BIC Aktie

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning. I'm very proud to address you today for my first general meeting as Chair of the Board of Directors of BIC. I'm joined by our new CEO, Rob Versloot. On behalf of all members of the Board, I'm thrilled to welcome you to this General Meeting for FY 2025. This general meeting is being webcast live on BIC's corporate website and will be available for replay.

First, allow me to introduce the directors who are present in the auditorium today. Rob Versloot, our CEO; Albert Baladi; Marie-Aimee Bich-Dufour, GeoffroyBich, Sebastien Drecq, Karen Guerra, Esther Gaide, Candace Matthews, Veronique Laury, Hela Madiouni; and Marie- Edmee Vallery–Radot. The members of the Executive Committee are also present. Laura Vanhoutte will act as Secretary for the General Meeting. The following persons will act as vote tellers, Ms. Marie- Edmee Vallery–Radot, who represents MBD, Shareholder and Director; Domitille Meheut, who represents Phison Capital, shareholder.

We will give priority to the shareholders of BIC during the Q&A session, but I ask you to kindly authorize the presence of journalists and analysts in the room. Before we proceed, I would like to pay tribute to Francois Bich, who passed away on the 23rd of February. He was the son of Founder Marcel Bich and devoted his entire career to the group. He left an indelible mark on the group's history, mainly through the development and the global success of the Big Lighter division that he run for more than 40 years. He was a visionary and was deeply attached to the group's values. He left a lasting impression on all of our employees.

I now declare open the general meeting of our company. And let me now hand over to Laura Vanhoutte.

Thank you, Edouard. For the record, this general meeting was convened by a prior meeting notice serving as meeting notice which was published in the bulletin of official legal notices that Ballot on the 10th of April 2026 as well as a meeting notice published in the Journal Special des Societes on the 29th of April 2026. An attendance sheet was established, was signed by each member of the general meeting on their way in, either in their personal capacity or as authorized representative. It is noted according to the provisional attendance sheet that 1,576 shareholders who together 34,913,598 shares who represents 85.87% of the share capital are present or represented.

As 1/4 of the shares comprising the share capital and carrying voting rights are present or represented, the meeting is therefore declared duly constituted and may validly deliberate on both ordinary and extraordinary matters. I shall disclose the final figures before the vote on resolutions. All documents required by law have been submitted to me. They were made available to shareholders at the company's registered office and on the company's website within the statutory deadline.

The agenda for the general meeting will be reviewed and detailed before the resolution are voted on. It is noted that this agenda was set by the Board of Directors on the 24th of February 2026. I can also inform you that no shareholders have submitted any draft resolution. We shall start this meeting with a presentation of the highlights for the past year as well as on our progress in terms of sustainable development by Rob Versloot, our CEO. Then Gregory Lambertie, our Chief Financial and Digital Officer, will be presenting the 2025 consolidated results and performance in the first quarter of 2026.

We shall then listen to a presentation of Tangle Teezer by James Vowles, CEO. We'll then continue with the parts and corporate governance and the reports by statutory auditors. We'll then move on to the presentation of and the vote on resolutions before ending with a Q&A session. Now over to Rob Versloot.

Thank you, Laura. Hello, everyone, and welcome to BIC's Annual General Meeting. I am Rob Versloot. I'm the Chief Executive Officer of BIC. Now if I may, I will proceed in English. I am very happy to be here with you today for my first shareholders' meeting as CEO of BIC, having joined the group in September last year. I was also co-opted by the Board of Directors of BIC upon the recommendation of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee. The ratification of this cooptation as Director is submitted to the vote of the general meeting today, and I would be honored if the shareholders would approve it.

Throughout my career, I have seen firsthand the reach and relevance of the BIC brand around the world. It's a brand that people know, trust and use every day. And that's something truly special. BIC offers iconic essential products used by billions of consumers globally. And I'm honored to lead this remarkable company with such a strong legacy, and I'm energized by the opportunity of writing BIC's next chapter of growth. As the new CEO, my first priority when I arrived was clear, shift gears and set a strong foundation for the future. This transition didn't happen overnight and is still in progress.

But together with my new leadership team, we're moving quickly with focus and determination to shape and deliver our new strategy. When I look back at my initial assessment of BIC's strengths and the foundations for our new strategy, I am fully confident that the power of our brand, the depth of our distribution network and our excellence in manufacturing will remain instrumental pillars in shaping BIC's future. And I look forward to coming back in September to share with you our new strategy and the next phase of BIC's transformation.

