Hi, my name is Jan Gulam. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to welcome everyone to Asmodee's annual general meeting 2025. I would also like to declare the meeting opened. The Board of Directors has proposed that the meeting is to be held in English for all participants here today. I would therefore like to ask if we can agree to that.
Yes.
Thank you very much. I would also like to let everyone know that we have exits on the right and left if something happens. I kindly would also like to ask you to turn off, or not turn off, but put your phones into silent mode. With that said, Lars, you're welcome.
Thank you, Jan. Dear shareholders, colleagues, partners, friends, welcome to this first annual general meeting of Asmodee. I refer to us as an independent listed company on the regulated markets. This is a milestone in the journey of Asmodee. I'm both proud and humbled to open this meeting today, not only as a chair of the board, but as a long-term committed shareholder. It's also a true pleasure to be gathered here today in the heart of beautiful Värmland, in Karlstad, a city known not only for its sunshine, but also for its scenic beauty. This is the place where my journey began and still empowers me every day in my work. In early 2022, when we had the chance to bring Asmodee into our family, we immediately recognized the strength and its leadership in the tabletop gaming industry.
As we got to know its teams, its culture, and its global operations more deeply, our confidence only grew in both the business as it stands today and its long-term potential to build value. Over the past year, we have taken steps to stand fully on our own. We formed a new board, and together with the executive management team, we focused on two priorities: preparing to operate as an independent listed business and setting a long-term strategy that will carry us into the future. In early 2025, we completed that milestone. The spin-off from Embracer Group was not just a transaction or another transaction. It was a strategic move. Its purpose was clear: to give Asmodee the freedom to focus on what it does best, to restart its value accretive M&A agenda, and to continue organically growing with the strength of a standalone publicly listed leader.
In this new structure, our story is sharper and our proposition is clearer. Investors can now assess us for what we truly are: on our own performance, our unique position, and our future potential. Despite Asmodee being in one of the world's oldest commercial industries, with products that have existed for thousands of years, this is today a vibrant and growing global market. What is driving that growth? Partly a reaction to the digital overload, but more importantly, the timeless human need to connect, plan, and share moments with family and friends. For me, Asmodee has all the things you want to see as an investor. It checks all the boxes: a growing global market, a low capex, a high cash flow, low business risk in individual game projects, a strong market position, a long runway of M&A opportunities with clear synergies, and a remarkable year-on-year stability.
It's a rare combination in the public markets and one that I believe creates growing shareholder value. As a chair of the board and major shareholder, I'm genuinely proud of this new chapter. I intend to remain part of it, not just as a chairman of the board, but as a dedicated, evergreen shareholder with confidence in the company's leadership and its potential to grow value. When we first acquired this business, we recognized the portfolio, its deep customer and community position and trust, and its absolute leading position in the industry. That conviction has not changed. If anything, it's grown stronger. This is a defining moment for Asmodee. We see opportunities to grow organically through acquisitions and by welcoming more exceptional people and companies into our family.
Our ambition is simple: to keep building a business that lasts, powered by talented people with some entrepreneurial energy, not only from Värmland, and a shared sense of purpose. I believe the best chapters of our story are still to come. I want to thank the executive management team and all the others for their focus, energy, and execution throughout this year. To you, our shareholders, thank you for your belief in Asmodee and its future. The road ahead is full of opportunity, and I look forward to walking it together. Thank you. To start this AGM, I'm pleased to share with you Asmodee's new brand identity, revealed a few months ago with a listing of Asmodee this year and a celebration of its 30th anniversary, and as a new milestone in the long-term growth that Asmodee is looking forward towards.
This new brand identity will act as a beacon for players to build a preference for Asmodee games and also for partners and financial stakeholders to see and hear more and more of Asmodee in the next years.
Welcome to Asmodee's Table. For over 30 years, we've been by your side with infinite stories, crafting games you love and live. Because everything starts with you. The player, the explorer, the strategist, the one who says, "Just one more round." We pay tribute to your passion, your creativity, your way to play. Like you, we dare to try, and we push limits to craft unforgettable, bold, and immersive shared experiences. Whether you're clashing in epic battles, building worlds piece by piece, or sharing inside jokes, you belong at the table. At Asmodee, we promise to always raise the game, to make this adventure extraordinary, and to always stay inspired by players. Asmodee, inspired by players.
Thank you, Lars. Now we've come to item two, election of chair at the meeting. The nomination committee has proposed that myself be the chair of the meeting. Are there any other proposals in the room? No, thank you. Can we elect me? Thank you very much. Then some additional formalities quickly. There are several unregistered shareholders and guests in the room today, and people participating remotely. Can we invite these to attend? Thank you. In addition to that, it's only shareholders or people with representatives or their assistants that will be able to vote here today and who have been registered in the share register for the meeting. The same goes for questions. However, we will, of course, allow everyone, both remotely and here, to post questions during a Q&A session that will be later during the meeting.
If you have any questions in the room, please state your name and where you're from as well. In addition, I've asked my colleague here, Atilla Jornes, to keep the minutes from the meeting. I would also like to inform you which board members and executives, et cetera, that are here today. We have all board members here except Mark Nunes. So it's Linda Höllö, Jakob Ljungmyrhen, Kicki Valli-Lund, Stefan Kervill, Lars Vingerfors. Then we also have the proposed new director, Eugene Evans, here as well. Thomas Kögler is here, CEO, and Andrea Gasparini is in the room as well. Magnus Svensson Henriksson, the auditor from PwC, is here as well. We also have the nomination committee's chair, PF Per Fredriksson, and I believe Anna Henriksson is in the room as well from the nomination committee. So then we have item number three, preparation and approval of the voting list.
