Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good afternoon to everybody. Welcome to La Scène Musicale. It's a great pleasure to meet you in this exceptional place again this year for our annual shareholders meeting. I'm speaking to you today alongside Sébastien de Tramasure, who is our Chief Financial Officer, and Florence Négrel, who is Secretary of the Board of Directors and who is handling the General Meeting secretarial duties. I would also like to inform you of the presence of the General Meeting's two scrutineers. That is François-Xavier Bellon, who represents the holding company Bellon SA, and Véronique de Baecque, who represents FCPE Group Sodexo PEPS, which is one of the mutual funds for Sodexo employees, who are the shareholders with the largest number of votes having accepted the role of scrutineer.
I will now officially open this annual meeting, of which I am the Chair as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. The members of the Board of Directors and Sodexo's leadership team, who could attend or also present, either physically in this room or remotely. The audit firms Ernst & Young Audit and KPMG, represented by Madame Caroline Bruno-Diaz of KPMG, will share their reports with us during this meeting. I would now like to hand the floor over to Florence Négrel, Meeting Secretary, who will present the agenda. Thank you, Sophie. Hello, everybody. I'm delighted to be with you as Secretary for this meeting. First of all, I'd like to remind you that this shareholders' meeting will be held in French and that simultaneous translation into English is available.
As usual, this meeting is also accessible to the deaf or hard of hearing thanks to sign language interpreters. I also remind you that this meeting is being broadcast live from our website, www.sodexo.com, and will also be available for replay in the coming days. I'd like to inform you that the number of shares mentioned on the attendance sheet in the name of the shareholders present, represented, or having voted by correspondence amounts to 124,699,254 shares. That's 85.63% of the shares bearing voting rights. The legal quorum is 36,406,184 shares. Therefore, the shareholders meeting can validly deliberate. If latecomers come to attend the meeting before 4:15 P.M., that is, this provisional quorum will be modified, and the final quorum will be taken into account when voting on resolutions.
I have before me all the documents which attest to the regularity of the convening and deliberation of this meeting, and the documents that must be made available or communicated to shareholders have been made so under the legal conditions and deadlines. Please also be informed that a bailiff is present in the room. The agenda of the shareholders meeting, as well as the draft resolutions, were presented in the preliminary notice of meeting published on November the 6th, 2024, in the French BALO Gazette. The final notice of meeting was published in the BALO and in the Journal of Legal Announcements on November 29th, 2024. Please note that following the publication of the preliminary notice of meeting, no request for the inclusion of points or draft resolutions on the agenda has been submitted by the shareholders.
As usual, in the interest of the debates, we propose that you exempt the Chairwoman from the exhaustive reading of the Board of Directors' report. The full report can be found in the Fiscal 2024 Universal Registration Document available on our company's website, and its main components will be presented to you during this shareholders meeting. I would now like to give the floor to Sophie Bellon, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. Dear shareholders, dear board members, dear colleagues, dear friends of Sodexo. This year, we've made significant progress and established a strong strategic set of foundations for a future that will create value for all of our stakeholders. Our results reflect the major steps we've taken towards our ambition of becoming the leader in sustainable food and valued experiences. In 2024, Sodexo once again delivered solid performance.
Our revenues reached EUR 23.8 billion and organic growth of 7.9% compared to the previous fiscal year. Our UOP margin at 4.7% increased by 40 basis points. Our new development reached a decisive milestone, hitting a record level of EUR 1.9 billion. Adjusted net income increased by 17.6% to EUR 775 million, translating to an adjusted net income per share of EUR 5.29. Based on this, and aligned with Sodexo's 50% distribution policy, the Board of Directors proposes an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.65. You will have the opportunity to vote on this proposal during the resolutions. This will be voted on alongside the exceptional interim dividend of EUR 6.24 per share paid in August 2024 following the sale of Sofinsod. Our Chief Financial Officer, Sébastien de Tramasure, who we are pleased to welcome to his first shareholders meeting today, will present the details of our economic performance shortly.
I want to warmly thank the 423,000 Sodexo employees who have been fully committed throughout the year to supporting our clients, our consumers, and our partners in a complex and demanding environment. I also want to congratulate our teams for their key role in the success of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As you saw in the video before the start of this shareholders meeting, this event was exceptional. Together, we met a logistics, culinary, and human challenge, demonstrating our expertise in food services on a massive scale with up to 40,000 meals served daily. Thank you and congratulations to our 6,000 dedicated employees who, with passion and creativity, provided all of our guests with a unique experience. We can give them, I think, a round of applause. 2024 was marked also by structural transformations aimed at strengthening our market position.
During this fiscal year, we took decisive steps to simplify and refocus Sodexo. In line with our 2022 commitment to accelerate Pluxee's profitable growth, we completed the spin-off and the listing of this business activity, a strategic operation that enhances our agility and strategic focus. Furthermore, the sale of our subsidiary, Sofinsod, which held a stake in Bellon SA, allows for greater clarity and transparency in our shareholder structure. You will be asked to approve the regulated agreement regarding the sale of Sofinsod to Bellon SA during the vote on the resolutions. I want to express my deep gratitude to the board members for their decisive contributions to the success of these two operations. With our simplified structure, now organized by geography and focused on food services and facilities management, Sodexo is well positioned to seize opportunities in a global market estimated at over EUR 600 billion.
Our strategy is now built around two pillars: refocusing on food services and targeted growth in facilities management, and strengthening our impact as a market maker in sustainability. Throughout the year, we made significant progress in executing our strategic plan. We rebalanced our business portfolio with food services now accounting for 66% of Sodexo's revenue. We've also made major strides in modernizing our food offer. Our brands like Modern Recipe, The Good Eating Company, and Kitchen Works generate 37% of our food services revenue. These brands redefine the culinary experiences we provide, driving efficiency gains and increased competitiveness. I invite you to watch a brief testimonial from Michael Jelly, one of our British chefs and an ambassador for The Good Eating Company.
I became a chef because I spent most of my childhood growing up around food. My grandma was a cook. My granddad was a farmer, which has definitely made me appreciate the amount of hard work and love and care and attention that goes into producing all of the lovely things that come to us and find our way to us in our kitchens. Consumers are definitely demanding more transparency around their food choices. I think people want to know what they're putting in their bodies, and they want to understand where things are coming from, how they're produced, how to make that dish more sustainable. They're interested in the whole journey of everything that's on their plate.
We're also transforming our production models by deploying innovative workshops that combine culinary excellence, efficiency, and sustainability. This year, we launched in France Prêt à Cuisiner, inspired by the CulinArt model in Chile. In India, our master kitchen already produces over 45,000 meals a day. Simultaneously, we're evolving our distribution models with a multi-channel approach to ensure availability at any time of the day. In the United States, our largest market, we strengthened our InReach convenience offer through strategic acquisitions in 2024. In the US, convenience encompasses various grab-and-go and tech-based distribution options, a priority development area with a $30 billion market potential. The innovative offerings we develop enable us to better respond to changing consumer behaviors across all of our segments. In business and administrations, for example, the decline in remote work is a notable trend.
