adapted quickly, redeploying team members from schools, events, stadiums and offices to where we were needed most, To hospitals, to seniors' homes, to testing centers and to all those places that absolutely needed to continue to operate And our clients recognize that more than ever, we We launched a global Sodexo relief program funded by contributions from Sodexo leadership teams To help our people who found themselves in difficult situations, we stood together.
We adapted, anticipating and planning, bringing our expertise in innovating to support our clients faced with challenges To create safe environments in an uncertain world. Our mission became essential to the world, bringing our people out of the We imagined RISE with Sodexo, using our expertise and agility to help our Clients create confidence, reopen and create safe environments to bring their employees back to work, their students back to the classroom, And evolving consumer needs. Bureau Veritas hygiene verification level to build confidence, a certificate of safety and quality assurance For all Sodexo procedures and services and our Medical Advisory Council to advise on health and safety protocols and standards, The way we engage with people and encourage safe behaviors. The latest information to ensure continuous adoption of best practices. We salute our people who are committed to our mission in such difficult and uncertain conditions and are proud of everyone who We thank and stand together with our people who were affected by the pandemic, both personally and professionally.
And in a world that remains uncertain, our people are the heroes behind the masks and are We have proved our commitment, Our agility, our values to ensure quality of life. We responded. We care for each other. We stand up. We stand tall.
We are united and we continue to care for each other. We responded.
Thank you. I will now hand over to our CEO, Denis Machuel.
Thank you, Sophie. Good afternoon. As Sophie just said, the fiscal year that has And it has been an exceptional one. It was marked by the most significant crisis in Sodexo's history. With the crisis confirming the relevance Of our businesses, the extraordinary engagement of our teams and the resilience of our model, we are currently accelerating our transformation to see the numerous market opportunities.
Since 2018, Sodexo's teams have demonstrated their ability to strengthen our business model. Our focus on growth Strategic agenda delivered the 1st robust results with the highest organic revenue growth in 7 years in fiscal 2019 As confirmed by a dynamic plus 3.2% growth during the first half of fiscal twenty twenty. COVID-nineteen interrupted this positive momentum. Since February 2020, With the full support of Sophie Belo and the Board of Directors, Sodexo mobilized in an exceptional way to respond on two fronts: 1st, reducing health risks and protecting the health of our teams, our consumers and our partners and second, ensuring the continuity of our operations and those of our clients, while preserving the group's liquidity. Of course, There have been business impacts from closing or reducing many parts of our business, including sports and leisure, schools and universities And Corporate Services.
To respond to the pandemic's economic consequences, we quickly identified all possible means to reduce costs, Suspend non essential investments and protect our cash flow. We immediately sought solutions to preserve jobs And support our teams impacted by the crisis. For example, by forging partnerships with other industries under pressure All by establishing an unprecedented global employee relief program, which was made possible by the contributions and support Shown by the group's senior executives. Our financial performance was inevitably impacted by the COVID-nineteen pandemic With annual consolidated revenues of €19,300,000,000 down 12%. Our operating margin was 2.9% and free cash flow Stood at €72,000,000 Through extremely disciplined management of the crisis, The fiscal year ended with a very robust balance sheet with liquidity of €5,100,000,000 allowing us to look to the future With great confidence.
You saw it in the video just now. Our teams have been heroic. I'm extremely proud of that, and I want to sincerely thank them. Our teams have also demonstrated Their agility to seize each and all business development opportunities, such as selling additional cleaning and disinfection services, Launching new food delivery service in Singapore and Brazil are winning significant new contracts like the reopening of the Los Angeles Search Hospital in California and only 12 days to care for COVID-nineteen patients and the deployment of rapid COVID testing centers in the UK. Sodexo's innovation and responsiveness We're fully demonstrated through the creation of RISE with Sodexo, which is our global program Enabling our clients to revive their operations and meet health and operational challenges through our unique portfolio of services.
And because we are convinced that trust is a key element in this new reality, we have strengthened this program by establishing a medical advisory board and a certification label for all sides was established with Bureau Veritas. I invite you to watch this video, which was shot at our headquarters in Singapore, which illustrates part of our services And our commitment to recovery with confidence. Despite these many challenges, This crisis has revealed our strength, the resilience of our model, the relevance of our strategy and the strength of our unique offer of integrated services, which has shown all its strength during this unprecedented crisis. This crisis is also teaching us that we must accelerate our transformation. This transformation, which was initiated before the crisis By strategic choices and targeted investments over the past few years must be accelerated to build tomorrow's growth.
To move forward, we are focusing on 3 priorities: Rationalize, Enable and Transform. First, we are simplifying our organization by reducing our overhead costs on a long term basis and bringing our teams closer to the field and our clients, while adjusting our resources To miss post crisis needs, we're also continuing to optimize and streamline our geographic presence as well our portfolio facilities management services. At the same time, we are continuing to invest in key targeted fields, marketing and sales as well as digital, data and IT systems. These investments combined with sustainable and responsible food services offer will allow us to be more focused than ever on consumer expectations. We have all it takes today to capitalize on the new expectation generated by the crisis, the increasing outsourcing of services, the growing demand for integrated services and the challenges of flexible workspace.
Finally, we also accelerated the transformation of our core business, food services that is. With Redesigned operational and business model, Sodexo has the ability to offer its consumers multimodal and multichannel dining experience. This is reinforced by digital innovations and the unique complementarity of our employee benefit solutions adapted to the new forms of mobility and working from home. These investments in new food services models such as Food Cherries, Zetta, Maison or most recently Food Etude in the UK are fully aligned with the expectations and needs of today and tomorrow and will be one of the engines of our growth. And because this crisis Must not make us forget our pioneering commitments to responsible and inclusive growth.
We are stepping up our efforts to promote healthy and sustainable food choices, to reduce our carbon emissions and to fight against food waste. To do this, for example, we renewed our partnership with WWF this year. The recognition this year again by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Carbon Disclosure Project, which rank us among the very few world leaders in reducing carbon emissions has confirmed our approach. Today, despite the crisis, Sodexo remains true to its promises and commitments. I know that Sodexo will regain momentum for growth that is based on responsible consumption of resources and on putting people at the heart of everything we do.