Let me now tell you more about BIC's performance in 2025. 2025 was a tough year for BIC. We navigated significant headwinds across some of our key markets, marked by macroeconomic uncertainty and softer consumer trends. In addition to this, BIC's own performance was challenging. I would like to highlight the following key takeaways about this challenging year. First, in this demanding environment, we managed to stabilize the business in the second half of the year and delivered results in line with the expectations I set when I joined as CEO. Second, we took decisive actions by streamlining our brand portfolio with the discontinuation of underperforming activities such as Skin Creative and the sale of our Cello business in India. At the same time, we successfully integrated Tangle Teezer, which delivered double-digit growth in its first year with BIC.

This very strong performance reflected clear evidence of disciplined execution, strong cross-functional collaboration and the rapid alignment of Tangle Teezer with BIC's operating model. At last -- we put in place a new leadership team that is fully mobilized and actively shaping the organization to support our future operating model and restore sustainable profitable growth. Let me now walk you through BIC's shareholder remuneration for the 2025 fiscal year. In line with BIC's capital allocation policy, the Board of Directors proposes an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.4, representing a 51% payout ratio.

In addition to this dividend, we are renewing our share buyback program in 2026 with a total consideration that can reach up to EUR 40 million. Our resilient free cash flow in 2025 enables us to continue delivering these returns to our shareholders while reinvesting in the business to deliver on our strategic goals. On that end, our new strategy will be communicated to you in more detail during our strategic update in September.

I now would like to go over the progress we have made on our sustainable development journey and outline the next steps we are taking to continue advancing on this path. In 2025, we continued to make tangible progress, completing the last year of the Writing the future together sustainable development plan. We achieved key milestones across 3 core ESG KPIs. 100% of cardboard packaging now comes from a certified recycled source. Second, we reduced our Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions by 47% compared to 2019. And lastly, we helped improve learning conditions of 245 million children across the globe, notably through the work of the BIC Foundation.

More recently, we have just published the new edition of our sustainable development report that can be found on our website, and we have announced our new commitments going forward as a continuation of the Writing the Future, Together plan. Going forward, our next steps are fueled by everything we have learned so far, and we are actively mapping our path ahead. Our new sustainable development priorities will be focusing on 3 key pillars: Circularity, Climate and People. First, creating everyday essentials for circularity with responsibility and accountability. Second, making climate action part of how we work, create and grow together. And Third, putting people first in our communities, products and workplaces. The targets and main KPIs behind each of these commitments will be disclosed during our strategic update planned in September.

Let's now take a closer look at our 2026 outlook. In this year of transition and as BIC's leadership team prepares its strategic plan, we anticipate under current assumptions, improving organic net sales trends in 2026, a slight expansion in adjusted EBIT margin as well as a stable free cash flow. At the same time, we remain mindful of the highly volatile environment, particularly the evolving situation in the Middle East. While our direct exposure is limited and no major operational disruptions have been observed to date, we are actively managing potential risks and maintaining flexibility in our execution.

To conclude, 2026 is a key transitional year for BIC as we are focused on improving and transforming our business as well as implementing the right structure and operating model. With the full support of the Board of Directors and my new leadership team, I strongly believe we are well positioned to prepare a clear action plan and write the next chapter for BIC. And I'm very optimistic that the decisive actions we have taken so far are laying strong foundations for BIC to return to sustainable profitable growth. I now would like to give the floor to Gregory Lambertie, who will present to you our 2025 consolidated results and our net sales performance for the first quarter of 2026. Gregory?

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. I am Gregory Lambertie, CFO of Societe BIC. I'm delighted to be with you today for the shareholders' meeting. And like Rob, this is also my first AGM at BIC, having joined the group this past January. I'm pleased to present BIC's consolidated results for fiscal 2025 together with our net sales performance for Q1 2026.

Let me begin with an overview of our financial performance in 2025. Net sales totaled EUR 2.09 billion, down 0.9% on a like-for-like ForEx basis. Excluding scope effects related to the integration of Tangle Teezer and the disposal of Cello in Q4, organic growth was down 4.7%. Adjusted EBIT came in at EUR 283 million, representing a margin of 13.6%, down 2 points compared with 2024. And this mainly reflects the decline in net sales, partially offset by the cost base actions we implemented during the year. Adjusted group earnings per share were EUR 4.74 compared with EUR 6.15 in 2024. Lastly, free cash flow reached EUR 222 million, and we ended the year with a net cash position of EUR 234 million.