Our offerings support clients as their employees return to on-site work, helping us to recover the revenue lost during COVID. Transforming our food offerings is not optional. It is essential. Food is one of the most powerful levers to reduce the environmental impact of human activities, and as a global player, we have a major responsibility to accelerate the shift towards sustainable production practices and healthy, planet-friendly eating habits. This is a strong expectation indeed from consumers. Our second edition of the Sustainable Food Barometer, published last month, confirms that individuals are ready for this transition. They seek inspiration and rely on us for guidance. Among those able to drive change, food players rose from ninth place in 2023 to fourth place in 2024, a significant improvement that encourages us to stay mobilized. Our thousands of chefs, true ambassadors of responsible culinary practices, play a key role in this transformation.
Training them, valuing their expertise, and supporting responsible food choices are central to our mission. Last month in Paris, we celebrated the Cook for Change Grand Finale. As you may have seen, we keep on offering new flavors, new tastes to our guests. So the Cook for Change Grand Finale that you perhaps saw yourselves was an international competition dedicated to sustainable and delicious cuisine. This emotional event showcased the talent of our chefs. After a global selection process, the event brought together eight finalists in Paris to demonstrate how Sodexo combines culinary creativity, environmental respect, and taste. This competition illustrated our team's unwavering commitment to promoting responsible eating. The dishes presented, as tasty as they were bold, reflected the spirit that drives us, transforming culinary practices to build a more sustainable future without compromising on taste or experience.
So congratulations to all of our participants, finalists, and the jury members who took part in this contest. A big hand for them all. In terms of facilities management services, we are also committed to helping our clients enhance the experience of their employees on their sites. Through a range of complementary services such as reception, concierge services, and space management, we enrich the food experience. We are also proud to provide our clients with high-value-added services tailored to the specificity of their environments, such as smart building solutions and sustainable energy management. The renewal of our contracts with major international companies reflects the essential role we play in creating attractive work environments for our clients. We also contribute to their operational efficiency while helping them to achieve their sustainability goals.
To name just a few clients, we are particularly proud of renewing several of our multi-country contracts, including Microsoft and AstraZeneca, totaling more than EUR 500 million worth of revenues in 2024. The complementarity of our food services and our expertise in facilities management has been key to these renewals. Our social, societal, and environmental contributions are also progressing very well. Reducing our carbon footprint throughout our value chain remains an absolute priority. Once again this year, we worked with our suppliers, our teams, and our clients to optimize energy consumption, to offer low-carbon meals, and strengthen our actions against food waste. We have made significant progress in implementing our holistic approach aimed at having a positive impact on people, society, and the planet. Supporting our on-site employees is a strong focus.
This is illustrated by the deployment of our VITA program, which offers a common base of social benefits to our employees. We are the first global group in our sector to make such a broad commitment, which has become a differentiating factor in our bids. Regarding health and safety at work, we recorded a historic performance for the second year in a row in the lost-time injury rate. We will continue our efforts to move even closer to zero accidents. We're also intensifying our initiatives on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sodexo has long been recognized, particularly for gender balance, which is both a moral imperative and a performance issue. Unique to our group since its creation and key to our differentiation for clients, our environmental, social, and societal commitments make Sodexo an attractive employer for talent. They also lead to regular recognitions by institutions.
Sodexo is the only company in the sector listed among the global leaders of the CDP Climate Ranking with an A score, and in 2024, we also entered the world's most ethical companies ranking by the Ethisphere Institute. To achieve our goals, we can rely on a major asset: the commitment of our teams worldwide, measured biannually through our Voice survey, and this commitment is reflected in a significant improvement in employee retention rates, demonstrating the effectiveness of our employee policy. Every day, our employees embody our values and bring their passion and expertise to serving our consumers. Before handing over to Sébastien, who will present the details of our financial performance over the past fiscal year, I would invite you to watch a video about our sustainability progress.
At Sodexo, our ambition is clear: to be the leader in sustainable food and valued experiences.
Every day, we bring it to life. And when we say we, it goes beyond the company itself. It's our employees, our clients, our consumers, and all our stakeholders working together. We have been pioneers in sustainability since our creation in 1966. From the very beginning, we've embraced a holistic approach, integrating social, societal, and environmental challenges into everything we do, guided by the Better Tomorrow 2025, our sustainability roadmap. By building strong partnerships, we've engaged our entire ecosystem in this mission. And now, we are accelerating our journey towards a more sustainable future. We are dedicated to supporting our people. Working with Sodexo is more than just a job. It's an opportunity to be part of something greater. We belong in a company that values us for who we are.
By fiscal 2025, we are committed to ensuring that 100% of our employees work in countries that have gender-balanced management teams. We act with purpose, driven by the motivation to make a difference through everything we do. By fiscal 2025, 100 million beneficiaries of Stop Hunger, our unique philanthropic cause, will have been supported worldwide. We thrive in our own ways, supported with the resources and opportunities we need. We are expanding VITA, our global employee benefits program, to reach at least 60% of the countries where we operate by the end of 2024. We are strengthening our focus on protecting the environment to achieve our 2040 net zero targets, validated by SBTi. We have committed to making our supply chain deforestation and conversion-free by 2030 by choosing the right products and promoting sustainable practices.
We are aiming for 70% of our main dishes to be labeled as low carbon by 2030 by equipping our teams with the skills to craft and serve delicious sustainable meals and inspiring our clients and consumers to make eco-friendly choices. We are reducing energy use and speeding up the shift to renewable energy, aiming for 100% renewable electricity in our direct operation sites by 2025. We're also expanding this to support client sites through innovative integrated solutions. We are on track to meet our goal of reducing food waste by 50% within our operations by 2025, thanks to the expansion of our WasteWatch program and our participation in initiatives like the International Food Waste Coalition. We are scaling up rapidly. In fiscal 2024, we've driven meaningful change. For our 423,000 employees, we've built a diverse and inclusive workplace, with women now representing 41% of group senior executives.
Our zero accident culture has remained a top priority, as shown by our record-low lost-time injury rate of 0.47. We've stayed committed to professional growth and well-being, with an 86.9% retention rate for site managers and an average of 11.8 hours of training per employee. For the planet, we've continued to reduce carbon emissions, achieving a 2.5% reduction for Scope 1, 2, and 3 compared to the previous year. We've advanced sustainability initiatives across our sector, spending EUR 2.5 billion with SME suppliers and securing 100% certified sustainable palm oil. With 73% renewable electricity within our own operations and an average 40.7% reduction in food waste at sites using our WasteWatch program, we've made significant strides toward a greener future. For wider society, we've made a difference in the lives of 92.5 million beneficiaries through Stop Hunger initiatives since 2015, and our journey doesn't stop there.
Not only will we be ready to meet the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requirements, reaffirming our commitment to transparency and accountability, but we will continue to strengthen our positioning as market maker in sustainability.
Mesdames et Messieurs. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, it's a great pleasure for me to address you for the very first time as Chief Financial Officer of our group. I am delighted to share with you our solid financial performance for the past fiscal year. Before diving into the details, I'd like to remind you that the figures I will present today pertain solely to our continuing operations, excluding Pluxee. The contribution of this entity for the first five months remains unchanged from our half-year report and is detailed in our annual financial report. For fiscal 2024, our organic growth reached 7.9%, equally driven by inflation-related price adjustments and the addition of new contracts and volumes.
