All right. Good morning, dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen. In my capacity as chairman of the supervisory board, I'd like to welcome you here to this 26th AGM of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. This is the first time we're holding it at our own headquarters. We're telling our participants that there is simultaneous translation. You have headsets.
On Earth, should you require a headset for English translation, please ask our ground staff now.
All right. I have with me Mr. Vincent Rouget, who is Chairman of the executive board and Mr. Zeitoun, who's the Counsel of our company. I'd like to welcome the other members of the Supervisory Board, the other members of the Management Board and members of the Executive Committee. They are in the room, and they will be there as well to take questions if you have any questions for them.
I would like to welcome Vincent Rouget, who's been the Chairman of the Management Board since the beginning of the year, and I would like to pay tribute to his predecessor, Jean-Marie Tritant, who revived the group's growth in a particularly challenging environment. Together with the Supervisory Board, I'd like to congratulate the company on the strong operational performance last year in all its businesses, and this goes to show the robustness, the resilience of its business lines and its portfolio at large. This reflects the first combined positive effects of the group's transformation and its roadmap for 2025 to 2028 entitled A Platform for Growth that was presented back in May of last year.
The ecosystem of the group's performance and its the strengthening of its balance sheet because we increased the valuation of the portfolio. There were also disposals to the tune of EUR 2.2 billion. That certainly will contribute to strengthening our position in a volatile environment and challenging context. In this context, we've decided to propose this year a dividend of EUR 4.5 per share for the year 2025, so that's almost 30% up compared to last year. I'm also happy to note that the group is opening a new chapter and is moving confidently with its new A Platform for Growth roadmap in what you know is a complex and volatile environment.
On the strength of its business model, the quality of its implementation, and the resilience of its operational platform, we have good medium-term visibility. That momentum enabled us to commit as early as February of this year for a projected payout or distribution in 2027 for the year 2026, a 22% increase to EUR 5.5 per share. Vincent Rouget who chairs the Management Board will provide details on the performance of the group, but also the challenges. Now, in keeping with the regulations, I will now officially call to order the AGM of the company as convened by the board and propose to appoint the following.
The scrutinies will be performed by Rock Investment, represented here by Anthony Maarek, and the URW firm, represented here by Madam Marie de Chalendar. For those of you attending the AGM annually, you recognize David Zeitoun, who will be the secretary of the AGM. I would like to tell you about the presence of the statutory auditors, represented here by Mrs. Marjorie Blanc Lourme, Mr. Sylvain Durafour, and Régis Chemouny. The latter will present the conclusions of their reports. To have real-time counting of the votes on the resolutions, we will have electronic voting. Mr. David Zeitoun will review the terms of the notice for the meeting and the availability of the documents. All right. The notices were issued in line with applicable rules and regulations.
The board of directors has not received any requests to add to the agenda. All the information and documents required by law were made available to the website in line again with legal rules and provisions. Regarding the agenda, you can take a look at the notice which was made available at the entrance of the room. It was also available on the website. The 2025 universal registration document was also available online and in paper. You have on the desk the documents there that will certify the validity, not just the notice, but the actual deliberations, and you will find on the website under the AGM section, the presentation of this meeting as is being displayed on screen.
The entire AGM is being broadcast live, but you will also be able to find it on the website, again, subject to the conditions, legal provisions, applicable to such replay. There's Raphaël Pirro , a judicial officer, will be appointed for the regularity of the meeting and the rules and regulations for the meeting are also posted at the entrance of the room. There was a special electronic mailbox that you could use to send letters, questions in writing. We have received four such questions. The Forum pour l'Investissement Responsable by Mr. Decret. Because of the general technical nature of the questions, shareholders are requested to look at the Q&A on the company's website dedicated to the 2026 AGM.
Regarding the quorum now, we have 144,246,141 shares for the, this is the first call of the AGM, so the quorum we need is one-fifth of voting shares, so that's 28,843,229 shares. That includes the mail-in votes. The quorum required for the extraordinary AGM, that's one-fourth of the voting shares, so 36,054,036 shares. We have 679.72% of the voting shares at this point. Thank you, David, for these clarifications. As indicated in the notice of this meeting, it will no longer be possible to sign the attendance sheet after 10:45 A.M. Shareholders arriving after that time will not be able to take part in the vote. Now I'll give the floor to Vincent Rouget, who is Chairman of the Management Board, and he'll tell you about the performance for 2026.
Thank you, Jacques. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Dear shareholders, before we go through all the details of the year 2025 and sharing with you our strategy for the year, our strategic priorities. In my capacity as Chairman of the Management, I would like to thank all the teams of our group throughout the regions where we operate throughout the year. Thanks to their hard work, we had excellent performance in 2025, but also very promising trajectory for the first quarter.