With our teams, we are creating collective dynamics and clear path Forward to create value for all of our stakeholders. To illustrate the strength of our offers, as I conclude my remarks, I would like to share with you a video which was shot at one of our new clients in Florida for whom we have opened in the midst of the COVID crisis a completely Reinvented restaurant. Welcome to the Nest.
Simply amazing. Sandwich is like awesome. I am amazed, absolutely amazed. It's fabulous. 1st class.
It's wonderful. Just me, it is great. This is incredible.
Worth the wait. Wow.
Really cool. Looking good. It's like I died and went to I can't even call this the cafeteria, went to I just keep looking up at the ceiling. I can't imagine the detail. This place is like a cruise ship.
It's great. It's a beautiful place. We've got a lot of And I really like it. I'm going to try something now, and I'll let you know how it is later. They have ramen bowl.
I've got this spicy ramen noodle bowl with shrimp. It looks Fantastic. I am trying the brick oven pizza, and I figure I'll try something new every day. We're at the onshore. We have the We have pork, chicken, beef.
I'm very impressed, and I got the Mexican bowl. I got an Impossible Burger. It is a vegan burger. That's a smash burger with sweet potato. Can't wait to try it.
I got the grilled chicken sandwich. It's awesome.
That's a hamburger there. Everything has gone excellent so far. Everybody's excited to be here. We've been watching this building go up for the last 3 years and today is finally here. We couldn't be happier.
Amazing. This is going to be spectacular. And you can order lunch before you get here, which is going to be even better. And you can take your time. So I'm looking forward to that.
Everything looks beautiful. This is our exciting new grill station, one of the 2 stations where you could place your mobile orders ahead of time from your desk. So you can skip the line, grab your food. Food's already prepaid for you. You don't have to pay in the checkout line and it's custom made to order.
And it's the same as the point of sale with the self check. You pay with the Bite app. The Bite app is actually the fastest form of payment on there. It'll take all forms of Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung, regular credit cards. Awesome space.
I think this will be the hub for Associates to eat and meet, work. You're just going to be overwhelmed. I mean, just the building is beautiful, it's bright. There's just There's something for everybody in here. I think this is spectacular.
It's beautiful. And there's so many options to eat. We love it. It is lovely. It's large and open and spacious and filled with light and everybody's smiling.
Wow. Tomorrow, I got to come back and get a pizza or a calzone. Please come here. It's awesome. A lot of diversity.
You're going to love it.
As you know, the consumer satisfaction that you could see in this video Makes us really proud. This pride in serving every day is what makes the beauty of our jobs And the greatness of our teams, whom I would really like to sincerely thank once again. I now give the floor to Mark Rolland, our CFO, who will give you a summary of our financial performance over the past financial year. Thank you, Denis. Ladies and gentlemen, Dear shareholders, good afternoon.
I'm very pleased to be here with you today even in a virtual meeting and to report on our financial performance for the past year. The COVID-nineteen pandemic has had a significant impact on our business and operations and consequently on our financial performance. Last year's revenue decreased by 12% to €19,300,000,000 The exchange rate effect Was negative minus 0.8 percent and is mainly linked to the depreciation of the Brazilian real during the year. Acquisitions contributed 0.7%. As a result, organic growth was down 12%.
On-site services decreased by 12.1% and benefits and rewards business was down by 7.8%. It was a year with 2 contrasting periods With the successful first half, in line with our strategic agenda, with a total growth of 3.2%, On-site service is growing and benefit of 3.2 percent and benefits and rewards services up 4%. There was a significant decrease Of 27.5 percent in the second half with On-site Services and Benefits and Reward Services down 27.8 percent and 18.8 percent, respectively. Despite this significant loss of revenue, the group's strategic choices over the years And its investments have enabled our model to be the most resilient among our peers. In the second half, The facility management services, which account for 40% of our On-site Services business, only decreased by minus 1.4%.
Global integrated accounts proved resilient too, flat on prior year. They account for some 10% of our on-site services revenue and have a rather favorable sectoral bias. The diversity of our geographic presence also helped. Our operations in Asia and Latin America proved very resilient. In Corporate Services, we benefited from a balanced fifty-fifty split of blue and white collar consumers.
Blue collar workers in core industries continued to work even during the lockdowns. The fact that more than onethree of our contracts, our cost plus contracts, also helped to mitigate the sharp drop the sharp drop, sorry, in revenue. As for the rest of our portfolio, we conducted negotiations with each of our clients with positive results. Finally, Two segments were very resilient, Energy and Resources and Government and Agencies. These areas account for 13% of group revenue and together, They grew by 1.3% in the second half.
Employee benefits, which account for 80% of the benefits and rewards business, We're more resilient with the issue volume falling by only 4% in Q4 after a 12% drop in Q3. The issue volume in Latin America held firm, down by only 6.9%. Digital conversion increased by 12 points, and we have significantly increased the number of partnerships with delivery platforms. Before reviewing performance by segment, I would like to say a few words about performance by region. Our operations in Asia Latin America, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 17% of revenues, and it helped us greatly as we posted Growth of 2.5% over the year, while Europe and North America were significantly down.
In Business and Administration, organic growth fell by 12.1% as a result of very contrasting situations. Sports and Leisure was the most affected segment since operations shut down very quickly in mid March and have scarcely rebounded since then. Corporate services and particularly catering suffered from site closures during the 1st wave of lockdowns With recovery since then only very slow and gradual. Energy and Resources and government agencies combined were up. Now let's move on to the Health Care and Senior segment, the most resilient segment, down by only 6.6% Due to the decline in elective surgery in hospitals, excluding COVID-nineteen and dropping retail sales as visits were prohibited, The loss of some contracts as well as a significant contract exit also impacted growth.
However, we benefited from additional cleaning and Services with rapid testing centers in the UK. Finally, the Education segment recorded the largest drop Of 18.9%, greatly impacted by the closure of most sites around the world. Despite these closures, Schools were more resilient than universities because of efforts made by the authorities, particularly in North America, to provide meals to families in need. Now let's move on to the benefits and rewards business, which accounts for 4% of group revenue. Organic growth declined by 7.8 Adversely affected by the spread of the pandemic worldwide in Europe in the 3rd quarter and in Latin America in the 4th quarter.