Revenues amounted to EUR 23.8 billion, supported by outstanding performance in our food services segment, which achieved organic growth of 9.3% and now accounts for 66% of our revenue. On the profitability front, our operating margin improved by 40 basis points, reaching 4.7%, and our adjusted net income increased by 17.6%. These results demonstrate our ability to combine growth and operational discipline. Another key point of satisfaction is our management of the group's financial position. Following the spin-off of Pluxee, we committed to reducing our net debt ratio to below two times EBITDA. And I'm pleased to announce that we have achieved this goal one year ahead of schedule. Thanks to strong cash flow generation, our net debt ratio now stands at 1.7 times, within our target range of one to two. This robust balance sheet positions us to face the future with confidence.
Our growth momentum is reflected in strong regional performance. In North America, revenues reached 11.1 billion EUR, with organic growth at 8.7%. North America now accounts for nearly half of the group's revenue. This momentum was driven by the gradual return of employees to workplaces, strong growth in the healthcare segment, and exceptional performance from Sodexo Live!. Europe posted organic growth at 7.2%, revenues at 8.5 billion EUR, representing over one-third of the group's business. This performance was fueled by multiple factors, including the positive impact of the Olympics and Rugby World Cup, increased volumes driven by upgraded offers, contributions of new contracts, and the effects of price revisions. For the rest of the world, revenues reached 4.2 billion EUR, organic growth stood at 7.3%. This performance was notably supported by significant growth in India and Australia.
Let us now turn to our operating margin, which reached 4.7%, up 40 basis points compared to the previous year. This increase was driven by three main levers: the operating leverage from revenue growth, enhanced on-site productivity and more efficient procurement, and finally, rigorous management of overhead costs, including an 11% reduction in HQ costs following the spin-off of Pluxee. All our regions contributed to this improved margin. In North America, the margin reached 5.9%, up 30 basis points, driven by productivity gains and optimized procurement. In Europe, the operating margin rose to 4%, also up 30 basis points, partly due to price revisions, particularly in France, where further adjustments were necessary. For the rest of the world, the operating margin was up 20 basis points at 4.9%, supported by successful pricing negotiations in Australia and the termination of less profitable contracts in Brazil.
If we now look at our performance in terms of cash flow and debt reduction, free cash flow reached 661 million EUR, up almost 290 million compared to the previous year. This improvement reflects higher operating income and better working capital management. Our CapEx represented 2% of revenue, slightly down compared to the prior year. As a result, we reduced our net debt by 318 million EUR at 2.6 billion. Combined with an EBITDA increase of 11.5%, as I said in my introduction, we successfully lowered our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio to 1.7 times in an environment with higher interest rates. We also repaid 800 million EUR of bonds during the year using our cash surplus.
For fiscal 2025, free cash flow is expected to be lower than in fiscal 2024, primarily due to anticipated higher CapEx to sustain growth and an exceptional tax cash outflow related to the completion of a tax audit in France. This was fully provisioned as of August 31st, 2024. Despite these factors, we plan to repay at least part of the EUR 700 million bond, which will reach maturity in April 2025, using cash reserves, depending on the level of our M&A activity. The group's strong financial performance is also reflected in attractive shareholder returns over the past few years. Total shareholder return, TSR, which combines stock price appreciation of the share price and dividends paid out, stood at 29% for fiscal 2024, while it stood at 33% for fiscal 2023.
This impressive performance for 2024 partly reflects a 16.3% increase in our stock price over the fiscal year, but also the special interim dividend paid in August following the sale of Sofinsod, a stake in Bellon SA, in addition to the ordinary annual dividend paid in December 2023. Today, we are submitting to this AGM the approval of the special interim dividend of EUR 6.24 and the ordinary dividend of EUR 2.65 per share, up 18% versus last year. This dividend represents a payout ratio of 50% of adjusted net income in line with our historical dividend policy. Our capital allocation strategy focuses on three key priorities: delivering attractive shareholder returns, supporting sustainable growth, and investing in strategic opportunities. First, we maintain our dividend payout policy of 50% of adjusted net income.
Second, we invest in the future by allocating around 2.5% of our revenues to CapEx to sustain long-term growth. And finally, we have the capacity to accelerate growth through targeted acquisitions, backed by a strong balance sheet and rigorous financial management. We're in a position to allocate between EUR 300 million and EUR 500 million annually to external growth opportunities while maintaining our leverage targets. Our acquisition strategy focuses on three areas: consolidating our position in food services in key markets such as the U.S., Europe, and major emerging markets like Brazil and India, developing new production and distribution models in food services to meet changing client and consumer expectations, and finally, strengthening Entegra, our group purchasing organization, which is a key asset in our strategy. In conclusion, I'd like to share our stock price performance over the past 12 months as of last Friday.
Over the period, our share price was up 16.3%, significantly outperforming the CAC 40, which dropped by 2.5%. Despite the geopolitical and economic challenges that have been severe in 2024, Sodexo's share price demonstrated notable resilience, reflecting the strength of our fundamentals. Thank you for your attention. I'll now hand over to Sophie, who will present the group's outlook.
Thank you. Merci beaucoup, Sébastien. Thank you very much, Sébastien. Ladies and gentlemen, 2024 has been the year of considerable progress for our group, and I'd like to acknowledge the exceptional commitment and dedication of our leadership team. So we approach this new year with great confidence. 2025 will be a pivotal year as we work on our next strategic plan for 2028. This plan will focus on continuity and acceleration.
I'm convinced that with the strong foundations we've established, our values, and our commitment to innovation and sustainability, we will grasp future opportunities. We can count on the exceptional mobilization of our teams to implement our strategy. We also have essential levers to hand. We have Sodexo's commercial excellence that's supported by a global sales process and sound technology in which the group continues to invest. In 2024, we invested more than EUR 600 million in technology, digital, and data. We're embedding artificial intelligence into our operations and strengthening our direct relationship with consumers. For example, artificial intelligence significantly improves our ability to predict restaurant attendance and identify peak times using PowerChef tool. We're also developing our centers of expertise and innovation to support growth across all countries. Finally, this year, we advanced the transformation of our supply chain with a disciplined approach to catalog rationalization.
We therefore have ambitious goals for Sodexo in fiscal 2025. Organic revenue growth is expected to be between 5.5% and 6.5%, and underlying operating profit margin improvement is expected to be between 30 and 40 basis points, upwards, of course, at constant rates. Our achievements form the foundation on which Sodexo's future will be built. They will shape the next chapters of our story. 2025 will be an extremely important year for our group, and I know I can rely on the talent and dedication of our teams to elevate Sodexo's reputation even further. Thank you. Merci. Thank you. And now we will hear the presentation on our corporate governance, and I'd like to avail of the opportunity to express my gratitude to the members of the board for their support and their trust.
It's been a very busy year, and we've had to make some structural decisions for the future of the group. I'd like to particularly warmly thank Philippe Besson, who is attending his last shareholders' meeting this time around for his commitment and valuable contributions during his tenure term. Merci, Philippe, pour toutes ces années. Thank you, Philippe, for all of the work you've put in over that number of years. Let's now watch a video about our corporate governance first.
Le conseil d'administration de Sodexo's board of directors is chaired by Sophie Bellon. There are 12 directors, six of which are independent directors, and two are representing the employees. The independence rate of the board is 60%. The board reflects the group's values in many ways.