This performance enables us to be confident for the 2025-2028 roadmap. This is why we decided to look forward to a significant increase in the payout to EUR 5.50 per share. This was a very successful year for URW. There were a number of achievements and of course, the execution of our roadmap A Platform for Growth. Our EPS for 2025 exceeded the forecast. It stands at EUR 9.58 per share. We're delivering good performance along with the roadmap, attractive organic growth, disciplined capital allocation, and significant deleveraging.
This is thanks to the operational performance of our shopping centers with an increase in footfall and tenant sales, the strength of our leasing activity, and a vacancy rate, which is the lowest since 2027. That enables us to expect even better rental pressure throughout our portfolio. We've also made strategic strides to prepare for the future, which will not have much impact on the balance sheet. There's a new franchise business, that's the first first in the shopping center business and also an acquisition with a 25% stake in St James Quarter, an iconic business from Edinburgh.
This shows the significant growth potential of Westfield, which is, of course, reflects our competitive edge and our operational capabilities. We've also delivered a significant project, the [mixed-use project] Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, and the expansion of Černý Most in the Czech Republic. Finally, in terms of debt, we had EUR 2.2 billion in divestment of either completed or secured since the beginning of 2025 and reduced the debt ratio, the LTV, loan-to-value ratio. We've made our commitments regarding earnings and distribution for 2025, thanks to these, but also refinancing operations and hedging operations.
Finally, our A Platform for Growth roadmap aims to generate sound and sustainable growth through our unique portfolio of urban investment property, as shown by our 25 results and with the completion of our, because of the disposal of non-strategic assets, we now have a very diversified homogeneous portfolios centered on high-level shopping malls that are exclusively focused on flagship properties and our balance sheets have strengthened because the debt to equity ratio is at its lowest since 2019. We'll certainly achieve our, the ratio to 40% by 2028. This positive momentum gives us more flexibility to unlock our growth potential in keeping with our roadmap.
If we focus more specifically on the operational performance of shopping centers in 2025, we've seen a continuous improvement of our key indicators across all the regions. These key indicators are in the green, in green, particularly tenant sales and that outperform national indices as well as core inflation and you will, you'll have the numbers for Q1 in 2026. These are already up 5%. Vacancy rates were down 20 basis points to reach a historic low, and this is because of strong leasing activity which continued in Q1 of this year.
We signed as many, upwards of EUR 400 million in guaranteed minimum rents with average uplift of 11% above the index rents for the long-term leases, and that is in line with the lines, with the levels of 2024. We will certainly continue this momentum in 2026. Leasing our space, our space is of course our priority. We are pleased to see that the strategy has been successful again this year. I'd like to thank our leasing teams since the beginning of 2026 in spite of the very volatile environment.
With our platform, our roadmap A Platform for Growth, we have a simple, clear plan based on our performance ecosystem where we have a clear opportunity to increase footfall in our properties, but also to continue to boost the sales of our retail partners, but also intensify rental pressure, reduce vacancies and consolidate market shares and gain market shares through our competitors. This will enable us to have a growth on the constant basis and develop low capital intensive opportunities for the group. Now, how can one increase the footfall of our investment properties and how can we boost retail tenant sales? Well, this of course is based on attracting the most desirable concept for our flagship properties because we're a profitable growth platform for these brands.
You may remember that the flagship stores are a key driver of customer acquisition for these retailers. These stores are located in city centers on major roads such as the Champs-Élysées. Today these flagship stores are more and more present in the Westfield centers, and they're a key pillar of our value proposition. We offer premium locations with outstanding footfall and of course profitable growth. In 2025 we present a very concrete example, the Forum des Halles in Paris compared to the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Now, footfall is more or less identical, 65 million people per year, and the sales per sq m is also similar, maybe even higher at the Forum des Halles.
The rents at the Forum des Halles is significantly lower and more competitive than that of the Champs-Élysées, as you can see on the slide. This mechanically translates into better profitability for the brands present in the flagship stores in the Forum des Halles. You say Champs-Élysées has a different value proposition, so you cannot exactly compare the two. If you pay twice as much rent, this is because you have a flagship store in a very prestigious place for the brands. That's what is known as media value. At the very least in the retail business, this exclusive or near exclusive positioning of the group in flagship assets puts it in a very desirable, enviable market segment, making it different from all other shopping areas.
Of course, on these flagship stores, the sales to or rent ratio is not the only criterion. Here there's additional value that is in fact reinforced by the fact that we are the single owners, because many lease operators have a joint property. This, we can have a better customer experience and more visibility on footfall. We have a belief at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, flagship retail is the future of e-commerce. In this respect, we are also at the forefront of data and artificial intelligence, and we discussed this in last year's AGM. This is a result of four years investment in technology, as well as the group's structural position and the size of our flagship portfolio.
We have a specialized startup called Digeiz, which converts video feeds from our shopping stores in segmented data so we can better analyze and understand customer journeys and footfall in an anonymized fashion in line with the GDPR regulations. That enables us to monitor these, the performance. Both leasing but also asset management. So we can measure such things as bounce rate or footfall for each store almost in real time, which is very valuable. These indicators, of course, strengthen our exchanges with retailers, and we can improve decision-making based on the data and informed decisions.