We have just received the results here. Everyone that has notified in accordance with the procedures set out in the notice have been ticked off here and included in the voting list. In total, today, we have 150,437,721 shares present. That corresponds to 228,828,027 votes. That also represents 64.37% of the capital in the company and 72.71% of the votes in the company. Any questions regarding the voting list or the preparation of it? Can we approve the prepared voting list? Thank you. We have come to item number four, election of one or two persons to certify the minutes. There is a proposal to appoint one person to certify the minutes. Can we resolve in accordance with that? Thank you. There is also a proposal to have Karl Granåt as the certifier of the minutes from Alekta. I think you're there, yes.
Are you willing to take on that quest? Perfect. Thank you very much. Will you be available afterwards as well so we can finalize the minutes? Perfect. Thank you. Then I ask if the meeting can appoint Karl as well. Excellent. Thank you. Item number five, question whether the meeting has been duly convened. Then I will ask Atilla to present how that's been made.
In accordance with the company's articles of association, notice to the annual general meeting shall be given by publishing the notice on the company's website and in the Swedish Official Gazette, no earlier than six weeks and no later than four weeks before the meeting is to be held. At the time of the notice, information of the notice must also be announced in Svenska Dagbladet. The notice to today's general meeting has been published on the company's website on 18th August 2025 and in the Swedish Official Gazette on 21st August 2025. Information of the notice has also been announced in Svenska Dagbladet on 21st August 2025. We can say that the conditions are such that the notice can be considered to have been given and made in accordance with legislation and the company's articles of association.
Perfect. Thank you, Atilla. Does the meeting consider itself duly convened? Thank you for that. Now we've come to item number six, approval of the agenda. It has been included in the notice to the general meeting, and it's been available here today as well. Can we resolve in accordance with the proposed agenda? Thank you. So now, item number seven, presentation of the business activities in the group. And then I will welcome Lars again for a few words about the board work.
Thank you. Thank you, Jan. You will soon meet the management. Sorry for standing here again. Actually, I would like to take you through to the shareholders what the board has been through this year. I think it's important for shareholders to see that. It's been an extraordinary year for many reasons. The listing process has driven much of the agenda. Let me give you a very short overview. On the slide here, you can see some major events that occurred during the year. We've been spending very long nights and processes of actually taking us to where we are today. For example, the whole bond raising process, we've been spending a lot of time with advisor banks and the market, but also the board played a very important role in that process. Obviously, the most exciting moment was the actual listing date in February. We were all very excited.
You know, we have so many advisors, and people were guessing the share price. It was a very wide range. I was pleased as a shareholder to see that it was a warm welcome to the market. I think the whole process, not thanks to the board, but thanks to everyone, was almost a benchmark process for a spin-off on the Nasdaq. I'm also happy as a shareholder to see that the share price has actually increased from that first listing date. When you are chairing a board, there are a lot of planning activities. Here you can see some headlines of what we're doing at the board. It's been a number of processes, and I think the board has been fundamental to drive many of these processes, obviously together with many advisors and the executive management team.
We had a good number of meetings during the eight months, actually 12 board meetings and nine meetings in per capsulum. Also, the audit and sustainability committee had seven meetings, and the remuneration committee had three meetings. Linda has been doing a fantastic work of heading and chairing the audit and sustainability committee jointly with Jacob and Kicki. Jacob has also been doing a fantastic job of chairing his favorite topic of running the remuneration committee that Kicki is also part of. I have to say that Kicki has been fundamental to the board work as a Vice Chair, which has been very important to me. Looking back, I think it's fair to say that this first year has been about building a strong foundation for the board's future work. We have established the core processes and governance structures required under Nasdaq rules.
We have set a clear annual calendar with agendas supported by a secure board portal. We also formed the two committees to strengthen our governance. Finally, we have made sure the board itself was properly introduced to the company and its strategy, including site visits to several of our companies and studios. Personally, I'm looking forward very much to visit for the first time some old svenskbygder in Minneapolis, where we have our American headquarters. A large part of Värmland actually went to that part of the world. That was 100, 150 years ago, but there is hopefully some Värmlänningar working at Asmodee's headquarters. Altogether, this means the board now has a strong foundation to build on as we move ahead. Let me now welcome Thomas Kögler up on stage.
Thank you, Lars. How best to start then with a quick video of this intense year that we just went through?
I never play chess, but I play Catan, so maybe it's like Catan the board game. Asmodee nous a préparé plusieurs tables de jeu. Soirée loups-garous !
Well, thank you all for attending Asmodee's first annual general meeting. I would like first to start by thanking all Asmodee teams and employees for their contribution and dedication for this very successful 2024-25 fiscal year. Indeed, 2024-25 was a year like no other, marked by a strong growth that we are undeniably proud of. It was a year packed with impactful new releases and collaborations and a pivotal moment in which we listed the company. I can only say how delighted I am with how both the listing and conducting the operations of the business unfolded this year. From a financial perspective, we reached close to €1.4 billion in sales, corresponding to an organic growth of 7.7%, above our expectations as well as above our medium-term targets. This represents around 130 million units of products shipped throughout the year.