Indeed, at the end of fiscal 2024, the board has five women and seven men directors out of 12 members, in line with best market practices. The international profile of the board of directors reflects the company's global footprint, with four nationalities represented. Directors are chosen for their ability to act in the interests of all shareholders and for their expertise, experience, and knowledge 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 and mergers and acquisitions, as well as their overall knowledge of the service sector. In fiscal 2024, the board met 13 times with a 97% attendance rate.
This year, the board worked on the following topics: the group's activities, its strategy, and financial management.
In particular, the systematic review of the group's financial and non-financial performance, the monitoring of the group's strategy and performance, including the implementation of the spin-off and listing of Pluxee, the sale of Sofinsod to Bellon SA, and the decision to pay a special interim dividend, the review of risks and strategic opportunities, and the analysis of market developments and the competitive environment, corporate governance, and more specifically this year, the renewal of the term of office of the Chairwoman and CEO,
and maintaining of the Lead Director function, the engagement with shareholders, investors, and proxy advisors, the decision to create a sustainability committee, the adoption of its charter and the definition of its composition, the evaluation of the functioning and organization of the board of directors, the compensation, human resources, and diversity policies, and in particular, the setting for the compensation of corporate officers for fiscal 2023, and the deliberation on the compensation policy for fiscal 2024, the adjustment of the free shares and performance shares plans due to the Pluxee spin-off, the information and discussion on the group's HR policy and 2024 projects.
During fiscal 2024, Luc Messier, as lead independent director, has in particular organized an executive session, supervised the formalized assessment of the operating procedures of the board of directors and its committees, and has been consulted for the development of the training plan for directors in terms of governance and corporate responsibility. He also chaired the ad hoc committee in connection with the sale of Sofinsod to Bellon SA. In making decisions, the board relies on the preparation, advice, and recommendations of specialized committees. All committees are chaired by independent directors. The audit committee is chaired by Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Châtillon. It has 5 members, including one director representing the employees. 75% of its members are independent. This committee met 6 times during the year with an attendance rate of 100%.
During fiscal 2024, in addition to the review of the financial statements, the committee notably reviewed the group's financing, the risk matrix, the Pluxee spin-off, non-financial reporting obligations within the context of the implementation of the CSRD in 2025, and the appointment of auditors responsible for certifying sustainability information. The Nominating Committee is chaired by Gilles Pélisson. It has five members, of which 60% are independent. The committee met six times during the year with an attendance rate of 100%. During fiscal 2024, this committee focused in particular on the renewal of office of the chairwoman and CEO, the governance of Pluxee, the review of the succession plans of the Sodexo leadership team, the review of the succession plan of the chairwoman and CEO, the creation and the composition of the sustainability committee. The Compensation Committee is chaired by Cécile Tandeau de Marsac.
It has 5 members, including one director representing employees. 75% of its members are independent. The committee met eight times during the year with an attendance rate of 94%. During fiscal 2024, the committee notably reviewed the compensation policy for the Chairwoman and CEO within the context of the renewal of her mandate, the evolution of the sustainability criteria, the restricted and performance share plans, the proposed adjustment to the number of restricted and performance shares, and the performance conditions to the share plans as a result of the Pluxee spin-off, workplace gender equality. During fiscal 2024, the board of directors has decided to create a sustainability committee to strengthen Sodexo's commitment to sustainable and ethical business practices. As of October 2024, it is chaired by Véronique Laury and is composed of seven members, two-thirds of which are independent.
This new specialized committee will play a pivotal role in the governance of Sodexo's sustainability initiatives and their alignment with the long-term business goals. During this annual shareholders' meeting, shareholders are invited to reappoint François-Xavier Bellon and Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Châtillon as directors for another three-year term. At the close of this shareholders' meeting, and subject to the approval of these resolutions by the shareholders, the board of directors will remain composed of 12 members from four nationalities, out of which there will be six independent directors, five women and seven men, two directors representing employees. In addition, François-Xavier Bellon will continue to be a member of the audit, nominating, and compensation committees. Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Châtillon will continue to chair the audit committee and to be a member of the compensation committee. Finally, Philippe Besson recently informed the board of his intention to claim his pension rights.
His successor will soon be designated. All of this information on corporate governance can be found in the Universal Registration Document available on Sodexo.com. Thank you. As the video explained just now, the renewal of the term of office of François-Xavier Bellon, a member of the Audit, Nomination and Compensation Committee, is proposed to you today, as well as the renewal of the term of office of Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Châtillon, Chairman of the Audit Committee and member of the Compensation Committee. I would also like to welcome Olivier Marchand, who is a Sodexo employee in France, who will join the board of directors as a new director representing the employees. Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest that we continue our shareholders' meeting now by inviting Luc Messier, who is our Lead Independent Director, to come on stage to present to you an overview of his activity during fiscal 2024.
Madame la présidente, mesdames les chairwomen, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, dear directors, dear employees, it is a great pleasure for me to present myself to you today in my duties as Independent Lead Director to share my activity report for the fiscal year 2024. As you know, I was appointed in my position on March 1st, 2022, and I am a member of the Audit Committee, the Appointment Committee, and the Sustainability Committee. The only committee I'm not a member of is the Compensation Committee.
All of these meetings are conducted without the presence of management, and in 2024, I implemented the recommendations from the formalized evaluations of the committee and council's proceedings, resulting in the creation of the Sustainability Committee, which held its first meeting in October, the organization of a strategic seminar with workshops, visits, and expert presentations, the drafting of a training plan organized into three categories, namely climate, ethics, and cybersecurity. I also coordinated a new internal evaluation of the Board's work, as well as that of its committee. More generally, I ensure the independence of the Board, and in this regard, I am consulted on Board meeting agendas. I organized an executive session. Pursuant to the meeting of December 2023, I met with shareholders and voting agencies.
I worked on the prevention of conflicts of interest by chairing the ad hoc committee that was created in the Sofinsod spin-off to Bellon SA. I chaired the meeting of the committee, took part in meetings with internal and external experts, including the independent financial expert. This year, once more, the activity of the board of directors has been particularly rich, and I would like to pay tribute to the commitment of each of our directors and the collective intelligence that drives them. Thank you very much for your attention, and now back to Sophie Bellon. Merci. Thank you, Luc. Dear shareholders, as usual, I also wanted to present to you the work of the compensation committee today. I suggest that Cécile Tandeau de Marsac, Chairwoman of the compensation committee, should now join us and present to you a summary of the committee's activity. Bonjour à tous. Greetings to all.
I'm delighted to be with you to tell you about the compensation committee's work. During the past fiscal year, in addition to the usual points, the committee spent time on the following topics: the impact of the Pluxee spin-off on variable compensation, the consideration of vote results on the Say on Pay at the last shareholders' meeting, as well as a review of the composition of peer groups, both in France and internationally. But more about that in a moment. This year, we have four resolutions pertaining to the compensation of corporate officers that are submitted to your approval. They are up on the screen. Sodexo compensation policies are stable in both amounts and structure. I'll just briefly remind you of their components and will underline changes that are proposed to you. Les éléments de rémunération perçus par la présidente directrice.