On this right-hand side you can see some anonymous data which illustrate these indicators for a fashion retailer. Several of these items you can see the sort of questions raised by such data. Some of them are highlighted on the slide. We're looking at a huge volume of data that needs to be processed basically in real time. That's, of course, the major role of artificial intelligence to take the full potential of this technology, not just for decision-making, but also for improving performance of our retailer partners. The use of this technology with this data enables us better to manage our assets and our competitive vision. That is our second priority for the year 2026, after leasing, of course.
Regarding sustainable development now, URW has made significant headway in 2025 and is recognized amongst the 100 most sustainable companies in the world, as recognized by Corporate Knights and Time Magazine. One of the highlights was the cultural partnership called Le Louvre au Centres. We bring reproductions of iconic works from the Louvre in shopping malls in France. So we facilitate access to culture and strengthen the link with our communities. URW is on track to achieve its objectives for the roadmap, known as Better Places, but you'll find more details, much more detail on 2025 performance in the universal registration document, which was published back in March.
I'd like to add that Better Places is a central strategic pillar for the group, indeed, a key pillar of our long-term competitive edge. With a portfolio of EUR 45 billion worth of assets and tenants, upwards of 900 million visits per year, we have good visibility and possibility to have an effect on our local communities. We can also play a role in today's society, especially at a time when digitalization has strong effects on social ties. We're in a position on our own scale to reinvent living together, community life, in our own way, in line with our mission statement. Beyond the leasing of spaces, innovation, data, the third strategic pillar is simplifying the structure of the group.
We've already made significant headway in 2025 because we have now 4 regions instead of 11 countries. We disposed of non-strategic businesses, and we also delisted Australian CDIs. Indeed, to this end, we're submitting to your approval the delisting of URW stapled shares that will generate costs and efficiency gains, but it is tax neutral, and this preserves, of course, the economic rights of the shareholders. Also reducing the number of subsidiaries in 2026, we are focused on keeping our costs under control. I mean, we have the pleasure of holding this AGM at our own headquarters, but that's just a case in point for savings. Also, wage restraint, as you can see, at management board level.
We are committed to developing simplicity agility throughout the group for all our teams and all business lines. This is essential if we are to free up our own resources so that we can focus our time and energy on generating growth, on developing our competitive edge, and indeed, on developing artificial intelligence and creating more impact. Before we move on to the dividends and the outlook for 2026, I'm delighted to welcome on the Management Board Kathleen Verelst as Chief Investment Officer. She joins Anne-Sophie, Fabrice, Sylvain, myself, of course. We're excited to lead the group in this new direction. This was published on the roadmap, and her appointment was welcomed by the markets. We have three clear priorities for 2026.
You have them up on the slide, and we covered this before. In 2025, we delivered attractive growth on the like-for-like basis. We're keeping our costs under control and managing our investment properties, we certainly propose to continue this strategy in 2026 and out through to 2028. Let's look at the dividend for 2025. We secured EUR 2.2 billion in divestments, as announced in the 2025 investors days rather. Because of the strong financial performance, we offer a cash dividend of EUR 4.5 per share for the year 2025. This is almost 30% up compared to 2024, this is a payout distribution ratio of 47%. Let's look at the outlook for 2026 now.
During investors day, we announced AREPS figure of at least EUR 9.5 per share in 2026 to reflect the effects of our divestments, of our disposals. We raise the forecast now to anywhere between EUR 9.5 and EUR 9.3 per share. That would be a operational growth of 5%, supported by strong operational performance in the retail business. That we do not foresee any degradation of the macroeconomic or geopolitical environment, however. Finally, in line with our commitment to deliver attractive returns to shareholders, we propose to have a dividend of EUR 5.5 per share for the year 2026. This would be paid in 2027. That reflects our confidence in the group's outlook.
As we said earlier, this would be a distribution ratio of about 60%, that would be 22% up compared to the year 2025. In line with the trajectory that we announced on Investor Day, the distribution ratio in 2027, 2028 should be anywhere between 60% and 70%. That, of course, increases, ensures an increase in the distribution per share of by 2028, but this is also in line with our LTV reduction trajectory. Finally, instead of there being a dividend, this will be a reimbursement of capital contribution. We will continue this until such time as we can completely reduce our debt. Now it's about EUR 2.5 billion at end 2025.
A few words now about the reasons why I'm really excited to be at the head of this company and very confident in the fact that we can deliver long-term sustainable growth. Our assets, our know-how, our brand, are an ecosystem of performance. It's a powerful competitive advantage. We have a sound, profitable, and cash-generating business model. More specifically, I'd like to refer to the strategic position of our brand. Our EBITDA margin of 63%, EBITA per employee stands at more than EUR 1 million. We have attractive sustainable growth, the cash flow conversion stands at about 75% of EBITDA, based on our trajectory looking to 2028.