In Europe, Asia and the U. S, the decline was 4.8%. The decline in paper voucher production affected Issue volumes, while the closure of restaurants led to a decrease in reimbursement volumes and consequently in revenues from clients and merchants. This revenue gradually caught up as the migration to digital progressed and restaurants reopened in the 4th quarter. In Latin America, issue volume deteriorated throughout the second half.
Low interest rates in Brazil's Highly competitive environment worsened this impact. The on-site services margin came to 2.6 With a solid margin of 5.5 percent for the first half and a negative margin of minus 1.9 percent for the second half, Representing an annual decrease of 2 40 basis points at both constant and current rates. This decrease is entirely due to reduced revenue In the different segments, the flow through was 19.3%. Several measures have been taken to mitigate this impact: the transfer, sale or donation of food Applying for government support and relief programs where they existed, immediately stopping temporary employee contracts, especially in North America. While all alternatives were exhausted, employees were transferred to other segments or they were laid off as a last resort.
The benefits and rewards services margin came to 26.2%, down 480 basis points at current rates and 300 basis points at Concentrate. The gap between the two stems from the weakness of the Brazilian real. It is a result of a strong margin in the first half of 30.2% and a smaller margin of 20.8% in the second half. This decline is also entirely attributable to the decline in revenues. Therefore, the group's underlying operating profit margin after management expenses and intercompany eliminations was 2.9%, down By 2 60 basis points at current exchange rates and down by 2 40 basis points at constant rates.
The cash generated by operations was a negative minus €243,000,000 for the first half, falling further to minus €309,000,000 in Q3 After a very difficult month in March, with a collapse in all our cash sales, even though payment from supplies continued, we recovered positive cash flow momentum From April onwards, we then posted an excellent 4th quarter at €624,000,000 To achieve this, the teams mobilized to collect receivables and strictly control payment delays. We also managed to push back some €200,000,000 in social contribution and tax payments through government support programs. The benefits And rewards business also performed very well in the second half due to lower reimbursements among other things. As a result, our free cash flow was positive in the second half and reached €72,000,000 over the year. And as you can see on the right hand side of the slide, Both of our businesses prove resilience and cash generating in the second half, proving the strength of our business model.
As the crisis hit our business, investment was pushed back with the exception of a few key investments. With this strict control, investment fell by 50% in the second half compared to the first and end up at 2% of revenue. This ratio is expected to rise gradually to 2.5% over the medium term with a different mix towards the new food models that are emerging post crisis and to take advantage of growth opportunities. I would now like to highlight the Strong liquidity of €5,100,000,000 at the end of the worst year the group has known after a decrease in liquidity of €725,000,000 Over the 1st month of the crisis, due to the closure of the commercial paper market, we had a dynamic second half Issuing 2 bonds in euros, 1 for €1,500,000,000 in April and another one for €1,000,000,000 in July. And we decided to pay back the U.
S. Private placement for €1,400,000,000 The free cash flow in the second half contributed positively to ending the year very solidly. This brings us to our debt indicators. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio is 2.1, slightly higher than our target range of 1.1 to 2, sorry. Our gearing ratio, which corresponds to the net debt to equity ratio, also rose to 67% due to both The increase in net debt and a reduction in equity.
However, our balance sheet remains very strong as evidenced by financial rating, which was confirmed in November. This year was an exception to the group's habitual policy of paying out around The Board of Directors decided not to propose a dividend for the 2019 2020 financial year in support and solidarity with our employees and also to protect the balance sheet against the severity of the slowdown in business activity and the uncertainty of the recovery. Over the last 5 years, the Sodexo share declined by 24%, while over the same period, the CAC 40 has grown by 6%. Between the 31 August 2015 and the 31 December 2019, The share performed better than a CAG 40, but since January of 2020, that perform has reversed. In fact, In the last year and because of the pandemic, the share fell by 42% compared with a 10% drop for the CAC forty.
Our entire industry has been particularly affected by the health crisis. However, the travel and measures sector weighs Very little in the CAC 40 Index, which is mainly made up of luxury, health care and industrial goods and services companies, Which are sectors which have been comparatively less affected by the pandemic. Nevertheless, the long term performance is still robust. Since the shares were first listed, the value of the share has increased 38.7 fold, while in the C&P, the CAG 40 has only increased 13.3 fold. Sodexo's growth, therefore, is almost 3 times higher than that of the CAC40 Index.
I would like now to conclude with a view of the group's share capital. Belon SA stake Slightly increased to 42.8 percent of capital, which represents 57.1% of the exercisable voting rights. Our employees hold almost 1% of the share capital. Our individual shareholders own 4.1% of the share capital. Finally, institutional investors hold 51.1 percent of the group's share capital.
I hope I have given you a clear overview of Sodexo's development and performance over the past year. Thank you. I now I'll turn over to Denis to review our outlook. Thank you very much, Marc. We recently reported Today revenue for the Q1 of fiscal 2021.
Obviously, we are still impacted by the current crisis. However, the trend has been improving constantly since the Q3 of fiscal 2020. Our first The fiscal 2021 revenue came to €4,400,000,000 I. E. Organic growth down 22.7% Or down 21.5% if we exclude the Rugby World Cup base effect.
And this is in line with our assumptions. The decline in on-site services was 23.3%, while benefits and rewards Health firma only down 5.6%. As far as the outlook is concerned, given The revenue performance in the Q1 and the fact that there will be a 3rd wave of lockdowns in many countries over the next few months as we are seeing the UK Today, we maintain our first half organic growth guidance at between minus 20% and minus 25%. And given the strict cost control, given the solid contract negotiations and the ongoing restructuring effort, We are now targeting an underlying operating profit margin of at least 2.5%, above the original estimated range of 2% to 2.5%, which is encouraging. For the second half, it is far too early to Foresee the way things will play out in our business as it will heavily depend on the equilibrium between the new waves of contamination And the speed of the effects of the vaccination on the pandemic.
Over the longer term, considering that the pandemic ought To largely be curbed by year end 2021, we aim to return to sustained growth And rapidly increase the underlying operating margin back higher than the pre COVID level. I will now yield back to Sophie Belon.