Elements of compensation for the chairwoman for fiscal 2024 are in line with the compensation policy as approved by the shareholders at the AGM in 2023. Compensation breaks down into a fixed and a variable annual compensation, a long-term compensation, and benefits in kind. The fixed compensation amounted to EUR 900,000. The variable compensation, which I shall go into the final details of which in a moment, could represent 120% of the fixed compensation, and in the event of outperformance, could be increased to 170%. Objectives set at the start of the fiscal year were established on a scope that did not include Pluxee, avoiding any adjustment of the objectives after the effective date of the spin-off. With regard to the variable compensation due for fiscal 2024, the achievement rate for the variable element is 49.8% of the fixed compensation.
This rate demonstrates the challenging nature of the targets set by the board. Internal objectives were ambitious, and despite the group's strong financial performance, which you just heard about, which was also recognized by the market, the financial targets in terms of organic growth, revenue, client retention, operating profit margin, and group net income were not met. The target on cash generated from operations has been largely achieved. Regarding the achievement of non-financial objectives, the health and safety target has been partially achieved. The target for the near-miss incident ratio, the NMIR, which we added last year and that aims to develop a culture of accident prevention, has been largely met. Although the accident result contributed to a further reduction, -14.5%, as Sophie said earlier, of the LTIR, the lost time injury rate, it was not sufficient to meet the highly ambitious target we had set.
The sustainability objective evaluated by the implementation of our internal food waste measurement program, WasteWatch, has also been reached. The program now covers almost 77% of the raw material cost for food. And finally, the objective in terms of talent management, consisting of three indicators, focused on the group's leadership scope, namely gender diversity in operational positions, the rate of departures considered regrettable, and the ratio of internal appointments versus external hires has been achieved. The strong result highlights the continuous focus by senior management on the management of its leadership teams, development of succession plans, and the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The variable portion to be paid following the shareholders' meeting vote would therefore amount to EUR 448,200. Please note that the acquisition of annual rights for supplemental pension plan is subject to an achievement rate of the annual variable compensation target of at least 80%.
Therefore, Sophie Bellon does not acquire any right to a lifetime annuity for 2024. In addition, the board of directors has granted 34,500 performance shares to Sophie Bellon in accordance with the compensation policy for fiscal 2024. The performance condition of the plan, in line with the 2025 strategic plan, are shown on screen. At the date of attribution, the valuation of performance shares amounted to EUR 1,978,368, equivalent to 100% of the target annual fixed and variable compensation, in line with allocation practices for executive corporate officers at Sodexo. The elements of the Chairwoman and CEO's compensation for the year 2025, fixed, variable, and long-term, remain unchanged as is their structure. Which, of course, you're familiar with. This is a slide that we show every year, but this structure is aimed to balance out short-term and long-term performance.
So I won't go into the final details, but only describe changes for the coming fiscal year. Let me return to my peer group comparison panel. As you know, our Chairwoman and CEO is benchmarked. Her compensation is benchmarked, and we have worked on that and revised it after the Pluxee spin-off. What we're trying to achieve is to reflect the group's new profile, a new global player in food services and facility management with high employee density and therefore, the France peer group used to position the compensation of corporate officers now includes the 20 lowest market caps in the CAC 40 and companies from the CAC Next 20, meaning that the peer group has 20 plus 20. The international peer group, which we also reviewed to compare the compensation structure of Sodexo with comparable companies, has been expanded and now includes eight companies.
The names are up here on screen. It should also be noted that the target total compensation for the chairwoman and CEO, fixed salary, annual variable compensation, performance shares, is positioned between the median and the upper quartile of the peer panel, in line with Sodexo's positioning within these peers. Regarding the annual variable compensation targets, the talent management criterion has been simplified and now comprises two indicators rather than three. The indicator related to internal appointments to executive positions is not to be continued this year. For next year, succession planning is now well established. For reference, the internal appointment rate reached 80% by the end of fiscal 2024, which is extremely satisfactory.
As regards other elements of compensation, they remain unchanged and continue consisting of the benefit of the supplementary retirement plan, collective social protection schemes, and health coverage, as well as a benefit in kind, which is namely a company car. Let us now move on to the directors' compensation. Let me remind you that the global allocation of compensation for Sodexo directors was set at EUR 1.3 million in 2024. The rules of allocation of fixed and variable compensation for directors would be maintained as is for 2025. Concerning the sustainability committee set up at the start of fiscal 2025, the compensation allocation is aligned with the one of the appointments committee and the compensation committee. Finally, I would really like to thank all of the members of the compensation committee for their active participation and unwavering commitment during this year.
I would also like to invite you to consult the Universal Registration Document, where you will find additional information about the compensation of corporate officers and directors. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you, Cécile, for this presentation. Dear shareholders, I suggest that now we should give the floor to our auditors. Caroline Bruno-Diaz from KPMG will present the statutory auditor's report.
Merci, Madame la Présidente. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders of Sodexo, Good afternoon. I have the pleasure today, on behalf of the joint auditors, to report to you on our engagement, on our assignment, and on the reports we've issued for the fiscal year that ended on the 31st of August 2024. We've issued several reports, and in accordance with market practice, I suggest that I do not read out these reports in full, but instead that I should give you a summary.
So let's start off with the report on the consolidated accounts and the annual financial statements. These reports have been made available for the purpose of the shareholders' meeting and can be found respectively on pages 174-178 and 197-200 of the Universal Registration Document. We'd like to remind you that the aim of our work is to obtain reasonable assurance regarding the fairness, regularity, and true and fair view of the accounts, and to verify that they do not contain any material misstatements. Our reports on the annual and consolidated financial statements include the key audit matters. Now, for the consolidated financial statements, the key audit matters are as follows: the assessment of the recoverable value of goodwill and tax risks. For the annual financial statements, the key audit matter is the valuation of equity investments.
Our reports on the accounts include, for each of these key audit matters, a description of the risks identified and the response that we have provided. As a conclusion, we've certified the consolidated accounts and the annual accounts of your company for fiscal 2024 without any qualifications or comments. Our reports on the accounts also include the conclusions of certain specific verifications that are required by law that we've carried out on information required in the management report. In this regard, we attest the accuracy and fairness of the information provided regarding the compensation and benefits paid to corporate officers, as well as the fairness and consistency with the annual accounts of the information relating to payment terms. We also certify the inclusion of the consolidated non-financial statement required by the French Commercial Code in the management report.
Lastly, as part of the ESEF regulation, we verify that the presentation of the accounts included in the annual financial report complies with the European single electronic format, that is, ESEF requirement. So I suggest at this stage that we move on to our special report on related party agreements, which can be found on pages 201 and 202 of the Universal Registration Document. A new agreement is submitted for approval to your meeting today. This agreement relates to the share purchase agreement signed on July the 23rd, 2024, between the company and Bellon SA, concerning the transfer by the company to Bellon SA of all of the shares in Sofinsod, whose only asset on the balance sheet is a 19.6% stake in the capital of Bellon SA. This transfer contributed to putting an end to a cross-shareholding loop and simplifying the company's shareholder structure.