Beyond the property business, you'll find few companies or indeed industry with that kind of numbers, whether in the S&P 500 or the major European stock indices. To that end, my colleagues on the board and I are committed to unlocking the potential of our company through A Platform for Growth and become leaders in the industry. This will enable us to generate attractive growth and returns for our shareholders to continue to expand our addressable market, especially with the low capital businesses, and create value for all stakeholders. Thank you for your presence, and thank you for your attention. Well, thank you, Vincent, for this presentation. I would like to welcome our new member. David, thank you also. Would you just tell us how governance operates in the company?
Well, yes, Vincent Rouget told you about the membership of the Management Board, subject to the renewal of Fabrice Mouchel, the appointment of Kathleen Verelst. We'll have nine new members at the end of this AGM. If you agree, we'll have 44% women, 56% men, from the four nationalities. The independence ratio is about 76%. We have various profile with different horizons. The Management Board has two specialized committee, a Supervisory Committee, a Governance Committee, a Appointment and Compensation Committee, with a independence ratio of 67%. Okay, we will continue with the appointments. Compensation, yeah, we decided to keep these compensation under control and index it on long-term performance. Vincent Rouget was is 25% below that of his predecessor.
The variable long-term bonus is upwards of our policy at 180% of the fixed revenue. 25% is based on performance for of our A Platform for Growth, REBITDA on net debt to EBITDA and the total amount of return to shareholders between 25 and 28, inclusive. Jean-Marie Tritant's departure condition were treated in keeping with the in strict abidance to the AFEP-MEDEF compensation. Because of the circumstances of his departure, we're looking at a bonus upwards of the AFEP-MEDEF code for 2025 to 2026. All these details are in the universal registration document. Well, thank you, David, for these details.
Now I'll give the floor to Régis Chemouny, who represents the auditors, and he'll give us a summary of the group's performance. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the auditors, I would like to show the reports established for the ordinary and extraordinary part of this annual general meeting. All the reports were made available by the company, you will find them regarding the related party agreements in the universal registration document. This is available on the company's website. In line with the customs of this AGM, I'll go through the highlights of this report. The fundamental purpose of our mission is to arrive at reasonable assurance on the fairness and actuality of the numbers with no significant anomalies.
We, of course assessed the amounts through sampling both in the annual and the consolidated financial statements. There was also some internal auditing. We looked at the estimates that were used by the company and the presentation of the accounts in general. Our report on the accounts also include a specific part describing the key items of the audit, any risk of significant anomalies, which based to our own judgments are the most significant. Anyway, regarding the annual financial statements, and that needs to be voted on in the first resolution, our report is to be found on page 444 of the universal registration document, and we have no reservations on these accounts.
In the third part, the key items of the audits are assessing the receivable shares and receivables, consolidation of the financial debt, and derivatives in financial instruments. We also went through the specific checks as provided by rules and regulations, especially on the supervisory board and corporate governance. Regarding the consolidated financial statements and that resolution number 2, our report is to be found on page 438 of the universal registration document. We have an opinion without reservations on the consolidated accounts and the annexes for the accounts for 2025. In the third part of this report remind the key items of the audits that produced our opinions.
We identified the following key items, valuation of the investment property portfolio, including investment properties under construction, either held directly or within joint ventures. Secondly, the recoverable amounts of intangible assets within indefinite useful life and goodwill related to the acquisition of Westfield. We also, in our report, we said that we went through the specific checks as provided by rules of regulations on financial accounts. We'll have a summary on the special report on related party agreements. You'll find the full version on page 449 of the universal registration document, which is resolution number 5. In the first part of that report, we tell you that we were told that there were no new such convention, such agreement for the year 2025 or regarding 2026.
We were told of one existing related party agreement that had been approved in the previous AGM and whose performance continued for the year 2025. Regarding the report on resolutions 21 to 23 of the AGM, there are no specific observations for all these resolutions. We will produce additional reports if necessary, as these authorizations are used by the management board. Thank you for your attention. Thank you, Mr. R é gis. I suggest we have a Q&A session that will enable shareholders to make comments or ask questions. If you do wish to speak, please introduce yourselves, and please be concise so as to enable as many shareholders as possible to take the floor.
You will find microphones. All you need do is raise your hand, and you will get a microphone so that all participants can hear you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm an individual shareholder. I only attend AGM, I didn't get the information elsewhere. What's the connected connection with Mr. Rouget and Unibail? Where was he before he became the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board? Well, what is his seniority and what's his background? It's true. We could have gone through Vincent's resume. I mean, he joined us a few years back, but he can introduce himself. Yes, I joined URW exactly three years ago. That was June 1st, 2023, after the 2023 AGM.