Let us now review our 2025 performance by division. First, net sales for the Human Expression division totaled EUR 736 million, down 6.3% at constant currencies. This decline was mainly driven by weaker performance in Latin America and the U.S. as well as the negative contribution from businesses discontinued in 2025, namely Cello, Rocketbook and Skin Creative, which offset the continued strong growth recorded in the Middle East and Africa. Net sales for the Flame For Life division came to EUR 723 million, down 6.7% at constant currencies, notably due to softer performance in North America and Latin America. Lastly, net sales for the Blade Excellence division reached EUR 602 million, up 15.7% at constant currencies, primarily driven by the contribution from Tangle Teezer. Excluding Tangle Teezer, sales were down 0.8%.

In addition, the integration of Tangle Teezer has been a real success with strong sales growth in 2025 and a 4.1 point contribution to group net sales, while also delivering a positive impact on margins. This excellent performance reflects disciplined execution, close collaboration between the Tangle Teezer and the BIC teams and Tangle Teezer's rapid integration into our operating model. James Vowles, CEO of Tangle Teezer, who's kindly joining us today, will speak to this outstanding performance in just a few moments.

The next slide presents the group's main income statement items for 2025. It should be noted that in 2025, BIC carried out several asset disposals and discontinued activities that have been dilutive to the group's growth and margins. As a result, a number of exceptional items were recognized during the year. In 2025, nonrecurring items amounted to EUR 127 million compared with EUR 53 million in 2024. And they mainly included EUR 104 million related to the discontinuation of the tier 2 businesses grouped under Skin Creative as well as Rocketbook. EUR 11 million related to disposal of Cello in India and EUR 10 million in fair value adjustments relating to long-term power purchase agreements entered into in France and Greece.

This slide outlines the main components of our free cash flow generation in 2025. Cash flow from operations totaled EUR 400 million, down EUR 71 million versus last year, mainly reflecting the decrease in operating margin. Changes in working capital had a positive effect of EUR 7 million. Income taxes paid amounted to EUR 90 million, and CapEx totaled EUR 87 million, broadly stable compared with last year. Overall, free cash flow generation remained solid at EUR 222 million. In addition to the free cash flow items just mentioned, the group paid EUR 127 million in dividends and carried out EUR 40 million in share buybacks in 2025.

As of the end of December 2025, our net cash flow stood at EUR 234 million, up EUR 45 million compared with December 2024. Let us now turn to Q1 2026 net sales, which were published on April 28. Net sales totaled EUR 453 million, representing organic growth of 1.6%, in line with expectations and with the trajectory shared at the beginning of the year. Growth was driven by all categories and major regions. The continued improvement in North America reflects the effectiveness of the actions implemented by the group in this key market, particularly in stationery, lighters and hair brushes. However, we recorded a decline in sales in the Middle East and Africa as the ongoing conflict continued to weigh on regional performance.

Lastly, following a successful first year within the BIC group, Tangle Teezer once again acted as a strong growth driver, delivering sales growth of 13% over the quarter. The outlook is a positive one. To conclude, our Q1 performance was in line with expectations. Over the remainder of the year, we will continue to strengthen our commercial execution across our key regions. At the same time, we will continue to advance our strategic transformation with the objective of reinforcing the core fundamentals that have underpinned the group's success since its inception. In September, we will present our new strategy designed to return BIC to sustainable and profitable growth.

I will now hand over to James Vowles, CEO of Tangle Teezer, who will present the business and its recent performance.

Thank you, Gregory. Good morning, everyone. My name is James Vowles, and I'm the leader of Tangle Teezer. I speak a little French, but forgive me now if I switch to English.

I'm delighted to be with you today to talk to you about Tangle Teezer. By way of introduction, I spent the last 9 years with Tangle Teezer and now with BIC, leading the special brand through sustained growth. Myself and the Tangle Teezer are delighted to be part of the BIC Group and looking forward to taking the brand to new growth heights.

We're a very visual brand. So what we wanted to do was to start off the presentation with a video which captures some of our brand highlights and innovation across 2025 and also 2026.