Thanks to the strong top-line performance, we reached an adjusted EBITDA of €228 million, equivalent to a margin of 16.7%. We closed the year at a net debt on EBITDA ratio of 2.3 times after M&A commitments and delivered a cash flow of €197 million, equivalent to a very strong cash conversion of 86%. As visible on the slide, we remain a diversified business across both geographies and game categories. We are the only company in the industry that distributes at scale not only the games published by Asmodee Studios, but also games from fantastic external publishing partners. Our four main geographies for the year were France, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which combined represented around 65% of our activity. As we closed the year, trading card game sales represented around 51% of our total revenue, while board games accounted for 39%.
Games published by Asmodee Studios represented about one third, and the other two thirds originated from games published by partners. As profitability in the first category, the games published by our own studios, is about twice as high as the ones from games published by partners, the split is actually quite balanced in terms of margin contribution. Our portfolio is a unique mix, which we can look at in three game categories: social games, lifestyle games, and tabletop games, each gathering games with shared characteristics in terms of format, in terms of gameplay, in terms of target audience, in terms of how the game is developed, and in terms of how we bring the products to market. Alongside our long sellers that represent the vast majority of our revenue, during the year, we saw several successful launches within each of these categories.
In social games, amongst others, our collaboration with the Lego Group saw its first product coming out this year with the successful launch of Lego Monkey Palace. In lifestyle games, we leveraged our strong relationship with major IP owners, well represented by the tremendous success of Star Wars Unlimited in the year. The category also includes strong collaborations with distributed partners such as the Pokémon trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece card game. We also released the Arkham Horror role-playing game that aims at making role-playing games more accessible. Within tabletop games, finally, we saw successful releases such as The Fellowship of the Ring, the trick-taking game, Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth, Harmonies, or Azul Duel. With its intensity and release activity this year, with our listing, was also the opportunity to state our long-term vision.
As a reminder, our vision is to celebrate all players with extraordinary shared experiences, and our mission is to both craft and take to market the most innovative tabletop games for our players and our partners whilst building a beloved portfolio of compelling IPs. Connecting to this, during the year, we either initiated or continued several actions in line with the strategy initiatives that we have set to deliver on. One of the first strategic pillars, as highlighted during our Capital Markets Day in November, is to create new charts and develop selected games into IPs. This year saw, as I said before, the release of Azul Duel and Catan New Energies in our Evergreens ranges. We also published original games, Harmonies, Lego Monkey Palace, as well as several sets of Star Wars Unlimited.
Combined with our strengthened collaboration with Lego, Disney, Lucasfilm, and Middle-earth Enterprise, this sets the strategic pillar in line with the future. Looking forward in the current fiscal year, we will release new editions of the base game of Catan and Ticket to Ride, on top of new original releases and continued release of sets of Star Wars Unlimited. You can see on the right-hand side of the screen illustrations of some of the products our team worked on during the past year and that will be released in the upcoming year. The second strategic pillar is to support and promote playing games. During the year, Asmodee has had a leading presence in major consumer and trade events. This includes Gen Con in the USA, Spiel Essen in Germany, Interrocio in Spain, or the Festival International des Jeux de Cannes in France.
This allowed hundreds of thousands of people, of players, to discover our games and start the word of mouth that is critical to long-term success. During the year, we continued to invest in Asmodee's spearheading initiatives on in-store demonstration with our hobby store retailers, community events, and competitive play initiatives, and by leveraging our 10 million lifetime users on our board game arena platform. Looking forward, we keep reinforcing our presence across digital platforms or events to sustain play. One great example was the Galactic Championship of Star Wars Unlimited that we held during the summer in Las Vegas, a major event bringing in thousands of players to play their favorite game. I was personally particularly impressed by the work our teams have pulled at this occasion. Third, accelerating growth to expand via acquisitions. We have resumed this year our acquisition engine with the acquisition of the Zombicide IP.
In the current fiscal year, while we obviously cannot comment on current discussions, we can confirm that our M&A strategy continues to prioritize the acquisition of studios and branded game properties with either patrimonial or high growth potential, whilst also exploring opportunities to strengthen our distribution network in strategic regions. Fourth, become the next level partner to retail. Across our published and distributed game activities, and as demonstrated by our sales growth, we have solidified our relationship with our retail partners across hobby, mass, and online through initiatives such as, for instance, our Hobby Next program. This year, we also launched the new Asmodee brand, which will gradually become visible on our game packaging in order to create a range effect and act as a beacon of trust and quality with our players.
We expect increased visibility and reinforced collaboration with our physical and digital retail partners in the year to come. Overall, and moving forward, Asmodee seeks to position itself not only as a supplier, but also as a category advisor in an increasingly competitive retail landscape, helping our partners to choose and highlight the best games in our portfolio. Finally, increase awareness and make Asmodee a renowned brand. Asmodee's journey to become a renowned consumer brand has started this year with a major rebranding effort that will be featured moving forward on game boxes, at events, and in advertising campaigns.
We were also very pleased with some of our major IPs, such as Exploding Kittens and Werewolves of Miller's Hollow, to be featured in prominently TV shows on Netflix and on Canal Plus, respectively, pushing Asmodee's IPs and company profile even further into light for our players, our industry, and our shareholders. In the next years, tying all of the above, we look forward to Asmodee's brand presence to sustain our sales, heighten Asmodee's IPs and business partnership profile, and allow for sales and promotional synergies in our portfolio. We also invest in sustainability to strengthen our value for stakeholders, reduce risk, and unlock new opportunities. Sustainability is embedded in everything we do, from game design and production to how we engage with partners, communities, and employees. Our work is guided by two pillars: players and planet, where Asmodee can make the greatest impact.