Before that, I spent 16 years with Léon Bressler, the former CEO of Unibail, he was the CEO of Unibail. Working with him in a property investment fund, a pan-European fund. I was working with him and looked at all investment and asset management of the portfolio in Western Europe, not including England, Ireland or Scandinavian countries. We were managing about EUR 10 billion in equity over 15 years in Europe. Right then. He, he's no amateur, and he's well familiar with the property business. Good morning and congratulations and many thanks. I'm also an individual shareholder. We're told that the dividend would not be a dividend as such, but rather a reimbursement of equity.
What does it mean in tax terms and It's a fair question, you know. I can answer in simple terms that if you need any clarifications, I'll give the floor to Fabrice Mouchel, our Chief Financial Officer. This means that when you receive that dividend, it is not taxable because we are reimbursing the money you provided the company, so your the tax base and the entry ticket will be lower. It means that when if you sell back your shares, you may have a capital gains tax, but as a dividend, you will not be paying income tax to the French under at least under the French tax system. Thank you. I come here from Meudon. I live next to Vélizy.
Can you tell us about the stores there, and when will work begin? Thank you. What work are you referring to, sir? In Vélizy 2 is one of our finest properties. On the parking lots. On the parking lots, we're looking at a few months worth of renovation and consolidation of parking areas on that site. There are other development projects. We are restructuring the wings, and we're extending the concepts. I mean, there will be a Zara flagship store. This mall will certainly develop over the next few years. We are working hard on this. This is one asset where we've been working hard to attract the right concepts, the right flagship stores, with a view to consolidate or indeed, reinforce our footfall.
It's a very competitive site in the Paris area, we need to keep this asset at its best. We expect work to be completed by end 2026. Good morning, sir. My name is Jean-Richard. I'm also an individual shareholder. I'd like to know I heard, I was told, not often, but once or twice, I was told that Unibail was a stakeholder in the triangle tower, the Tour Triangle. Is that true? The answer is yes. What's your stake in this, what will there be in this Tour Triangle? We were not told. Thank you. Yes, go ahead. This is true, we're proud to be shareholders in this project. We have 30% of that project alongside with AXA, our institutional partner.
They have 70%. The tower is being built as we speak. We've achieved the topping yard. The structure, the skin has been completed, and the teams working on the site are now finishing the inside work and architecture. This is a joint project. You have 90,000 sq m of commercial space, about 70,000 office space and 20,000 sq m for other users. There will be a hotel with more than 100 rooms. There will be a event area, panoramic space, with an American partner, who has a venue at One Vanderbilt.
This is very successful in New York, but we certainly expect-Lots of footfall, lots of interest, because it has got an amazing view from that site. Anyway, we have leasing of other pre-leasing of the office space. Many brands have shown an interest. Many prospects have been visiting. So we are very confident as to the future of this project and our ability to lease the space. We are historically at La Défense. We were very successful there. Latest that was delivered during the COVID period in 2021 was the Trinity Tower that was not leased when we delivered it.
In a matter of two years, it was fully leased after completion at a much higher rental values than the average at La Défense because of the unequaled qualities of this place. We'll have equal quality, indeed outstanding quality at the Triangle Tower. It has its unique architecture. No two levels are identical. On the first floor, you'll have spaces of a one piece, 400,000 sq m, then at the top you have smaller spaces, about 1,000 sq m with breathtaking views on the Eiffel Tower and terrace. We will have various offers in a well, what has been a rather challenging market, the office space business. Yes, sir, to the left or to my right.
Good morning. I was a historic shareholder. I was a shareholder of Unibail-Rodamco. I was a witness to the merger with Westfield. I, as a shareholder, I didn't look into the details of all that. You can see that you're refocusing your business on shopping centers and giving up on other businesses. The question I had, it seemed to me that Unibail was looking at services. What's Well, we do have an office space and significant office space business in our portfolio. We're one of the big players in the Paris area. We have EUR 2 billion worth of assets now.
Well, the total balance sheet is EUR 49 billion, indeed, the vast majority is on retail space, not just in Europe, but also the U.S. We do have significant exposure in the office space building. Viparis, we have 50%, that is, of course, significant in the Paris area and certainly carries the economic development of the Paris area. We're very proud to be involved in that, we've been investing. Indeed, we are renovating and restructuring for phase III of the Porte de Versailles site. You can see it from the beltway. We will be investing there. Now, the office space portfolio used to be, well, was a significant source of deleveraging.
We've been disposing of these sites over the past few years, that was part of our policy to focus to new, more profitable assets, develop the profitable assets and deliver outstanding goods. When we They reach fruition, we divest and invest in new projects. We're still committed to the office space business. We have our own recognized know-how, capital allocation will rotate in such a way as to recoup our investment in these businesses. The I mean, this is still significant, it is now a minority business. Outside the Paris area and outside France, you have a multi-use, especially in United States. Yes, that's a good point. In Hamburg, for instance, you have different users, multi-use.