Thank you, Denis. Thank you, Marc. Let's continue now with the agenda of our meeting, and I'd like to share with you an overview of the activity of our Board of Directors and the Board Committees.
Sodexo's Board of Directors is chaired by Sophie Belon. There are 12 directors. Pierre Belon, the Founder of Sodexo, is Chairman, Emeritus. The Board reflects the group's values in many ways. At the end of the fiscal year, as of August 31, 2020, the Board had 7 Women Directors Out of 12 members, the international profile of the Board of Directors reflects the company's global footprint With 4 nationalities represented, directors are chosen for their ability to act in the interests of all shareholders And for their expertise, experience and understanding of the strategic challenges in the markets where the group operates.
Sodexo's Board of Directors can thus draw on the varied and complementary expertise of its members, including executive management of international companies, Finance, sustainable development, societal commitment and human resources, innovation and digital, Marketing and sales, strategy in mergers and acquisitions as well as their overall knowledge of the services sector. During this annual shareholders meeting, shareholders are invited to reappoint Sophie Belan, Nathalie Belan Sabot And Francoise Brugger as directors for a new 3 year terms. In addition, Sumitra Duta, whose term of office also At the close of this annual shareholders meeting, has stated that he does not wish to stand for reappointment. The shareholders are invited to appoint Federico J. Gonzale Terreira As independent Board member for a 3 year term.
At the close of this annual shareholders meeting and subject to the approval of the proposed resolutions by the shareholders, The Board of Directors will then comprise 12 members from 4 nationalities, including 7 independent members and 2 directors representing employees. In addition, Sophie Belon will continue to chair the Board of Directors and serve as a member of the nominating committee. [SPEAKER NATALIE BELONSSABOT will continue to serve as a member of the nominating committee. FRANCOIS Brugge will continue to serve as a member of the nominating committee And the compensation committee. In fiscal 2020, the Board met 10x with a 97% attendance rate.
This year, the Board worked on the following topics: corporate governance on various subjects such as An external evaluation of the Board of Directors, the appointment and reappointment of Directors, the assessment of the Directors' independence, The review of the charters of the specialized committees, the review of employee engagement and corporate responsibility issues, Compensation policy and specifically this year, the review of the compensation of Board members, the evolution of the compensation policy for corporate officers, The review of gender pay equality financial statements and management, in particular, The review of the group budget for fiscal 2020 the share buyback program regular on the management and impact of the COVID-nineteen crisis, including its effect on liquidity and the employee relief program, The group's business and its strategy, notably the regular review of the various business activities and segments of the group, in particular in the United States, Their growth outlook and competitive environments, an update on Facilities Management Services, the review of strategic opportunities, Especially in terms of external growth. In making decisions, the Board relies on the preparation, advice and recommendations from its 3 committees. All committees are chaired by independent directors. The audit committee is chaired by Sophie Stabile.
It has 5 members, including 1 director representing the employees. 75% of its members are independent. The committee met 5 times during the year with an attendance rate of 100%. During fiscal 2020, in addition to the review of the financial statements, The committee notably reviewed the internal control process, updated the internal audit charter, monitored the impact COVID-nineteen on the annual audit plan and monitored the group's financing. As of October 28, 2020, The composition of the audit committee has been modified with the replacement of Sumitra Duta by Veroniglory.
The nominating committee is chaired by Cecile Tandon de Marsac. It has 4 members, of which 50% are independent. The committee met 4x during the year with an attendance rate of 95%. During the fiscal 2020, the committee, Reviewed the resolutions submitted to the Annual Shareholders Meeting, reviewed succession plans, Acknowledged the reappointment of a director representing employees, examined the group's talent retention strategy and reviewed the board's diversity policy. The compensation committee is also chaired by Cecile Trondeau de Marsac.
It has 4 members, Including 1 director representing the employees. 100 percent of its members are independent. The committee met 5 times during the year with an attendance rate of 96%. During fiscal 2020, the committee notably Studied recent developments and new regulations concerning executive pay examine the alternatives for the implementation of a new supplemental pension plan, which will be applicable to the Chief Executive Officer, assess the impact of COVID-nineteen on the compensation of corporate officers and members of the Executive Committee, Reviewed the restricted and performance shared plans. All of this information on corporate governance can be found in the universal registration document
Thank you. I'd like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Sumitra Duta on behalf of the Board as his term of office expires following this shareholders meeting. Since 2015, Sumitra has greatly contributed to the Board and the Audit Committee discussions particularly in relation to technology, digital, innovation and strategy matters. The fact that our Board comprises gender balanced and international experts with diverse and complementary backgrounds It means that it is really equal to the task of helping Sodexo make the choices that will enable us all to step up the implementation of our transformation. In keeping with this, I would like to introduce Federico Gonzalez Tejera, whose appointment is a draft resolution today.
Federico is CEO of Radisson Hotel Group. He will bring to the board his strategic vision and in-depth consumer knowledge. I wanted Federico to introduce himself. So I would now invite you to watch a video.
Good afternoon, shareholders, staff and directors. Before I introduce myself, I'd like to respond with that. But I was recently lucky and strict compliance will help I joined Eurovision in 2004. I was Vice President of Marketing and I was later promoted as President of Eurisne Vacations And senior VP of Bagherli and Sales As the Chief Executive Officer of General de France 2015, I had the CEO of Radisson Hotel Group, 1st based in the
U. S.
And then in Brussels. Radisson Hotel Group currently operates more than 1,000 hotels in more than 100 countries, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Americas. Today, I Serve as a director of the Board of Radisson Hotel Group, and I do not hold office in any other Board. So I'm delighted to have the opportunity to become an independent Director of Sodexo. I hope to bring to the Board my strategic vision as well as my solid expertise in consumer culture, which I gained in different marketing and chief executive officer roles that I have held in several corporations in the consumer goods, Entertainment and media as well as hotel and hospitality sectors also intend to bring my experience in leading change in large corporations.