Our players' pillar reflects our commitment to inclusivity, education, and positive social interactions through games. Our Access Plus studio expanded opportunities for players with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer's. On research, we supported studies on the educational and mental health benefits of playing games. We also work to ensure actual portrayal of people and cultures in game design. Finally, our local teams are engaged in donations and community programs in their local communities. Our planet pillar reflects our commitment to reducing environmental impact across operations. On eco-design, we advance towards our target of making 100% of published games FSC certified by the end of 2025. On production, we conducted third-party carbon footprint analysis and introduced plastic reduction measures. We optimized transport networks to limit emissions, and we promoted more sustainable practices in day-to-day operations. Now, sustainability will remain a key focus area for the future.
For example, we will develop measurable sustainability targets to guide long-term priorities. We will adjust our sustainability strategy to be even more business-driven and value-creative, and we will prepare for and report in line with CSRD requirements. With that, I will hereby hand over to our CFO, Andrea Gasparini, to take you through the fiscal 24-25 financials in a bit more details. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Thomas. I'm very happy to be here and share with you the key financial highlights of the previous full fiscal year 2024-25 of Asmodee. Let's start by looking at sales, which for the fiscal year 2024-25 reached $1,369 million compared to $1,288 million the previous year, corresponding to a nearly organic growth of 7.7% or normal growth of 6.3%. The difference among the two was the disposal of a miniature market in the United States. Breaking down sales by publishers, sales generated by games published by Asmodee grew by 16.9%. Games published by partners grew by 4.3%, and the other category decreased by 28%, impacted by the disposal of a miniature market I was mentioning before.
Games published by Asmodee Studios were driven by successful new releases such as Star Wars Unlimited, Duel for Middle-earth, Lego Monkey Palace, Azul Duel, Arkham Horror RPG, or Forest Shuffle, as well as ongoing sales from our key pillar brands such as Catan, Ticket to Ride, Exploding Kittens, and Double Spotted. The performance in games published by partners improved towards the second half of the year, driven by very healthy tailwinds on trading card games, TCGs, such as Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, or One Piece, of which we were honored to release the first-ever localized version this year in France. The solid top-line development, as Thomas mentioned, translated also in a development in both absolute value and relative value of EBITDA as a percentage of sales.
As you can see, the adjusted EBITDA improved by 8%, moving from $211.7 million to $228.2 million, and as a percentage of sales, an improvement of 0.3 percentage point from 16.4% to 16.7%. The margin improvement was driven by high volumes, as well as a positive sales mix effect, partly increased by volume-driven costs such as royalties, as well as our investment in marketing, notably through our key presence in industry events and toy fairs, as well as marketing campaigns to support our new release and existing games. Other operating expenses increased with the ramp-up to allow Asmodee to operate as a standalone business listed entity. Moving on to cash flow, the free cash flow after tax and capitalized lease payment amounted to $197 million, increasing compared to the previous fiscal year.
This was corresponding to a conversion ratio when compared to the adjusted EBITDA of 86% compared to 87% last year. This performance solidifies once again, for the second year in a row, the resilience and efficiency of our business model, even in the context of growth, increased investment, and higher operating expenses. The higher free cash flow is a reflection of increased EBITDA. Our CapEx light model, where, as you can see, $17 million was invested last year, represented the 1.3% of the net sales. Again, our CapEx light model is demonstrated in here. Looking at the working capital, which is a key component of our free cash flow generation, we saw a healthy increase in the inventory, increasing in absolute value but decreasing as a percentage of sales, reflecting both the TCG performance and our focus on stock management.
Trade receivables decreased due to normal seasonality patterns, as well as our focus on cash collection, and payables remained broadly stable, supported by the favorable cash cycle of the TCGs. Moving into the balance sheet, the changes in net debt throughout the year were mainly driven by the implementation of the $940 million senior secured notes, partly offset in Q4 thanks to the capital injection from Embracer of $400 million, and of course, the strong free cash flow generation I was presenting just before. As a result, the ratio of net debt compared to adjusted EBITDA stood at respectively 1.8 and 2.3 times before and after M&A commitment. We maintain access to our untapped revolving credit facility of $150 million, which provides flexibility going forward. To summarize, a very solid financial performance this latest fiscal year, with 7.7% of organic growth, above our medium target of mid-single digit.
EBITDA expansions both in absolute value and as a percentage are progressing toward the target as well. Net debt at 2.3 times close to our medium-term target of two times. CapEx is still very in line with our CapEx light business model and slightly below the medium-term target of 2% to 3%. Note that the board of directors proposes that no dividend will be paid for the fiscal year 2024-25, in line with the target according to which the distribution of excess liquidity could be made when net debt goes below the ratio of two times the adjusted EBITDA. In conclusion, a very solid year and a clear path of all the organization towards delivering our targets in the future. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Andrea. I would like now to take the opportunity to take you a bit behind the scenes and tell you the story of how Ticket to Ride became an iconic brand. I do not know if you're aware, but Ticket to Ride can be considered as the biggest railway company in the world, with over 15 million copies sold. That's over 3 billion wagons, plastic wagons. If you put them each next to each other, we could circle the Earth almost twice. But how did we get there? What was Asmodee's role in this success? Ticket to Ride was created by designer Alan Moon in 2004 and published by Days of Wonder. Thanks to its innovative game mechanic and theme, Ticket to Ride quickly became a success and received industry recognition, including the Spiel des Jahres in 2004. It's the most prestigious award of our industry.