You have not just retail. I mean, you have 100,000 sq m in retail, and this has been very successful ever since the opening in April 2025. We have about 100,000 sq m also of office space in, and we're completing that 45,000 sq m in hotels. Lots of residential property was sold to third-party developers. You can see you have multi-users, and this is essential if you want to have these locations that draw lots of footfall and with, of course, retail offshoots, which is, of course, important for us as operators in this business. The person at the back of the room. Good afternoon. Good morning.
I'm also an individual shareholder. I also have a question about one specific project because there's very little information. Is Unibail involved in reconstructing Balard? That's where the sporting complex Aquab oulevard is located. You also have shops. We don't have much information about that at all.
Good morning, ma'am, and thank you for this question. I can confirm that we are minority shareholder in that Aquab oulevard project and in the renovation of that site. Can you give us some details? Well, the project is underway. We've got all the permits, and alongside with our partner, we are finalizing the concept. We are now talking to the companies that might join and deciding on the best time to launch what is a beautiful multi-use project. You have a significant portion of office space, but also residential property, and then ground level retail space, and then there's a leisure business and a beautiful movie theater.
If I properly understood your explanations about the services sector, you champion projects, you take part in the construction of buildings, and then you dispose them to reposition yourself in other assets that are similar or different. If I got this right, you first championed the Trinity project, then you sold it. As for the Triangle high-rise, you said you have a 25% stake with AXA. Besides, the lady has just asked a question about the Balard reconstruction project. It shows that you partially are involved in this operation. I'd like to understand what the point is of being involved in a project with a 25% stake. Is it because it's too heavy for the company's shoulders? Am I wrong in thinking this, and it's not a perfectly logical financial setup?
We have indeed seen that a lot of players in the services sectors are playing musical chairs. I'm calling this the services, the musical chairs in the services sectors. Mr. Rouget. Thank you, sir. We do indeed own 30% of the Triangle Project, and I think it's an outstanding example of the model that we want to implement going forward. I mean by that originally we launch projects. We have teams that can harness this expertise, that can produce highly attractive products, that can think of and design very attractive projects. We have had a new partner in at the very start of the project in 2021, just as the permission was about to expire, the permission to launch the construction works. The project was launched.
It could not be launched at the time for, on the nearby what I call Westfield venture, because of our project to deleverage the group and to cut our debt further. Despite that, the group found or created the right conditions with the support of that partner to launch this beautiful project and complete it. In our approach, in our strategic roadmap, A Platform for Growth, this is what we mean when we say a disciplined capital allocation going forward. If we were to launch all these developments, at 100%, well, the reality is that today they are 100% financed with debt.
Our objective is, however, to deleverage in order to be, again, strategically flexible at group level in order to acquire targets at the best time when market conditions are right. It's part of our strategy. We want to find the right partners. For example, the Aquab oulevard project, the disposal of the 51% took place when there was no permission for this project. It was a legacy project, and our partner bought a 49% stake, secured the permission, and got from authorities a change of destination, change of purpose for this part of the neighbourhood. It's been designated as a hybrid use. Yes, many financial partners see the expertise we have to put together a project.
We charge fees. We keep track of the development. As I was saying in my short presentation, this activity requires less capital but generates more growth at group level, and this helps us generate sustainable organic growth. Mr. Régis , in your presentation, you mentioned the Edinburgh project. Maybe you can give our listeners a reminder of the fact that we do take initiative. Mr. Rouget. Yes, we had the opportunity to take a 25% stake in the St James Quarter, which is the iconic asset in the historical center of Edinburgh. It was delivered and developed in the midst of COVID on the basis of very attractive investments. In this project, we partnered up with our existing partners on other assets in England.
APG, a Dutch fund that approached us because they are familiar with the group's expertise. They know that we can generate value with these assets. We're going to reposition this asset under the Westfield brand sometime in 2026. It's really part of our performance ecosystem that we refer to with Jacques. It's really our ability to secure sustainable organic growth. It also contributes to the global prestige of the brand, of the Westfield brand. Are there any other questions? At the back of the auditorium. Oh, yes, I can see the gentleman there on the right. Good morning. My name is Guy Fricout. I'm an individual shareholder. Good morning, sir. I have three short questions. The share price is in the region of EUR 100. A few years back, it was above EUR 200.
What is our reassessed net asset, and what is the turnover of buildings? That's my first question. You're proposing the appointment of a new director, Jules Niel, the son of Mr. Niel. Could you may be share us more details? He's 26. He graduated when he was 23. I'd like to know more about this phenomenon. He seems to have achieved a lot over three years. Third question, y ou are appointing yet another man in the board. You have appointed a woman. Is that to offset the appointment of the gentleman, or is it really about acquiring new competencies? Would you like to start, Jacques? I'll start with the last question, if I may. Jacques Richier. We have a new director who's right there. She's attending the meeting. We are delighted that Carole has joined us.