Our report also refers to the coordination and service agreement between your company and Bellon SA, already approved by the shareholders' meetings during the previous session. The expense booked for fiscal 2024 amounted to EUR 5,131,113, excluding taxes. Finally, we've issued a special report required by law concerning the 14th resolution regarding the delegation of power requested by your board of directors concerning the proposed capital reduction. We have no comments to make on the causes and conditions of the proposed capital reduction through the cancellation of purchased shares. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders of Sodexo, thank you for your attention, and I shall hand the floor back to the chairwoman.
Thank you, Caroline, for your contribution. Dear shareholders, before opening the Q&A session, I suggest that Florence Négrel should present the resolutions that we will submit to you to vote upon. So maybe Florence Négrel, who is our meeting secretary, could take the floor.
Mesdames et Messieurs, les deux premières. Ladies and gentlemen, the first two resolutions aim to approve the individual and consolidated financial statements for Sodexo for fiscal 2024, showing respectively a net profit of EUR 1,545,281,879 and a consolidated net profit group share of EUR 168 million. For the third resolution, you are proposed to approve the appropriation of the net income and to set a dividend amount at EUR 8.89 per share for fiscal 2024, including the special interim dividend of EUR 6.24 paid on August 29th, 2024, and the ordinary annual dividend of EUR 2.65 to be paid on December 23rd, 2024. In accordance with our bylaws, a dividend premium of 10% of the ordinary dividend will be allocated to shares held in registered form for at least four years on the payment date.
Fourth resolution, ordinary business item, is the approval of a regulated agreement concerning the transfer of all shares of Sofinsod to Bellon SA. Fifth and sixth resolution, ordinary business items, we propose the approval of the renewal of two directors, François-Xavier Bellon and Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Châtillon, for a term of three years. Seventh and eighth resolutions, it also proposes that you approve the appointment of Ernst & Young Audit and KPMG, a statutory auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information as part of the CSRD directive. Resolutions 9 to 12, we suggest that you approve compensation elements attributed to the Chairwoman and CEO and directors for fiscal year 2024, and to approve the compensation policy for directors for 2025. All information pertaining to compensation were presented during this meeting by the Chairwoman of the Remuneration Committee, Cécile Tandeau de Marsac, and are available in the Universal Registration Document for 2024.
13th and 14th resolutions, the shareholders are called upon to renew the authorization given to the board to allow the company to purchase its own shares outside of a period of public offer and to authorize the board of directors to cancel said shares. 15th resolution, you're invited to approve the amendments to Article 11 of the bylaws, deliberations of the board of directors, and finally, ordinary business item, you're also called upon to rule on the 16th usual resolution on the delivery of powers necessary for the completion of publications and legal formalities. Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you that you have the option to receive your invitation and to vote electronically through the Votaccess platform.
As every year, we encourage shareholders who have not yet done so to contact their financial institution to subscribe to this service, which will allow them to exercise their rights in an easier and quicker way. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Florence. I suggest that we should now open the Q&A session, and before taking questions from the room, I'd like to inform you that the company did not receive any written questions from any shareholders, so ladies and gentlemen, there are hosts and hostesses in the room to hand you a microphone if you wish to ask a question. On va commencer par le numéro un. Start off with microphone number one.
Total en jeu. Pour une question qui portera sur Sodexo Live! et les JO de Paris.
This is a question about Sodexo Live! and the Olympics of 2024.
We provided food services in the Olympic Village, and it was very good both for the image and for financial performance. The Rugby World Cup in September and October 2023 allowed Sodexo to strengthen its standing in sports in France and internationally, and with an $80 million per annum contract for food services in the future Titans Stadium in Nashville that may host the Super Bowl in 2027. Hence my question, are there any such contracts in the pipeline? Thank you. Merci, Monsieur.
Thank you, sir, for this very good question. Indeed, we were very happy with the performance Sodexo Live! this past year, as you said, with the Rugby World Cup at the start of our fiscal year, then, of course, the Olympic Games that were a fantastic event, and historic moment here in France and also for our teams, equally historic.
They were lucky enough to serve more than 15,000 Olympic athletes at the Olympic Village, and we were present in 14 competition sites. And it was indeed a contract where we recruited more than 6,000 people for the whole duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. And as you said, it was indeed a fantastic way to showcase the excellence of Sodexo Live!, which I must say was also supported by all the teams in France, because you can imagine mobilizing 6,000 people just like that overnight is not an easy thing to do. So you need everybody to feed into your efforts. And that was done. So Sodexo Live! also signed a contract that's an iconic one that you mentioned. There are very interesting things in the pipeline for Sodexo Live!, but unfortunately, I cannot talk anymore about them until everything is finalized.
What I can say is that the year has got off to a head start for Sodexo Live!, especially in the U.S., with a lounge activity that's become very active after COVID, of course. Obviously, there was a dip during COVID in the airports. There wasn't much traffic, but now it's become very dynamic again, and they've signed a fine contract with American Airlines in the U.S. last year. Sodexo Live! is there for operating this, and it's developing very nicely. Also concerts by Taylor Swift that have been very successful. We were lucky enough to operate in the arenas where she held her concerts. Another event that we're very happy about is the Super Bowl, which will take place early February. This year, the Super Bowl will take place in New Orleans, in the fantastic stadium there, the Superdome in New Orleans.
We're lucky enough to operate in that stadium as well. That's the next major event on the horizon Sodexo Live! in the Superdome in New Orleans. I'll be lucky enough to go there with my sister, Nathalie, and I'd like to thank her for all of the speeding up of our growth that she's been doing Sodexo Live! in the last while. Performing very well indeed. Thank you. Thank you for asking that question. Je vais passer au numéro two, parce que we'll move to microphone number two. Otherwise, it won't be fair if I just keep on taking microphone number one, number two for a start, and then we'll go back to number one. Yes. Yes.
Thank you, Charles Lucas, individual shareholder. First of all, congratulations for, on the whole, managing with such gusto the world's largest restaurant.
But your generosity seems better for the shareholders than for the athletes. First question about the insufficient amount of meat and protein. How could such carelessness of the specifications be possible? Because the amounts had to be multiplied by three. Second question about quality. Two products were hugely successful. Everyone's familiar with them. Chocolate muffins on the one hand, and industrial pain au chocolat. So did you also offer conventional pastries from our traditional French bakeries? And third question about competition. What is your positioning versus Compass, who seem to have very strong ambitions? Thank you.
Alors, merci pour. Thank you for asking these questions. Now, at the start of the Olympic Games, there was a bit of an issue regarding animal proteins. Now, the Olympic Games was the intent of the organizing committee of the Paralympics that the Olympic Games would be green, with a strong commitment concerning sustainability.
We worked for two years with the different sports organizations, with the organizing committee of the Olympic Games, and we were given certain figures per dish to build into the meals that we would serve. Well, you're right, the athletes do need animal-based proteins. Well, we were given information that wasn't precise enough. The idea was that there was a strong intent to have recipes that would be sustainable and plant-based, but unfortunately, it's not what athletes want to eat. There was a bit of adjustment, a bit of fine-tuning necessary at the start of the Olympic Games. Within the space of two days and 24 hours even, this fine-tuning was done remarkably well, and we were then capable of feeding the athletes as they wanted to be fed. You know, I mean, athletes don't have a two or three egg omelet.