I knew and admired Sodexo even before starting discussions with Sophie Belon, the Board of Directors Sodexo's corporate culture and its motto to serve and grow have always inspired me. This has been an opportunity for me to see how much the company's vision and goals, corporate culture, as that dedication focused on enhancing the quality of life of clients, consumers and employees. In your daily work
In the
service of people in countless countries, you strive to take care of others while delivering robust profits. I'm therefore honored to act on this opportunity to serve you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Federico. Dear shareholders, as is our usual Practice, I would like the work of our compensation committee to be shared with you also. And I suggest that Cecile Tondo DeMarsac Should take the floor. She is the Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee. She will give you an overview through a video message.
I'm pleased to present to you the 6 resolutions related to the corporate offices' compensation that were submitted for your approval at this shareholders meeting. In Resolution 10 and 11, you've been asked to approve the compensation component for fiscal 2020, of Sophie Billo, the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Denis Michela, the Chief Executive Officer of Commerce in accordance with the compensation policies approved at the previous shareholders meeting. Given the health crisis caused by the COVID-nineteen pandemic, the Board of Directors decided to reduce the fixed Compensation by 50 percent of the chairwoman and the Chief Executive Officer for the second half of the past fiscal year has just
suppressed the variable compensation component of the Chief Executive Officer. I'd like to
point out that Sophie I'd like to point out that Sofia and Denis were in full agreement with the decision, which gave them the opportunity to demonstrate their Solidarity with the efforts required of the group's employees. The amounts not paid financed the creation of the Sodexo employee relief program to help address some of the social and economic consequences of the COVID-nineteen pandemic. As a reminder, the compensation structure for Sophie Belon comprises annual fixed compensation of 675 and bureau. She also benefits from collective health and benefit plans as well as the use of a company car. As a result of this reduction, total compensation for Sophie Belon for the past fiscal year was I'll declare for €508,19 instead of €675,000 Regarding Denis Nasual, the structure of his compensation package is comprised of fixed compensation of €900,000 as well as variable and long term compensation.
He also benefits from the supplemental pension plan, collective health and benefit plans, fringe benefits, including the use of a company car and a non employment insurance policy as well as a non compete agreement. As previously mentioned, Dine Machiavelli's variable compensation was suppressed. Given that financial performance was severely impacted by the health crisis, the level of attainment of his objectives would have been 27.5 Total compensation for Tinie Maestro for the past fiscal year was €688,000 €463,000,000 instead of €1,160,963. Also, I'd like to remind you that the last shareholders meeting approved the reduction of the vesting period for restricted shares from 4 to 3 years. Also in order to maintain the regular annual pace of share delivery, No performance shares were granted to Denis Machol during the past fiscal year.
In connection with the 2016 restricted share 6,750 shares were delivered to him on the 27th April 2020. During the last shareholders meeting, Implementation of a new supplemental pension plan was approved with similar characteristics to the prior one whose Acquired rights were frozen as of December 31, 2019. Given that the French Social Security Department Concerning the financing of the plan has not yet been issued. The new supplemental pension plan was not implemented during the past fiscal year. Indeed, the Board of Directors considers that it remains uncertain that the plan will not result in related employee benefits and liabilities on the company's budget.
In any case, given the demanding nature of the performance criteria, Denimasuel would not have earned any rights during fiscal 2020. In Resolution 9, you've been asked for the first time in order to comply with new regulations to approve the information related to Compensation available for payments to directors of Sodexo was set at €900,000 in 2018. The total amount paid to directors, excluding the Chairwoman of the Board, was 788 €1800 representing 88 percent of the amount available. Also included in Resolution 9, the statement shows The pay equity ratio between the compensation paid to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the average and median compensation of Sodexo employees in France with past 5 fiscal years on a full time equivalent basis. For the Chairwoman and the Chief Executive Officer of Clear, Compensation elements, signature accounts are fixed compensation, annual variable compensation paid during the year for the past fiscal year.
For employees, full time equivalents, the compensation elements taken into account are fixed compensation, annual variable compensation paid during the year for the past fiscal year, individual bonuses, The performance shares granted during the fiscal year measured at fair value under IFRS rules It includes approximately 28,000 employees, in France representing almost all French employees. The results for fiscal 2020 are exceptionally low due to the reduction of 50% of the fixed compensation of Sophie Belong and Denimachuel and the non allocation
of restricted
share plans in fiscal Time to approve the compensation policy applicable to the Board of Directors for fiscal 2021. This policy summarizes and reflects the practices implemented by the company for many years and includes fixed and variable compensation based on the attendance of directors at each meeting as well as the traveler lines for directors coming from the United States. A review of whether the overall amount of this compensation is appropriate was intended to be performed during the past fiscal year. However, given We've decided to freeze the overall amount of the Board of Directors' compensation for fiscal 2021 unchanged since 2018. In resolutions 12 and 13, you've been asked to approve the compensation policy for the Chairwoman and the Chief Executive for fiscal 2021.
In line with previous years, the chairwoman's compensation policy provides fixed compensation of €675,000 unchanged since 2018.
A review
of the sharewoman's compensation was also due to be carried out in 2020. At the time for a re appointment, however, given the health crisis, we've decided to freeze our compensation for fiscal 2021. Also in line with previous years, the Chief Executive Officer's compensation policy provides fixed compensation of €900,000 unchanged since his appointment in 2018 as well as variable and long term compensation. Variable compensation will be based on target amounts representing 100 percent of its fixed compensation at target and up to 150,000 150%, sorry, if the targets are exceeded. Its determination will be based predominantly on financial criteria for up to 70% and on non financial targets for up to 30%.
Exceptionally and given the health crisis, the financial performance targets were set in October 2020 for the first half and will be set in March 2021 for the second half. In addition, the granting of performance shares resumed. This year, the performance shares will be subject to a continued presence condition of 38 months and up to 50% to the financial performance, up to 30% to a stock market performance, up to 20% to a corporate responsibility performance, including diversity targets and for the first time this year, Sustainability targets. With regard to the retirement plan, is the current Social Security Department The plan is not published during the fiscal year or its content does not preclude the recognition of employee benefit plan liabilities in the company's balance sheet. An exceptional grant of restricted shares would be made to the Chief Executive Officer.