As mentioned in relation to governance, what's really important for us is to have diverse profiles that will give a different perspective on the different issues. Carole develops a great brand. I don't know if we can promote it or advertise it here, Kujten. We usually have the perspective of what we call retailers. This is what this lady gives us. This brand is now present in France, but also in the United States, Kujten. That's interesting for us, as this is the perspective of one potential partner for Unibail in our shopping centers. Carole joined us for these very reasons, because we were trying to strengthen our knowledge at the level of the supervisory board, our knowledge in the retail industry, which is evolving extremely fast. It's quite Schumpeterian.
Some brands go under, other brands are created. You need to be in contact with people who experience this on a daily basis. As regards Jules Niel, he's here, you can meet the firsthand this phenomenon, as you said, in just a few moments. You've said, Jules has a broad experience, and I would also say natural experience. You mentioned his family background, he was really immersed in an entrepreneurial context. He does have international experience in operations, but also as an executive. He is accustomed to board meetings, but also has had a number of responsibilities for a number of topics. He has worked in many different areas, a lot in technology, also a lot in innovation.
We also wanted to increase our expertise in this. Earlier on, Vincent said that we work a lot on data related issues, on how to use it, but also on AI. We also wanted to beef up this expertise. Besides, we haven't mentioned it yet, I suppose we can. I suppose Vincent will give a reminder to Anne-Sophie. You need to bear in mind this figure, 32%. 32% of our, let's call them consumers are Gen Z customers. Well, I suppose you can easily understand that I'm not one of them. When you look at the membership of the supervisory board, it's quite important to understand this. Just like Carole brings with her this knowledge of retail, it's important to have someone who represents this generation.
32% today, it's the generation that will determine the way we'll evolve our shopping centers and our offer. With Jules, we have the expertise I've just mentioned, especially relation to technology and innovation. Also the perspective of that specific generation, and their expectations and how we can meet them. That's my attempt to answer your question about our two directors. Vincent Rouget? About the reassessed net asset. The standards have changed, especially under EPRA, the European Association of Unlisted Companies that brings together institutional investors and companies in this industry. There's the net tangible asset, the NTA, which is in the region of EUR 113. EUR 113, which is almost a liquidation asset that does not take into account the group's valuation.
It's interesting because we signed the first franchise agreement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It's a new activity, as we announced during our Investors Day. We believe that we could generate between EUR 30 million and EUR 50 million in EBITA per annum between 2028. This really yields a lot of value potentially for the group. We see this as a net liquidation asset that can over or maybe undervalues a number of assets, excluding tax aspects. There are two other metrics, one is EUR 13 and one is EUR 43 , if I'm correct, which are more based on going concern approaches which are not liquidative assets, where when you buy a group share, you don't pay registration fees, there's no reason to deduct them from the asset valuation.
The brand is valued. Also there are unrealized assets. For example, the highly competitive financing cost that the group can benefit from with very interesting rates, 2.1%-3%. It's very much more interesting than the market currently. It can also be a factor in the next reassessed asset in these approaches. This just give you a ballpark figure. Of course, it remains lower than the historical high. Our feeling as a management team is that the share price could be potentially reassessed, and that so we are not currently fully valued correctly. We believe that this will improve over time as we improve our distributions, our payouts, and as we gradually deleverage. Thank you, Jacques Richier. Thank you, Vincent.
Well, you asked three questions in one, I suggest we now end the Q&A session. I would like to thank our shareholders for their questions and for the interest they have expressed and shown for their company. Over to David Zeitoun to inform the general meeting of the number of shareholders participating in the vote prior to the vote on the resolutions. As the signing of the attendance sheet is now over, I can inform you that 4,274 shareholders are present or represented have voted by post. They held a total of 114,964,933 shares. That is 79.72% of the voting rights.
The quorum has therefore been made, met, and the meeting may validly deliberate. Dear members of the board, you will be invited to certify the accuracy of the attendance sheet prepared by Uptevia, our registrar.
Yeah. Hello.
Jacques Richier. Right. Well, under his supervision, we shall now proceed to the votes on resolutions. As is customary, the title of the resolutions will be projected on the screen. It will be in French. Maybe a quick reminder on how to use the electronic voting devices. Of course, before we begin the voting process, please ensure that your device is turned on and that the number of shares you hold is correctly displayed on the screen. Once voting opens for each resolution, simply press the button corresponding to your choice. The green key, one, to vote in favor. The yellow key, two, to abstain. The red key, three, to vote against. You may change your selection as long as the hourglass icon appears on the screen for approximately 10 seconds. For the duration of the vote, please turn off your mobile phones for connection issues.
Finally, kindly return your device to the host as you exit. Very well. I now propose that we begin the voting on the resolutions. First resolution, approval of the statutory financial statements for the year ended on December 31st, 2025. The vote is now open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Second resolution, approval of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 2025. The vote is now open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Third resolution, allocation of net income for the year ended on December 31st, 2025. The vote is now open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Fourth resolution, distribution of an amount deducted from the additional paid-in capital account. The vote is now open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved.