The game grew from the start, Asmodee as a distribution partner in several territories. The game reached 3 million copies lifetime in 2014 when we, Asmodee, acquired Days of Wonder. We then put in place our machine at the service of the game and the studio, expanding the product range, reaching consumers in new territories, with Ticket to Ride now being available in over 50 countries and 30 languages. With this, we multiplied the sales by five in 10 years, reaching 5 million units mark in 2018, 10 million lifetime units mark in 2021, and we have now exceeded 15 million units sold worldwide. This makes Ticket to Ride a perfect example of our business model mixing reach, IP development, and value-accretive M&A. How was all of this achieved? The first secret behind this global success is to build a product range.
We first started with the base games, Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe, respectively released in 2004 and 2005. They are the foundations of the range on which we build and the locomotives of the brand's growth. After over 20 years, we have just released the refresh of Ticket to Ride. You can see it on the screen, bringing a more modern look and feel to the game, better matching current consumer demands. Next, we released additional maps. These are here to diversify the player experience and increase player engagement by enabling fans to explore new territories, each bringing their twist to the Ticket to Ride experience. We then broadened the audience by developing and bringing to market kids' versions, fast-paced city versions, and even expert versions with Ticket to Ride Rails and Sails and Legends of the West, the legacy version of Ticket to Ride.
If your dream is to compete with friends in 12 successive Ticket to Ride games to build your railway empire and become a railway mogul in the conquest of the West, this is for you. Now Ticket to Ride, as you can see, has grown into a global range. Ticket to Ride, it's not an individual success. It's actually a collective success between invested game designers, a passionate studio, and the reach of a global group. Ticket to Ride has become such an iconic brand that for Ticket to Ride Legends of the West that I mentioned earlier, three of the greatest game designers of our industry teamed up to craft what is probably one of the greatest gaming experiences that exists.
We have Alan Moon, the original designer of Ticket to Ride, that brought in Rob Daviau, who invented legacy board games, and Matt Leacock, who created the acclaimed Pandemic game and Pandemic Legacy, the first legacy game with Rob. That is the power of Ticket to Ride, a brand that unites all. Ticket to Ride has even grown beyond pure tabletop gaming, becoming a cultural phenomenon with highly engaged communities. We can take the example of the latest 20th anniversary tournament that started online on Board Game Arena, our online board gaming platform, where more than 3,000 players took part in the qualifying championship, and the finals took place in Paris in a restaurant shaped in the form of a train wagon. How about that? We also saw Ticket to Ride appear in iconic TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory or Ellen DeGeneres' show.
Ticket to Ride is also available to play digitally on all devices and platforms, with the digital adaptations by Marmalade Studio and on Board Game Arena, where more than 15 million Ticket to Ride games have been played in the last three years. This is how, leveraging Asmodee's unique know-how and capabilities, Ticket to Ride has become an icon of the tabletop games industry, with an estimate of more than 80 million players across the planet. Thank you very much for this short deep dive into one of our beloved IPs. I will now... Now I think we have a Q&A session.
Yeah, if there are any questions in the room. Shoot, I'm sure shareholders in the room have some questions.
Okay, maybe we start with one from the website instead. So we have received one here focusing on M&A. How do you see the current M&A market and what do you expect in terms of multiples?
I can comment on the first part, not on the second part. As we did say, our industry remains very fragmented. We also know that we are in a period that can create opportunities. We do have a quite deep pipeline of companies we look at. We have active discussions. As for the multiples, I will refrain from making any comments.
Looking at another one, focusing on the medium-term target of achieving an adjusted EBITDA margin in excess of 18%. And if you can elaborate a bit more in terms of the road to how to get there.
Right, so it's a road that will not be completely straightforward. Let me explain what I mean by that. As you can see from where our results come from, they come from various types of products. It comes from games that come from our own studios, games that come from games published by partners, from various geographies, etc. This is the essence of the very diversified model of Asmodee, which means that we will grow into that target over time. Obviously, that's why we have set it.
But it will take different roads, thanks to our ability to capture opportunities that will drive, first, the growth in absolute value, because that's what we cherish the most, is growing the top line and the bottom line in absolute value, and slowly building towards our long-term goal through strengthening the investment on the games published by our own studios, because obviously they have a higher contribution to our profitability, whilst in parallel continuing to invest in the key partnerships that we have. Because again, in the end, what we all want is growing the EBITDA in absolute value.
Thank you, Thomas. No further questions from the room? In that case, I continue from the web, and I think we have one for you here, Lars. Focusing on the capital allocation priorities going forward, and specifically, how do you plan to balance dividends, share buybacks, and reinvestments into the business?
I think it's partly a question that also the management, obviously, are a key part of. But ultimately, it's all about creating value. And if we don't find enough opportunities to create value, we would return that capital to shareholders. Now, we are not too far off, hopefully, Andrea, to reach our financial goal of leverage below two times. But it depends on, obviously, if Thomas, you find some amazing opportunities that we might act on.
As we did say, the priority is to invest in the business and growing the business in acquisitions also. And then once we've done all of this, we will sit down with the board and look at the excess cash and how we decide to return it to investors. But yeah, it's not for this year yet.
Thank you. Okay, so another question then. What is your experience regarding if digital versions, such as the recently announced Twilight Empyrean digital version, cannibalize board game sales? Or do we not see that?