In June, I would like to thank the member of the compensation committee Thank you for your attention. Thank you, Cecile, for making this very comprehensive presentation. Dear shareholders, we will now hand over to Caroline Bruno Diaz from KPMG, We'll present the joint auditors report. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders of I have the pleasure today on behalf of the joint auditors to report to you on our engagement, our assignment and on the report we've issued for the fiscal Our reports on the consolidated and individual company financial statements have been made available for the purpose of this annual shareholders meeting. This can be found respectively on pages 161 to 155 and 191 to 194 of the universal registration documents.
And we remind you that the objective of our engagement is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatements, comply with the applicable standards, to give a true and fair view also to the results of the group's of the company's operations for the year, the assets and liabilities and of the financial position of At the end of our assignment, we presented our funding to the Audit Committee and to the Board of Directors of your company. These financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on October 20, 2020, based on information available at that date and in the evolving context of the COVID-nineteen health crisis. In summary, we should have not qualified opinion on the consolidated and individual company financial statements for the year ended August 31, 1st implementation of IFRS 16, leases and IFRS 23 that is uncertainty over income tax treatment. Now our reports on the consolidated debt to individual company financial statements include key audit The statements include key audit matters, which are the matters requiring particular attention during our audit and which we consider to be the most for the consolidated financial statements. The key order matters are measurement of the recoverable amount of goodwill, suppliers discount allowances and tax rates.
For the individual company, the The key audit matter is the valuation of equity investment. A detailed description of the risks identified and our responses thereto can be found in our reports. Our reports on the consolidated and individual company's financial and in particular in the section dedicated to corporate governance. We've summarized the nature and extent of these specific verifications in the table that you currently see from the screen. Which requires 2 related party agreements.
We've issued a special report which can be found on pages 195196196 of the Universal Registration documents. We have not been notified of any new related party agreement authorized during last fiscal year and to be approved by the shareholders' meeting. Under the agreements already approved by the shareholders meeting and the prior years, we've been informed of the continuation of the service agreement between your company and Belon Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders of Sodexo, thank you for your attention. Thank you, Caroline. Thank you for your presentation.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I now suggest that we begin the Q and A session. I'd like to remind you that we are open to your suggestions and that ours is a continuous progress approach. This is an integral part of our values even in The current health situation and even though our shareholders meeting is virtual this year. As you know, every year as shareholders, You have the possibility to send us written questions prior to the shareholders meeting. This year, we have exceptionally extended the question receipt period.
And note that the Investor Relations team can also be reached throughout the year. In the run up to the shareholders meeting, we contacted The shareholders club members who sent us some questions that we will now answer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for maintaining a vibrant shareholder dialogue. Lastly, as I said at the beginning of the meeting, So those of you who want to Again, please note that for technical reasons, only shareholders who voted, Seemingly, there are no questions coming in on the telephone line at this point in time. So feel free, of course, we're available to answer your questions.
Feel free to use the telephone line. But in the meanwhile, I would suggest that Cindy Carriault should read out the questions received in writing Before the meeting. Thank you, Cecile. The first question sent by e mail comes from Mr. Claude Arroche, a member of the Shareholders Club.
The pandemic created upheavals in the ways in which companies organize their activities. Almost 8,000,000 Potential home workers in France, that's 4 jobs out of 10, have been counted, that many people working from home. How Will Sodexo as a major player in on-site food services adapt to this new situation which will no doubt continue after The pandemic as well. Thank you, Mr. Ahorst, Les Sophie Belans.
Thank you for your questions. A very relevant question, very much to the point at the moment. Of course, the pandemic did speed up the trends of working from home. On our side, It mainly affects our Corporate Services business segment and we've calculated that it would have an impact on 10% of that business activity. That represents between €400,000,000 €500,000,000 worth.
So indeed, as you said, the proportion of employees working from home is going to go up. But in certain countries, it was already fairly prevalent like in the U. S. Or the U. K, for example.
But obviously, it will go up. The number will go up in countries where it was not done so much traditionally like France or Brazil. So We've calculated that given the differences from one country to another, it would correspond to 2 days of home working on average. So this crisis has actually demonstrated that it's not just the place of work that Sodexo will link up with the consumer in. It's the whole product offering, the value proposition that counts because consumers will want to be able to eat where they are, when they want and eat what they want.
So Sodexo has a multichannel offering, we could call it, a multichannel offering in corporate food services or restaurant passes or the delivery of Meals to the Home or the office. This is a unique positioning for Sodexo such that our different business activities that we have in our portfolio are all available. They span quite a palette of service offerings. So we'll be able to bolster this unique Differentiator we have and widen our service offering and indeed Provide complementary offerings in the future. Thanks to those multichannel offerings that we have within the group.
Cindy Cario. The second question from Mr. Arroch is the following. FoodSherry, a company that delivers meals that Sodexo acquired 4 years ago, In the recent past, embarked on an involvement in the Eco Score initiative, an indicator that Informs people about the environmental impact of the dishes that are made. Now homeworking coupled with the ongoing quest for protecting the planet.
Will it will they be able to work together? I mean, home working, trying to protect the planet, Can we actually give a new impetus to this ultra foodist who wants to actually have meals delivered to home or office? And Faso Sodexo do in this context. Well, yes, you made quite a valid point here. Again, of course, there are more and more meals being delivered these days.
The context we've had recently has shown that in the past, of course, we did invest in food, Sherry, and we need to keep on adapting to consumer And I'll let Denis give you more details perhaps at this point on FoodCherry in particular.
Yes. Thank you, Monsieur Arroche, and thank you For emphasizing this year again, our innovation in FoodShare. You spoke about EcoScore. Well, The environmental positioning of FoodShare is a real differentiator. And working from home has Boosted business development as well.
The growth posted by Futcheri over many, many years has been double digit growth. We are highly satisfied with this performance and the way it's positioned is a good complementary fit. When some sites were shut Down, we were able to deliver our clients with Food and Sherry. And the same continues when the sites reopen again. There is geographical development.
We've allocated the right level of investments. And with respect to our geographical Development, we are targeting new cities in France where we open new food, Sherry services. But in parallel from Futcheri offerings, we have a new offer called Season. It is a subscription based Home delivery service, which is unique in France as it is the single offering of delivering fresh meals across All of France, across all of the French territory. No other competitor does it.
So giving us great growth and development prospects For season and food, Sherry, and we are allocating the right level of investment.