Fifth resolution, approval of the statutory auditor's special report on related party agreements governed by Articles L 225-86 et seq. of the French Commercial Code. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Sixth resolution, approval of the total remuneration and benefits of any kind paid during the financial year ended on December 31st, 2025, or granted in respect of the same financial year to Mr. Jean-Marie Tritant as Chairman of the Management Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Seventh resolution, approval of the total remuneration and benefits of any kind paid during the financial year ended on December 31st, 2025, or granted in respect of the same financial year to Mr. Fabrice Mouchel as Member of the Management Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed.
The resolution is approved. Eighth resolution, approval of the total remuneration and benefits of any kind paid during the financial year ended on December 31st, 2025, or granted in respect of the same financial year to Mr. Vincent Rouget as member of the Management Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Ninth resolution, approval of the total remuneration and benefits of any kind paid during the financial year ended on December 31st, 2025, or granted in respect of the same financial year to Mrs. Anne-Sophie Sancerre as member of the Management Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved.
Tenth resolution, approval of the total remuneration and benefits of any kind paid during the financial year ended on December 31st, 2025, or granted in respect of the same financial year to Mr. Sylvain Montcouquiol as Member of the Management Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Eleventh resolution, approval of the total remuneration and benefits of any kind paid during the financial year ended on December 31st, 2025, or granted in respect of the same financial year to Mr. Jacques Richier as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Twelfth resolution, approval of information relating to the remuneration of the corporate officers mentioned in Article L 22-10-9 of the French Commercial Code for the year ended on December 31st, 2025.
The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Thirteenth resolution, approval of the remuneration policy for the Chairman of the Management Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Fourteenth resolution, approval of the remuneration policy for the members of the Management Board other than the chairman. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Fifteenth resolution, approval of the remuneration policy for the members of the Supervisory Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Sixteenth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Jacques Richier as member of the Supervisory Board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Seventeenth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Roderick Munsters as member of the Supervisory Board. The vote is open.
The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Eighteenth resolution, ratification of the co-optation of Mr. Jules Niel as member of the supervisory board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Nineteenth resolution, appointment of Ms. Carole Benaroya as member of the supervisory board. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Twentieth resolution, authorization granted to the management board to enable the company to purchase its shares in accordance with Article L22-10-62 of the French Commercial Code. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Twentyfirst resolution, authorization granted to the management board to reduce the share capital by cancellation of shares bought back by the company in accordance with Article L22-10-62 of the French Commercial Code. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved.
Resolution 22, twentysecond resolution. Delegation of authority granted to the management board to decide on the issuance of ordinary shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital of the company or one of its subsidiaries and/or debt securities without preemptive subscription rights for the benefit of one or more specifically designated persons suspended during a public tender offer. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Twentythird resolution. Delegation of authority granted to the management board to increase the share capital by issuing ordinary shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital of the company reserved for participants in the company's savings plan, the Plan d'Épargne Entreprise, without preemptive subscription rights in accordance with Articles L3332-18 et seq. of the French Labor Code. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Twenty-fourth resolution.
Amendments to Articles 12 and 18 of the Articles of Association to comply with changes introduced under France's Attractiveness Act and Decree number 2026-94. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. Twenty-fifth resolution, amendments to the Articles of Association in order to terminate the stapled share principles as a consequence of the streamlining of URW Group's legal structure through an internal reorganization. The vote is open. The vote is closed, and the resolution is approved. Twenty-sixth resolution. Adoption of the text of the new Articles of Association of the company following the termination of the stapled share principle. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is approved. The last resolution, twenty-seventh resolution, powers for formalities. The vote is open. The vote is closed, and the resolution is approved. Well, you caught me off guard.
It was a bit long and tedious, but it's over. Thank you, David. Thank you for managing the different votes and resolutions. Dear shareholders, I'd like to thank you for your participation in this vote. Again, I'd like to thank you on behalf of Carole Benaroya, for her election. Also, on behalf of Roderick Munsters and also my personal capacity for renewing your trust in us. To conclude this meeting, I would like to once again express my gratitude to our shareholders for their continued support over all these years. Throughout this redeployment, they gave us the necessary trust. They supported us when things were more challenging, and we're also delighted to share the better times with them.
I'd like to congratulate Jean-Marie Tritant for his work, the part he played in the transition that occurred smoothly and the transition at the end of 2025 with Vincent Rouget. On behalf of all the shareholders, but on behalf of the supervisory board as well that is present here, I would like to congratulate Vincent Rouget for his new position, for the work he's done, and other members of the management board who are attending, as well as all of the group's employees for their outstanding work in 2025, which is the result of that constant commitment and total dedication, which has enabled us to present these 2025 results and the outlook for 2026.
I personally believe that an effective, well-performing company is also about a great team, which is what we are fortunate enough to have. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for attending this general meeting. Thank you for your trust. Have a lovely day. Thank you.