I think we've had this question for 10 years. The short answer is no. Actually, it's the opposite. When you have a digital version, it tends to accelerate the sales of physical games. We saw it more than 10 years ago when Ticket to Ride saw its first digital version on the iPad with the release of the iPad. It did drive an acceleration of the sales of the physical board game. The reason behind it is that digital versions provide opportunities for players to play when I would say their regular playing group is not available or if they do not find... Twilight Imperium is a good example. It's a very deep game that lasts for hours and hours, and you do not always have your friends available to engage in such a kind of game.
People will still buy the physical game to spend good time together, but they also, complementary, can play digitally. That's why for us, it's all accretive.
Thank you. Maybe one final question from the web concerning sustainability. In what way will your investments in sustainability reduce your risks?
It's an excellent question. The way we approach sustainability is how to make our business sustainable for the long term. We all share the planet, and we all share lives with people we love. We really look at this as creating opportunities and using our sustainability strategy to create opportunities in terms of business. We did talk about what we did with Access Plus. We did talk about the fact that we bring more and more games into school, into universities, achieving two goals that go together. One is obviously providing the joy of playing games and social interactions for people. The second one is that it does lead to people playing more games. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Maybe one final round if there's anyone in the room who has something funny to ask. Good.
I'm used to getting a lot of difficult questions on AGM, so perhaps this is a good sign that...
Yes, and now you will get one from me. You recently sold some shares in a placing. Some would say that your holding is now an overhang for the share. Can you please elaborate on how you're thinking about it going forward?
Yes, so obviously, you know, I've been now in a partly new phase in my own journey and building the parent company of my holdings. I've been heavily invested only into gaming stocks with basically very low liquidity. So in order to both support my private investments outside tabletop and digital gaming, I basically needed to have access to some liquidity. I don't like to borrow a lot of money, so rather than putting borrowing against my shares, which I think you should be, if you do that, you should be very cautious. So I decided to divest, I think, 10% of my capital. I still hold 16% or 17% of the capital and more of the vote. So I'm very committed to be a long-term shareholder of Asmodee. Personally, I don't see it as an overhang, but I let the market decide on that.
Thank you.
Great. Anyone else? Yeah.
Yes, hello, Jimmy Bengtsson from SCB. A question for you, Thomas. How do you prioritize your M&A in, for example, the U.S. and the rest of the world, Asia, instead of Europe, where your market shares are quite high?
Well, it depends because if we talk studios, actually, where they are located has no impact. I mean, the studio might be in France, in Germany, in Chile, in the US, or in Singapore. We will sell games across the world. And as studios and IPs are our first priority, obviously, we further those. Then if we look at our distribution footprint, obviously, we look at markets where we're not yet present. But we also do look at some markets where we might be contenders in less of a leading position to reinforce ourselves. So I would say, to answer your question, on studios and IPs, we don't really care where they are. What's important is the talent and the quality of the IP.
Maybe one more from the web, if we have time for that. Recently, you expanded your collaboration with Wizards of the Coast regarding Magic and accessories. What ripple effect could it have in further strengthening the collaboration in the future?
It's a collaboration we're extremely proud of. I mean, Magic: The Gathering has been, and Wizard of the Coast have been partners of ours for many, many years. Magic is their key brand. The trading card game is their key product. The fact that they chose GameGenic, our game accessory studio, for the future or for the foreseeable future, create the accessories that the fans want is a testament to the extremely high quality and innovation that our studio has demonstrated up until now on other products, mainly our own internal products. I would say for us, the opportunity is that it opens the door for GameGenic to work with even more people.
I invite even more IP owners to start working with us because, again, if you look, if you go on shows and if you go on events, the sheer amount of players having GameGenic accessories protecting their valued cards or the cards they love, the cards they play with, is the best example of the outstanding quality of the job that the team has done.
Thank you. Actually, I received one more just now. So concerning digitalization and Twin Sails Interactive, the divestment of it, is digitalization still a key growth driver in your strategy, or is the focus recentered around physical games?
Right. Obviously, our first focus is on physical games, but what we did on our digital strategy is that we started pivoting a few years back, saying that we tried to do a lot of things in the past in-house. It's quite expensive. It was not our expertise. It was not in our investment profiles. When we joined Embracer a few years back, we had decided strategically to approach it for Asmodee more through licensing, working with the best possible partners to create fantastic digital versions of our games or digital adaptations. We have Shadow Veil that was just released this year. As you did mention, we have a digital version of Twilight Imperium that's coming out soon. That's because you have fantastic teams whose job and expertise it is to make a digital version.
That's why also we divested Twin Sales, because we felt with the management that for one, Twin Sales did not match with our strategy anymore, and for the second, they would be in a better position through a management buyout. Thank you. That's all for the web.
Excellent. One final round then, just to be sure. Nope, perfect. Then we can conclude the Q&A session for now and continue to the next item on the agenda. We're coming to Item number eight, which is the presentation of the annual report and the audit report and the corresponding group reports. The annual report for the financial year 2024-2025 has been available on the company's website since the 24th of June this year. It's available here today as well and has been available at the company's office. Are there any questions relating to the annual report? No? Good. I would like to welcome Magnus to the stage.