We've received questions from Mr. Roger Trond, who is a member of the shareholders club. First question. To what extent has the state helped the Sodexo company? I think you've asked Mr.
Bruno Lemaire, the Minister, for help in terms of paying furlough pay, short term working pay to your employees. Is that correct, Mr. Tran? Thank you, says Sophie Belan, for your Questions. You've asked actually several questions.
It will be a pleasure for us to answer these questions, of course. Yes, indeed. In France, Just like other eligible companies, we availed of the short time working There are further possibilities when they were available. However, we did not utilize the loan extended by the state, at least guaranteed Another question from Mr. Transe, Cindy Cario.
No large company from the CAC40 Index Has highlighted the members of the Board of Directors fulfilling their role as CFO during this pandemic period. Ordinary shareholders need to know the current situation of the company. What do you think? Well, Mr. Tranze, Sophie Belon.
It is true that The financial situation and the role of CFOs during the pandemic were key. I mean, they were very active, The CFOs of companies and our company, of course, they've all been very active. And I'd like to thank Mark and his teams for all the work they've been doing. And I'll Give the floor also to Denis because in the last few months, we've seen, well, I would say just intense Workload, intense workload, so to try and keep on adapting to the situation that evolved.
Yes. Thank you, Sophie. Well, indeed, Thank you, Mr. Tran, for giving us the opportunity to pay tribute to the great work Conducted by Marc and his team during the crisis. This was said already.
All of the company employees Engaged and mobilized to respond to this huge crisis with great talent, with lots So Drive Energy. And I want to pay tribute most specifically to the finance teams, which were Traited under the leadership of Marc, work on collecting receivables, securing our cash It was extremely significant. Marc shared the numbers with you. We posted Liquidity management performance of an excellent level given the magnitude of the crisis. And the finance teams next to our operations Worked hard and extremely precisely on forecasting And planning in the early part of the crisis in March April, so as to forecast what would be our landing At the end of the year, so that they could manage the company as precisely, as finally as possible.
Marc mentioned it before, Thanks to the hard work made by all the teams. We shored up our balance sheet with Two bond issues in the midst of the crisis, and this has been remarkable work. I would add also that the finance team supported operations teams With respect to renegotiation of contracts, with respect to the big calls for tenders and this teaming up between finance and operations, which is one of the strengths of Sodexo, demonstrated that it was very effective and very powerful during the crisis. So A big thank you to you, Marc, and a big thank you to all the finance teams I'm paying tribute to.
Thank you, Denis. Thank you, Marc, and all of your teams. In listening to your question, Mr. Tran, I realized that you're also talking about the CFO's members of the Board of Directors. In Sodexo, we're lucky to have 2 CFOs and Board members, I mean, Sophie Stabile, who is in charge of the Audit Committee and Emmanuel Babbo as well.
I can tell you that there were talks Close, thorough discussions between Marc and our board members, In-depth discussions that is and fruitful discussions during the board meetings and during the committee meetings and that of course helped us a lot. It helped to fuel our thinking process, so as to react as best we could to the crisis. And I think financial status, financial situation that Mark presented to you earlier is the best proof of that. So I would like to thank in Passing now the Board members who are also CFOs. Thank you for your help.
Next question from Mr. Tran says Cindy Carrillo. With this pandemic, the COVID-nineteen pandemic, the group issued on the 27th April 2020 And 17th July 2020, 2 bonds. There were 2 bond issuances. The Numelima, €2,500,000,000 face value.
Now was it Opportun to actually make whole Private U. S. So investments, dollars 1,600,000,000 value. So I'm just wondering if the shareholders are negligible quantity. Are the Americans more important in your eyes?
Thank you, sir. It's a rather technical question, so I will give the floor to the expert on this. That is Mark.
Thank you very much, Mr. Tran, for your financial questions. It's quite rare that we have such questions in shareholders meetings. And thank you For your appreciation, I will pass them on to the finance teams. What you need to know, Mr.
Tuan, and this is what I explained in my review of the slides, the commercial paper market really closed As early as March. So to shore up our financial situation at Sodexo with the Board, we decided to issue 2 bonds Back in April of 2020, the first for €700,000,000 5 year term, 0.8 percent yield, EUR 800,000,000 was the 2nd bond, 9 year with 1.1% rate. So this was the first episode. And then we approached our U. S.
Private Placement bearers as the USPP had covenants we had to comply with. And our Concern was that with the pandemic, we might have an issue with the net debt to EBITDA ratio, not that the net debt It would increase, but the EBITDA would go down because our revenue was going down. So we tried to negotiate with these bearers of USPP and our negotiations, in fact, was not conclusive. The terms, they demanded To relieve the terms of the covenants were just not reasonable. And with the Board, we decided to pay them back.
And the best to do To pay them back was to borrow €1,000,000,000 and this is what we did in July. And we paid this back in July August on the close of 31st August. And we borrowed again €1,000,000,000 €500,000,000 at 0.5 percent rate and another 500 EUR 1,000,000 to 20.28 at a rate a bit higher than 1%. And we made it possible to circumvent the And we wanted to keep our freedom and our financial independence is very dear to us, and we didn't want to be controlled by these USPP bearers. And this is the reason why We borrowed €2,500,000,000 and we paid back €1,600,000,000 to these barriers.
So I hope I answered your question. Thank you again.
4th question from Mr. Tram. No senior manager in the CapForti index has answered my question about inviting some of the pillars including yours truly to the venue where the meeting is being held behind closed doors. You know when shareholders ask Questions at shareholders meetings. It's very often just a random selection of such shareholders, ordinary shareholders, Then the meeting is over and that's all the exposure we get to being able to ask questions.
Well, thank you, Mr. Tran, for your Long standing support. You're very faithful to Sodexo. So it's stimulating to have such a faithful presence with us. Thank you for asking us your questions.
Now this is, of course, the meeting behind closed doors. And we have Denis, Mark, Cindy and our 2 scrutineers here. We're as you can see, we're in the studio. We're not even in the head office. We're not even in the head office of Sodexo.
We're in the studio. We're not far from the head office, but we're in a little studio here to do the broadcast. And that's all. They're all the Sodexo representatives. Even the board members aren't with us here today.