It's eight to ten, or, you know, the size of the steaks they eat is much bigger than what other people might eat. So we adapted very quickly to their needs, thanks to the agility of our teams. Then you asked me a question about the, well, Danish pastries, as they might be called, the viennoiserie, as we call them in French. There were French viennoiseries. There was a baker in the Olympic Village, and on request, they made the pain au chocolat, which was delicious, and bread as well. It was nice and warm and crunchy. I ate too many of them myself. They were really nice. The baker was there throughout the day with the team, of course, and gave lessons to help people to learn how to make the famous French baguette.
For all the athletes of the world, they could learn how to make French bread. They came and relaxed, chilled out in the boulangerie area afterwards, and got to taste the fine Viennoiserie made in French style there and made bread themselves, actually. The last question was on Compass. What was your question exactly about Compass, if you don't mind repeating it? The performance of Compass versus the performance of Sodexo or the ambitions? Was that your question? Was it the ambitions of Compass? Okay. Well, we're two food service groups. Firstly, we're French. They're English. So we're not quite the same originally. We're one of the leading global players ourselves on our market. Compass actually put in a very good performance in the last 15 years, especially in the US.
Now, for the last three years, we're narrowing the gap between their performance and our performance in the U.S. And there's another big competitor in the U.S. called Aramark. And in fiscal 2024, they reported, well, both report their accounts a month after ours. Ours are published at the end of August, and they publish theirs at the end of September. And in the U.S., we exceeded Aramark's growth in 2024. And when it comes to Compass, the differential in terms of growth is being narrowed. Now, they have strong ambitions for Europe. Right now, you've perhaps read some newspaper articles on that. Well, so have we. When I took the steer of the Sodexo group a couple of years ago, two and a half years ago, now I said the priority we had was to get back to basics. We changed our organization, as you've seen also.
We've streamlined our organization. We've put out the P&L responsibility into the regions. We spun off Pluxee, did the Pluxee spin-off, as you know, and our childcare and personal care activities also, we don't have anymore. So our priority has become not acquisitions, even though we made some token acquisitions in the area of convenience food and in the area of the global purchasing organization, where we also move forward in China as well. By the way, we continue to believe a lot in China, and the other companies left China, but we believe a lot in China, and we believe a lot in Brazil as well, and they have exited from the Brazilian market.
So, as we speak, after those couple of years, as I said in my original presentation earlier on this afternoon, we've made some structural decisions, and now we're ripe and ready to embark on a more aggressive acquisition, a more proactive, I would say, acquisition policy going forward. And Sébastien could maybe chip in on that too, if he likes.
Well, as regards our external growth policy, I said so earlier, but we have around EUR 300 million-EUR 500 million earmarked for that per annum in order to strengthen our position in our target markets, the U.S., Europe, and a few emerging economies such as Brazil and India. Because really, our ability to invest really allows us to strengthen our position in new distribution models, new production models in catering, in food services.
And we talked also about the importance of our procurement services, our in-house procurement, which can help us to boost our growth. Questions. Thank you for those questions. Microphone number five now, please. Madame la Présidente, bonjour. Madame Chairwoman, hello. Mr. de Soulanges for the APAI, the Association for Individual Shareholders. I have two observations and two questions, if you'll allow me. First, I have noted that as part of your variable compensation, CSR brought in much more money than employee talent, which I find surprising. Second observation, if you'll allow me. I met this morning with a Captain of Industry, Mr. Lévy, who noted that in the world, CSR criteria were now weakening, notably in the U.S., because these criteria contravened the efforts made to achieve the best possible financial results. Is that also a trend for Sodexo?
Because you have chosen to benchmark yourselves internationally in a way that reflects this. Now, to my three questions. First, what is the impact for Sodexo of the Olivia Grégoire legislative amendment that wishes to expand the use of luncheon vouchers to purchase all sorts of foodstuffs? Second question. In November, you revealed the results of the second edition of the Sustainable Food Barometer. The results are that individuals are persuaded that more sustainable food is better but are not prepared to pay the price. How can you comply with your corporate purpose? The corporate purpose being we are committed to offer tasty food and quality experience at every moment of your lives in all sorts of sectors. And my final question. You're about to acquire CRH Catering, an American player in convenience. What drives that idea, and what is the potential for that sector?
Thank you for your answers. Alors, merci beaucoup. Thank you for your remarks, and thank you also for your three questions. Now, concerning the first question, the amendment by Olivia Grégoire that concerns Pluxee's business operations, and Pluxee was spun off on the 1st of February, and it's living its own life. It has its own specific governance, its CEO, its chairman, and so on, and its board of directors, on which I sit, but I'm not here to. I'm just a board member there. I'm not here empowered to speak about Pluxee, so I would refrain from commenting on that. It's not my role. Then, the only thing I can say concerning Pluxee's business operations is that it's always been. A lot of its activity has been regulated over the years, and it's always been agile in adapting to regulatory requirements, the Pluxee organization.
It's not up to me to comment on your remarks. Now, the CRH Catering topic that you mentioned, this is an acquisition we made recently. And to what extent the convenience activities are interesting for us or worthwhile? As I said earlier, it's a market worth $30 billion in total. And I'll give the floor to Sébastien, perhaps for further comments on that. Effectivement.
Thank you, Sophie. Indeed, it's an extremely attractive market. Growth accelerated just after COVID. There's a lot of demand for hybrid offerings with more flexibility, 24/7 on sites. So it's a fast-growing market. We started to grow in that market in 2022 through the acquisition of Accent, a company that really helped us in terms of serving as a technological platform. And since then, we have continued to make a certain number of minor acquisitions.
This is one that will allow us to strengthen our market position. And it, in fact, gives us greater density on the East Coast, which also improves our profitability.
And then regarding your question about the Harris Interactive Barometer, which confirms that everybody wants to have a positive impact on the environment, and people these days are aware that via the food they eat, they can have an impact, a strong impact even. And there is a lot of greenhouse gas emitted from the farm right down to people's plate. So it's about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions that are accounted for by the agri-food industry. So we've all got to be mindful of that and put in efforts to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions.
Now, when you say it could drag down our performance because it costs more, well, it's true that some products will cost more, but I'd like to recall that one of the ingredients in more sustainable food is the fact of avoiding waste. We've got to take action on food waste because there's a lot of that that goes on, so from the fork on the farm right down to the fork beside a person's plate, we've got to take action, and a lot of food is wasted percentage-wise these days at the time of harvesting, at the time of cooking, at the time of when people don't finish what's on their plate, essentially, so we can take lots and lots of initiatives to make sure we drive down food waste.
So some products may cost more, but we can nonetheless manage to serve meals at reasonable, affordable prices, quality meals, I mean. And we, as I said, we won't change the world by forcing people to do something. We'll have to change the world by serving people tasty meals if people try out new recipes with new ingredients, you know, and they know they're doing the right thing. It'll become a virtuous circle. And we've been putting in a lot of efforts on that. We want to have a very positive impact on all of this between now and 2040, and our competitors have not given the same commitment as ourselves. So that's the way forward for us. It's an opportunity. And earlier, another of our shareholders talked about Compass. That is a key differentiator between ourselves and Compass, as it happens. Thank you for raising that point.
So I'll go back now to microphone number 1, if you like. Président.