Thank you, Jan. Dear shareholders, my name is Magnus Jönsson-Hännesson and I am representing PwC as the auditor in charge for the audit of Asmodee. You, the shareholders, engaged us to perform an audit that allows us to express an opinion on the financial statements and on the management of the company performed by the directors and the managing director. Our audit was performed throughout the year, and we have had extensive collaboration and communication with management on matters relating to the business and the financial reporting. We reported our work to management and to the audit and sustainability committee on five occasions and to the full board on three occasions during the year. We think that the collaboration with both the directors and with management has worked very well. This was the first year for Asmodee as a standalone reporting entity listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
The separation from Embracer has required Asmodee to revisit and implement significant processes, systems, and controls for the financial reporting and other communication that is required when you are a separate reporting entity. We have spent a considerable amount of time to audit those processes, systems, and controls, and the financial statements prepared for the first time. Our global team has consisted of a central team based in Paris and Stockholm, and supported by local teams in various territories. Our central team has also consisted of subject matter experts in areas such as tax, IT, and accounting. Our view is that Asmodee overall has very robust processes for the financial reporting and that the business performance has been presented transparently in the financial reporting. These qualities come from the expectations set by the directors and management and the commitment and competence of the staff doing the job.
An audit is always based on concepts of materiality and risk, and those help us to focus our resources to the most significant areas. The audit report sets out those areas that we believe are the absolutely most important in our audit, and I thought I should spend a few words on those. The first one is revenue recognition. Asmodee's business, as we've heard, generates revenues from the sale of board games and trading cards to retailers. We have, in our audit, tested controls and systems that process those revenues, and we also tested a lot of transactions. We conclude that the revenues reported correctly represent the actual revenues and in accordance with the accounting principles of Asmodee, and that those accounting principles are consistent with IFRS. The second area is around goodwill and publication and distribution rights. Asmodee has recognized significant intangible assets on its balance sheet.
Goodwill assets have indefinite useful life for accounting purposes and are held at cost without amortization. Publication and distribution rights are amortized over their useful life. Both items have been subject to impairment tests during the year-end accounts, and we have audited those impairment tests. Preparing impairment tests require forecasts of cash flows and other inputs that are inherently subjective. We have examined the impairment tests, we have recalculated those, and we have evaluated the significant assumptions made. We assessed and concluded that the goodwill and other intangible assets have been measured correctly in accordance with the accounting principles of Asmodee, and that those principles are consistent with IFRS. I have now come to the conclusions of our audit, and they can be read from the auditor's report that is part of the annual report.
We recommend that the annual general meeting adopts the income statements and balance sheets for the parent company and for the group, that the profit be appropriated in accordance with the proposal as set out in the statutory administration report, and that the directors and the managing director be discharged from liability for the financial year. Thank you.
Thank you, Magnus. Are there any questions regarding the audit or report? No? Then we're good. Thank you, Magnus. I find that the annual report and the consolidated accounts have been presented at the meeting. Next item, we have number nine, ABC. As we heard, the auditors endorse all of these. We try to be pretty brief here, but the allocation of the company's results has been included in the notice for the meeting, and it is that no dividend shall be paid and the funds available, which corresponds to $21.8 billion, shall be carried forward. That's SEC. I don't have the euro amount. Does anyone want to comment on the board's proposal? Nope. Can the annual meeting resolve in accordance with the proposal? Thank you. We have the discharge of liability on the board of directors and the managing director. Any questions in relation to that? No, good.
Can we resolve to discharge the directors and the managing director? Thank you. I would like to note that considering the votes cast in advance and the votes cast here today, there is sufficient majority for this discharge. I also would like to note that the directors and the managing director did not vote in relation to their own discharge if they own shares. We'll come to item number 10 to 12, and I would like to welcome Pai to the stage.
Thank you, Ian. Some words about the nomination committee. As you know, the nomination committee shall consist of representatives of the four largest registered shareholders. This year, it has been myself, appointed by Norsvinge Forsaby, Ola Åman, appointed by Savi Group, Gaming Group, Anna Henriksson, appointed by Handelsbanken Fonder, and Magnus Tell, appointed by Elekta. The deputy chair of the board, Kicki Wallilund, has been adjunct to the nomination committee. I serve as chair, obviously. Some words about the work. We have held seven recorded meetings and have had regular contacts in between. For its work, the nomination committee has reviewed and considered the internal evaluation of the work that has been conducted by the board of directors and the chair's statement regarding the board work. The nomination committee has also reviewed company strategies and interviewed the company auditor as well as all individual members of the board.
The task of the nomination committee, I will not get into the details, but it's these proposals to the AGM. The proposals as following. This is item 10, 11, and 12. Proposals for candidates for the post of chair and others director of the board. Our proposal is that the board shall consist of seven directors without deputy directors. That's Stefan Kervill, Linda Höllö, Jacob Jónmyren, Mark Nunes, Kicki Wallilund, and Lars Vingefors shall be re-elected, and that Eugene Evans shall be elected as new board member. Furthermore, that Lars Vingefors is re-elected as chair of the board, and the recommendation that the board elects a deputy chair of the board, that's currently Kicki Wallilund. Recent statement regarding the proposed board.
In preparing its proposal for the board, the nomination committee has focused on maintaining the composition and competencies, paying particular attention to the board's ability to support the company's strategic position and development, internal operations, governance, and financial controls. The nomination committee has applied rule 4.1 of the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance as diversity policy, entailing that the board shall, with regards to the company's business, face of development, and other relevant circumstances, have an appropriate composition of board members elected by the general meeting that collectively display diversity and breadth in respect of skills, experience, background, and to strive for equal gender distribution. 29% of the proposed board members are women. In addition, the nomination committee has assessed the independence of the board members. The nomination committee's proposal regarding the composition of the board meets the requirements of independence as stipulated in the code.