[Presentation]

Great. I hope you enjoy that as much as I did. The key thing to take away is Tangle Teezer is delivering consistent growth across markets and across product groups, a real sign of brand strength. I'm aware that many of you are not as familiar with Tangle Teezer as you are with the other big products. So I wanted to give you a little bit of a recap to Tangle Teezer. So Tangle Teezer was created in 2007 by a hair stylist, Shaun Pulfrey, who launched the product on the Dragons' Den, known in France for distribution in a leading high street retailer boots in the U.K. before expanding internationally. Fast forward 19 years, we've now sold 140 million brushes worldwide.

At the heart of Tangle Teezer's success is the ability to customize the bristle or the teeth to work for different hair types, whether you have fine hair, straight wavy hair or thick and curly hair, the brush works really, really well. Over the years, the brand wins multiple awards from titles such as Marie Claire, Vogue and ELF as well as generating 5-star reviews across the world from consumers. It's a very, very special brand. So in summary, Tangle Teezer is a fast-growing brand in a growing category, which is also very fragmented, but has lots and lots of opportunities for growth.

So the brand is sold in 75 countries worldwide and the ability to customize the hairbrush for different hair types means that we are a market leader in a number of very diverse markets, whether it's the U.K., the U.S., France, Brazil or Japan. We also have great strategic partnerships with retailers, bricks-and-mortar retailers and online retailers, where our premium price positioning, coupled with our sustained growth makes us the preferred choice amongst retailers as well as consumers. In 2025, we delivered double-digit growth, and that was marked by consistent growth across markets, across sales channels and across product groups.

At the heart of our model is investing in marketing. And so 2025 saw very successful launches from Extra Gentle, which you saw in the video, the Chromes Collection, which I'll touch on and also the Matte collection. At the end of the day, you'll get a Matte hairbrush as part of your goody bag. 2025 also saw us integrate into BIC's world-class supply chain. So we are now using BIC's facilities to both manufacture and distribute the products with the objective of delivering cost savings, which can be reinvested into the business. And across the world, we retain those market-leading positions. We're the #1 in the U.K., the #3 in the U.S., and we have top 3 positions in markets like France and Germany and Japan. So a really strong year.

I wanted to bring to life our sort of brand business model with the Chromes collection. So all of our innovation or animations is rooted in insights. We work with trend agencies a couple of years in advance to identify what are going to be the trends which are going to be on the cat walks or the red carpet events. And then we deliberately design products, fabulous projects -- products, which will encapsulate those trends. We then work with curated gift boxes, with influencers to bring their products to life and then present them to retailers. And the commercial model, the premium priced nature of Tangle Teezer plus our sustained track record in delivering growth year after year means that we generate disproportionate shelf and in-store gains. And then we see consumers add great 5-star reviews to our product pages as well as some fabulous comments about their experience with Tangle Teezer.

Moving on to 2026. The momentum has continued. As Gregory said, we delivered 13% net sales growth in quarter 1, and that's been consistent again across regions. We also saw the benefits of the supply chain integration with BIC, and that's not all for 2026. Whilst quarter 1 has started very strongly, we're very, very confident about sustained growth for the rest of the year. Also in the video, we talked about the Devil Wears Prada collaboration, which sets our execution to a new level. So we invested in social media, both in terms of paid and organic programs, a lot of work in terms of influencers and gift boxes. We've got great support from our retailers, both in-store and online. And we hosted events both in the U.K. and the U.S. where we invented -- invited top-tier journalists as well as influencers to be part of the launch.

And that, in turn, has generated great press coverage. And that's not just it for 2026. We have some really, really exciting product launches, which will set the new standard for accelerated growth for Tangle Teezer for years to come. So in summary, this is a fabulous business with lots and lots of growth opportunities. We're very, very excited about the future, and I look forward to talking to you more about some of the new product launches at future meetings. I'm now going to hand over to Edouard Bich, who's going to take you through the governance part of the section. Thank you.

Thank you, James. Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest we now move on to governance. I just start with a few words on the organization of governance, and then I'll give you a recap of the work of the Board of Directors for FY 2025. To date, the Board is comprised of 12 directors, which 4 independent directors and 2 directors that represent employees and all in all, 60% of women. First, in terms of governance. Following the announcement that Gonzalve Bich position as Director and CEO, the Board of Directors organized his succession plan. And an adhoc succession committee in order to carry out the selection and preparation process for this nomination.