Hello, Jean-Claude Desoye, shareholder. I have two questions. One of the criteria for your variable compensation is recruitment. Your CFO, was he promoted in-house or did you find him elsewhere? In fact, I started working for Sodexo in 2006. So yes, it's an internal promotion. And prior to that, I was CFO for North America.
And perhaps you could also add the fact that you left the post in North America. I mean, there was a kind of like a domino knock-on effect. There was a whole cascade of internal promotions when he left the job in the US.
So yeah, we had actually prepared a succession plan for quite some time.
When I took up my new position, we had a CFO from India who was in charge of the university segment, who then became CFO for North America. He himself was replaced by a woman who was in charge of the senior business, who replaced him as CFO for the university segment. Thanks to these changes, and we do that quite often, we have succession plans in-house which allow people to be promoted in-house. In your presentation, you talked about a drop in the cash flow generation due to a tax audit, and the auditor also mentioned a number of tax risks. Could you tell us a little bit more about the nature of these tax audits and how much money is concerned? Initially, it was for 2016 to 2018, and it was then extended to fiscal year 2021.
We signed an agreement with the tax authorities for the entire period from 2018 to 2023, basically eight fiscal years that were covered by this tax audit. The main issue there was transfer prices. It's a highly technical matter and a highly complex matter for these transfer prices as they are conducted within holding companies. This was entirely provisioned, as I said, in the accounts. There already was a provision that had been set aside in the past, and we complemented that at the end of 2024. The total amount should reach around EUR 160 million for the period concerned, so about EUR 20 million a year.
Thank you. Do we have other questions in the room? Yes, up at the top of the room, number 6, please. Merci.
Thank you.
I would like to know whether it would be possible, in addition to the cocktail, to have a little box of chocolates because we really enjoyed the chocs in previous years. And I think the shareholders who asked them, of course, the drinks, the cocktail reception. I hope that the shareholders did not ask for that to be got rid of. C'est un.
Well, this time it'll be a bit complicated to get all that organized for today, but I'll refer that to my team.
My second question. So thanks for the nice drinks reception, but they were in kind of Olympic mode last year. What about people with disabilities? Do you have any tricks for them to grab the canapés? The food animation was also very interesting, but could that be made accessible to people with disabilities?
Bon point. Well, you've raised a very valid point here.
We'll try and take care of that as of this evening. We'll try to identify those persons. But please make yourself known to us, and we'll take care of you. So I'd like all the teams to take account of this. I can't do it myself all alone, but everybody on the team will help us, I'm sure. Est-ce qu'on a encore des questions? Are there other questions from the room here? Well, thank you very much for asking all of those questions and making remarks. Dear shareholders, if there are no more questions, then I suggest we close our Q&A session. And I'd like to remind you that the shareholders' relations department is at your disposal, of course, throughout the year to answer your questions. And of course, they're with us here in the room today as well.
You can talk to them during the cocktail party if you like. I'll give the floor back to Florence Négrel now for the poll on the resolutions.
Merci, Sophie. Thank you, Sophie. So the quorum that was stated at the start was a temporary quorum. This is now the final quorum that we've taken into account for the votes of the resolutions. The number of shares currently represented by shareholders who are here: 124,770,656 shares, 85.6% of shares with voting rights. So the legal quorum both for the ordinary and extraordinary shareholders' meeting has been reached. The vote of resolutions can therefore be expressed validly. We're now going to proceed with the vote. We're going to start by watching a short film that will show you how the tablets work.
Pour voter les résolutions de l'Assemblée générale, une tablette vous a été remise.
Une fois votre vote validé, vous ne pouvez plus le modifier. Merci de bien vouloir restituer votre tablette en sortie de salle.
Mesdames, Messieurs, au titre de la première. Ladies and gentlemen, first resolution, approval of the accounts for the fiscal year ending August 31st, 2024. You may now vote. Le vote est clos. Voting is closed.
Cette résolution est adoptée à
99.9% of votes. Second resolution, adoption of the consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2024. The voting is open. Le vote est clos. Voting is closed. Cette résolution est adoptée. This resolution is adopted, 99.9% of votes. Third resolution, appropriation of net income for fiscal 2024, determination of the dividend amount and payment date. You may now vote. Le vote est clos. And the vote. Cette résolution est adoptée à 99.81% of votes. Resolution four.
Approval of a related party agreement pertaining to the sale by the company of all shares in Sofinsod to Bellon SA. You may now vote. Le vote est clos. And the vote.
Cette résolution est adoptée.
This resolution is adopted at 90.28% of votes. Resolution five, reappointment of Mr. François-Xavier Bellon as a director for a three-year term. You may now vote. Le vote est clos. And the vote.
Cette
résolution est adoptée at 85.91% of votes.
Sixième résolution.
Resolution six, reappointment of Mr. Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Châtillon as director for a three-year term. You may now vote.
Le vote est clos.
And the vote.
Cette résolution est adoptée.
This resolution is adopted at 96.18% of votes.
Septième résolution.
Resolution seven, appointment of Ernst & Young Audit, a statutory auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information. You may now vote. Le vote est clos. And the vote.
Cette résolution est adoptée.
This resolution is adopted with 99.89% of votes.
Huitième résolution.
Resolution eight, appointment of KPMG S.A., a statutory auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information. You may vote.
Le vote est clos.
And the vote.
Cette résolution est adoptée.
This resolution is adopted at 99.09% of votes. Resolution nine. Approval of the components of compensation paid during or awarded for fiscal 2024 to Mrs. Sophie Bellon, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer. You may vote.
Le vote est clos.
And the vote.
Cette résolution est adoptée.
This resolution is adopted with 93.11% of votes. Resolution ten, approval of information related to the compensation of corporate officers and directors, as referred to in article L221091 of the French Commercial Code. You may vote.
Le vote est clos. And the vote. This resolution is adopted with 99.17% of votes. Resolution eleven, approval of the compensation policy applicable to directors. You may vote.
Le vote est clos.
And the vote. This resolution is adopted with 96.47% of votes. Resolution twelve, approval of the compensation policy applicable to the Chief Executive Officer. You may vote.
Le vote est clos.
The vote is closed. This resolution is adopted with 91.91% of votes. Resolution thirteen, authorization given to the Board of Directors to purchase shares of the company. The vote is open.
Le vote est clos.
The vote is closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.66% of votes. Resolution fourteen, authorization to the Board of Directors to reduce the company's share capital by canceling treasury shares. The vote is open.
Le vote est clos.
The vote is closed. This resolution is adopted with 99.68% of votes. Resolution fifteen, amendments to article eleven, deliberations of the Board of Directors of the company's by laws. The vote is open.
Le vote est clos.
The vote is closed.
This resolution is adopted with more than 99.99% of votes. Resolution sixteen, powers to carry out legal formalities. The vote is open.
Le vote est clos.
The vote is closed. This resolution is adopted with more than 99.99% of votes.
Je vous remercie de votre attention et rends la parole à Sophie Bellon.
Thank you for your attention. Now back over to Sophie Bellon.
Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much. Thank you for voting on the poll. Thank you, Florence. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the confidence you've shown in the board of directors through your votes. The agenda is now exhausted, so I can declare the meeting adjourned. I'd like to thank you for attending today, and I'd like to invite the shareholders present with us here physically today to attend our cocktail reception prepared by the Lenôtre teams. Thank you.