They're also attending virtually. And as I was explaining, we really Want to put our shareholders' health and safety first and of course our employees' health and safety as well. And our employees can, of course, attend the shareholders meeting. And as we attach importance to everybody's health and safety, all of our friends, We prefer not to let them run any risks. So it's a virtual meeting this time.
Hopefully, In the near future, we'll be able to meet in a more, let's say, user friendly environment at La Senne Musicale, which is a nice venue. And if possible, it won't be even next year because the next shareholders meeting will be in December. So let's hope that by the end of this year, we'll be able to meet in person This question from Mr. Tran says Cindy Cario. How is Mr.
Thierry Marks Doing. He's in the Eiffel Tower restaurant. That's where he works. Given the different lockdowns, I'm sure His morale must be flagging. And I see him on the TV Screen regularly when the chefs come to complain to the French steak.
But I haven't heard Much from Thierry Marks and 3 years ago, I was asking you, you may recall, about Thierry Marks' cocktail recipe for the end of the shareholders meeting. So can you tell me how he's doing, please? Thank you for your first question Mr. Tran, Cecilia Belan. Like all restaurant operators, your remarks and Frederic Anton, who I'll work on the Eiffel Tower.
They obviously are impacted by this crisis, but they are of course respecting the guidelines and the measures set up by the government. And what they really want to do as soon as possible is Exercise their talents once again. And we do hope that in the near future, we will have some kind of easing up of the restrictions so that They will be able to resume their activities. Obviously, in Sodexo, we're lucky to work with Thierry Marks and Frederic Canton, But we also have lots of other chefs. And maybe Denis could talk a little bit about the conditions in which our teams are working these days in the company given the pandemic.
Yes, indeed. Our teams, as I said earlier, and you said so, Sophie, Poutine, great work, heroic work. This has been a very tough call and situation for Many, many people. It's been tough for all who are on a short time work arrangement. They are also very difficult for our teams Who are operating under conditions which are different from the pre COVID situation for those teams who worked in some Extreme situations where you had to be extremely responsive.
I told you about the surge hospital in Los Angeles, U. S. A. Or I have in mind those teams who deliver food for families in need in the U. S.
All this was done with Incredible dedication and great talent and great energy. So we do have chefs Who are on short time work today. And it is a situation which is very difficult for them. And I have no doubt, as you said, Sophie, and we can see this when the sites are reopening and our teams and the chefs are back In the restaurants serving consumers and guests with great talent, I have no doubt that as soon as the Two restaurants on the Eiffel Tower reopen. We will have Thierry Marks and Thierry Anton doing marvels to offer a great experience To the guests and customers.
And what is true for them is true for all our chefs who every day work hard And harness all their talent and capabilities to bring joy and quality of life to our customers.
Thank you, Denis. To our shareholders, At this stage, we don't have any questions coming in over the phone. So I suggest We conclude the question and answer session now. And I would like to give the floor therefore to Cindy, who is our meeting secretary, who will Tell us the outcome of the voting on the resolutions. Thank you, Sophie.
As was indicated at the beginning of this shareholders meeting, This year, given the fact that this shareholders meeting is organized behind closed doors, the voting results were determined on Monday, January 11, 2021, at at 3 p. M. I will therefore inform you of the voting results of the ordinary shareholders meeting. First resolution, adoption of the individual company financial statements for fiscal 2020 ended August 31, 2020. This resolution Was adopted with 99.9% of the votes in favor.
2nd resolution, adoption of the consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2020. This resolution was also adopted with with 99.9 percent of the votes. 3rd resolution, appropriation of net income for fiscal 2020. This resolution stands approved with more than 99.9% of votes. 4th resolution, reappointment of Sophie Belong as a Director for a 3 year term.
This resolution stands approved with 92.6 percent of votes in favor. Sophie Belan will continue to chair the Board of Directors. 5th resolution, the reappointment of Nathalie Belon Sabot as a Director for a 3 year term. This resolution stands approved with 94.5% of the votes. Sixth resolution, reappointment of Francoise Brugger as a Director for a 3 year term.
This resolution is approved with 99.8% of votes. 7th resolution, Appointment of Federico Gonzalez Tejera as new Director for a 3 year term. This resolution is adopted with more than 99.9% of votes. 8th resolution, the reappointment of KPMG S. A.
As statutory auditor for a 6 year term. This resolution stands adopted with 97.5% of votes in favor. 9th resolution, approval of information related to compensation paid during or awarded for fiscal 2020 to corporate officers. This resolution Stands approved with 99.9 percent of votes in favor. 10th resolution.
Approval of the components Compensation paid during or awarded for fiscal 2020 to Sophie Belan, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. This resolution is adopted with 99.8% of votes in favor. 11th resolution. Approval of the components of the compensation paid during or awarded for fiscal 2020 to Denis Machuel, the Chief Executive Officer. This resolution is adopted with 99% of votes.
12th resolution, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the Board of Directors for fiscal 2021. This resolution is adopted with 99.9 percent of votes. 13th resolution, Approval of the compensation policy applicable to the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors for fiscal 2021. This resolution is adopted with 97.7 percent of votes. 14th resolution, Approval of the compensation policy applicable to the Chief Executive Officer for fiscal 2021.
This resolution is adopted This resolution is adopted with 98 0.3% of votes. 16th resolution powers to carry out formalities. This resolution is adopted with more than 99.9 percent of votes. Finally, I would like to remind you that last year, We set up the possibility for our shareholders to receive the notice of meeting and to vote in a digital manner by the Vote Access platform. This initiative was greatly appreciated, and we would like to encourage those shareholders who have not yet done so to subscribe to the service, which will allow them to exercise their rights in a simpler and faster manner.
Thank you for your attention. And I'll now give the floor back to Sophie Belon. Thank you very much. Thank you, Cindy. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm grateful for the trust you've shown in the Board of Directors by your votes.
Since All the meeting agenda points have been addressed now. I hereby declare the session adjourned. Sorry, we won't have a cocktail reception today. We do apologize. Thank you for attending the shareholders meeting.
And I sincerely hope we'll be able to meet physically for our next shareholders meeting that we'll be able to meet safely and in a more friendly manner, therefore, in December 2021. So until then, Please stay safe and take care of yourselves and your families. Thank you.