Thus, Rob Versloot was appointed CEO. This decision came into force on the 15th of September 2025. Besides, the Board reviewed the terms and conditions of the remuneration Gonzalve in the context of his departure as well as those applicable to Rob Versloot in his capacity as CEO. Again, in terms of governance, the Board strengthened its membership by appointing new directors. The approval of coaptations will be put to your approval today. Now in terms of strategy, the Board has supported the completion of the Horizon plan that came to an end in 2025, while starting to reflect on the group's future strategic orientations. In addition, further through the acquisition of Tangle Teezer, the Board followed the integration work of that business within BIC.

The Board also carried out a strategic review of the group's activities, which led to the disposal of BIC Cello India and the discontinuation of tattoo activities that were grouped under Skin Creative as well as Rocketbook. As part of its work, the Board also paid particular attention to the sustainability, environmental and societal challenges, mainly through the review of the CSR directive requirements. Last, in line with its fiduciary responsibilities, the Board continued its work on risk management -- on the risk management strategy on the financial and legal risks or aspects related to group's activity as well as all issues related to corporate officers' remuneration.

In 2025, the Board convened 13x the attendance rate was 93%. It demonstrates the commitment of our directors. Throughout the year, our Board also benefited from the expertise of its 3 specialized committees. This committee is convened many times. The engagement rate was high. This has translated into an average attendance rate close to 90%. The Audit Committee supported the Board on the review of financial statements on risk monitoring as well as the monitoring of liquidity and strategic operations. The Remuneration Committee was instrumental in the context of managerial transition by ensuring that remuneration policies would be in line with market practices and corporate interest.

The Nomination Governance and CSR Committee focused on the membership of the Board on succession plans and sustainability issues. Last, in the context of our recent I inform you that BIC as well as the French financial authorities, the were notified in compliance with applicable regulation that we entered into a share agreement with MBD So MBD entered into a shareholder's agreement with the voting block, which accounts in total 44.5% and 59% of the voting rights. This shareholder's agreements reaffirms the BIC's family's commitment to maintaining its long-term shareholding in societe BIC. Its primary purpose is to formalize a family preemption rights in the event of the sale of Societe BIC shares held by family shareholders. This is an additional milestone, which demonstrates and strengthens in the long term, thew BIC family's commitment for BIC and this is in line with the changes that occurred in the company's governance in 2025.

Now let me hand over to Laura Vanhoutte, who is going to be presenting the evolutions that will be put to your vote in relation to the membership of the Board. Laura?

Thank you, Edouard. As regards to governance, we propose to the reappointment to directors. First, the renewal of Candace Matthews' term for 3 years. Then we would like you to make a decision on the reappointment of Veronique Laury for 2 years. Further to the changes in governance in the FY 2025, the Board is recommending you to vote on a number of ratifications, cooptation and reappointments. First, we propose that you approve the cooptation of Rob Versloot, who was provisionally appointed by the Board of Directors at its meeting on the 12th of September 2025 as a director replacing Gonzalve Bich. Rob Versloot will serve the remaining term of his predecessor until 2028.

We further propose that you approve the cooptation of Albert Baladi provisionally appointed by the Board of Directors at its meeting on the 12th of September 2025 as an independent director and to reduce term for a period of 3 years.

Over to Albert Baladi.

Thank you, Laura. Greetings. My name is Albert Baladi. I'm a Spanish National and I have Lebanese origins. I spent most of my career in international groups, global groups as it were. For more than 40 years my wife and I have lived in 7 countries on the 5 continents. We're delighted -- I am delighted to be able to introduce myself. I started my career within Procter & Gamble. I then went on to be for PepsiCo, the Yum! Brands Group. And then Suntory, where I eventually became the CEO of the spirits part, Beam Suntory, which is now known as Suntory Global Spirits. In that context, I brought about strategic changes in a very demanding, very challenging environment, which was quite similar to the environment where BIC is operating today.

Today, I'm a shareholder. I'm also an Independent Director at Pernod Ricard. I'm also an independent director for a number of startup companies. I remain particularly focused on governance, strategy and corporate responsibility matters. I'm delighted to have been co-opted as a director of Societe BIC. It's been an amazing experience in the past 2 months. And I am honored to be able to continue to serve and thank you in advance for your support, and I hope to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the next chapter of BIC's development. Thank you very much.