In preparing its proposal, the nomination committee has considered that the majority of the proposed directors are to be regarded as independent in relation to the company and the executive management, and that at least two of the board members who are independent of the company and the executive management shall also be independent in relation to the company's major shareholders. Furthermore, no more than one elected member of the board may be a member of the executive management of the company or a subsidiary, in accordance with rule 4.3 of the code. However, further adjustments or additions to the board will have to be made stepwise in the future to ensure diversity and breadth in respect of skills and the necessary perspective. Proposal for fees and other remuneration, and that is the proposal is in accordance with the notice sent to the AGM.
I will not go into all the figures because you have read that already. The recent statement regarding the board fees, in the process of setting and proposing the board fees, the nomination committee has conducted a thorough benchmark of board remuneration levels based on Swedish and international peers. It has also sounded with present as well as potential new board candidates in this effort. Lastly, proposal for election and remuneration of company auditor. The nomination committee proposes that the registered audit company is appointed as auditor until the end of the next annual general meeting. Further, the nomination committee proposes, in accordance with the audit and sustainability committee's recommendation, re-election of the registered audit company, Erlings Price Waterhouse Coopers, as auditors in the company for the period until the end of next annual general meeting.
PwC has informed that authorized public accountant, Magnus Svensson-Hännesson, shall remain the main responsible auditor. Remuneration for the auditor shall be paid in accordance with approved invoices. That's about it. Last, I'd like to thank the fellow members of the nomination committee for their engagement, of course. I personally really enjoyed the collaboration we had. Thanks.
Thank you, Pai. Yeah, any questions? Yes.
Thank you. My name is Janus Wingborg and I represent Länsförsäkringar Fondsförvaltning. We are keen that the CEO and the board members in the companies that we are invested in are shareholders in the company. This was a topic I brought up last year. When I read the annual report, I can see that Linda Höllö does not own any shares, but I spoke with her prior to the AGM starting here, and she has bought some shares, I understand. We are very happy with that, and I just wanted to say that. Thank you.
I'd like to comment on that because I skipped the proposal for remuneration, but we actually had a comment there, which you probably noticed, that the nomination committee recommends that the board of directors hold shares in the company. That's a general comment, actually.
Okay, thank you so much.
Thank you. Any additional questions? Nope. Okay, then we're good. Thank you, Pai. So we've heard all the proposals for item 10 to 12. Can the meeting resolve in accordance with the proposals?
Yes.
Perfect. I find that the directors and auditors and fees to each of them have been approved. In addition, I want to point out that Kicki Wallilund, in accordance with the recommendation from the nomination committee, will be appointed by the board as the deputy chair of the board following this meeting at the inaugural board meeting. Before I continue, I would like to welcome Eugene up to the stage to say some words.
Thank you. It's been a real honor to be asked to join the board and to be nominated. I've been fortunate to have spent a career now of over 40 years, which I don't admit to often, working across Europe and the U.S. for a number of gaming companies, a combination of some small startups that have gone on to be successful, and some large companies, large media and IP companies such as Viacom, Electronic Arts, and most recently, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. With that, it has been a real honor to be asked by Lars, the nominating committee, and the board to join this group and to be able to support the management and the executive team in whatever way I can.
In addition to that, just personally, as a fan of the company's portfolio of games, having raised two boys to play Catan and Ticket to Ride in particular. I will look forward to being able to hopefully take many games home for us to continue that. With that, as I say, I thank everybody for the opportunity. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Before we continue to item 13, I would like to tell everyone who will be part of the committees. The audit and sustainability committee will comprise of Linda Höllö as chair, Jacob Jónmyren and Kicki Wallilund, the same as before. The remuneration committee will comprise of Kicki Wallilund, Eugene Evans, and Jacob Jónmyren, and Kicki will be the chair of the committee. Over to item 13, presentation and approval of the remuneration report. The report has been available at the website. It's available here today. I won't go into any details about the report, but I will ask, are there any questions concerning the report? No? Great. Then can we vote and resolve in accordance with the proposal to adopt the report? Thank you. Now we have come to item 14, which is a resolution regarding the guidelines for remuneration to the senior executives.
Again, it's been available at the website. It's available here today. The board of directors has proposed this after recommendation from the remuneration committee. I would like to note as well that the auditor statement regarding the guidelines has also been available at the website since the 18th of August, and there are no remarks or deviations from the guidelines as set out in the auditor statement. Any questions on these guidelines? Nope. Great. Can the annual meeting resolve in accordance with the proposed guidelines? Thank you. Item 15, resolution regarding amendment of the articles of association. The proposal has again been available at the website, and I won't go into the details. Any questions? No? Great. Can we approve the proposal and adopt this articles of association? Thank you very much. Item number 16, resolution for authorization to issue shares, warrants, and/or convertibles.
I'm on a broken record now, but I won't go into the details. The proposal has been available at the website. Any questions? No? Thank you. Can we resolve in accordance with this proposal? Thank you. I would also like to note on this one that a sufficient majority of two-thirds has been approved. Item number 17, resolution regarding authorization to repurchase owned shares. Again, the proposal and all of that, you know it now. Any questions? No? Can we resolve in accordance with the proposal? Thank you. Again here, two-thirds of majority has been fulfilled, considering the votes cast in advance and here at the meeting. Number 18, resolution for transfer of owned shares. Any questions on that? No? Perfect. Can we resolve in accordance with the proposal?
Yes.
Thank you. And again, sufficient majority of two-thirds based on the votes cast here and in advance. So we've come to the end of the road, and I would like to thank everyone for this meeting, and hopefully see you next year. Meeting's closed. Thanks.