Thank you Albert. We're next asking you to ratify the cooptation of Geoffroy Bich as Director made on an interim basis by the Board of Directors at its meeting of September 12, 2025, and to renew his term of office for a period of 1 year. Geoffroy, the floor is yours.

Dear shareholders. My name is Geoffroy Bich, and I'm a member of the BIC family, the controlling shareholder of Societe BIC. I began my career with the BIC Group more than 30 years ago, 35 years ago, and over the years, I have held a variety of operational and leadership roles, both within the group's industrial operations and in international environments. I held several positions within the manufacturing activities with BIC's 3 divisions before taking responsibility for industrial sites in France, Spain, Brazil and China.

And these experiences gave me an in-depth understanding of our businesses, our products and the industrial, commercial and human challenges facing the group.

Today, as Vice President in charge of Business Development, based in Dubai, I support the growth of BIC's activities across the Middle East and Africa through a pragmatic and performance-driven approach while remaining deeply attentive to the human dimension that lies at the heart of our success. Building on this experience, I would like to continue supporting the group in its growth and transformation ambitions. But bring to the Board a detailed understanding of its operations, its markets and its teams. Thank you for your trust and support.

Thank you, Geoffroy. Lastly, we are asking you to ratify the cooptation of Karen Guerra as Independent Director made on an interim basis by the Board of Directors at its meeting on December 2025 and to renew her term of office for a period of 3 years.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. Hello, my name is Karen Guerra. I speak a little bit of French, but it's probably safer for everyone if I revert back to English. I graduated from the University of Manchester. And my career has been focused on the industrial and consumer sectors. For more than 20 years, I held senior positions in leading international companies, notably at PepsiCo and Colgate Palmolive. Most of those years were at Colgate Palmolive. And I served finally as the PDG Director General for the U.K. and then finally for France.

I've acquired a solid nonexecutive and governance experience by serving as a Board member for several international companies, including Amcor PLC, Campari, RS Components which was formerly called Electrocomponents and Swedish Match.

Finally, since 2020, I've been an independent director and member of the Nominations and Remuneration Committee for British American Tobacco. And in fact, in April, I was elected as the Senior Independent Director of that company. Drawing on these experiences, I'm fully prepared to assume my responsibilities as Director of BIC, and I would be honored to contribute my expertise to the Board in support of BIC's long-term success. Thank you.

Thank you, Karen. Following this shareholders' meeting and subject to the approval of the resolutions, the Board of Directors will comprise 12 directors, including 4 independent directors and 2 employee representatives. I will now hand over to Jeremy Thurbin representing the statutory auditors for the presentation of their report.

Thank you, Laura. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning. On behalf of the statutory auditors, members of the EY and Grantonnton networks. I have the pleasure to report on our engagement for fiscal 2025 and summarize the various reports we have established. Next slide, please. Our reports regarding the ordinary part of the AGM mostly we're reporting on the related party agreements and the consolidated the parent company financial statements. Regarding the extraordinary part of our AGM, we have issued 2 reports regarding delegations of authorities and proxies given to the Board of Directors for a number of share capital transactions.

Regarding the financial statements, we have issued reports on the consolidated financial statements as well as the annual financial statements. You can find them on Pages 322 and 346 of the URD. We expressed no reservations. We have an unqualified opinion regarding the fairness consistency in the interview of the financial statements. There is, however, a change in the accounting method regarding the annual financial statements. In 2025, key audit matters considering the relative contribution to the financial statements as well as the discretion judgment required included the following assessment of the recoverable value of goodwill. I'm referring to our report on the consolidated financial statements and secondly, valuation of equity investments. I'm referring here to the parent company financial statements.

We also performed a number of specific verifications. We have no observations regarding the information disclosed in the management report as well as the corporate governance report in line with existing legal provisions. Next slide, -- we also established a report on related party agreements. You can find it on Page 350 of the URD. It's been brought to our retention convention, which was authorized during the previous years and entered into during this fiscal year, this agreement between your company and Gonzalve Bich allowed on December 11 financial arrangements for a 6-month period following the end of its term of office. Our special report also refers to agreements approved during the past year between your company and Gonzalve Bich previously authorized by the Board on December 11, 2024 which determines the financial conditions of his exit.

Next slide. Regarding the resolutions are proposed for the extraordinary part of your AGM, we have established reports regarding the authorizations and dedications given to the Board to perform a number of share capital transactions. The reports regarding resolutions 24 and 25 call for a nonqualified opinion on a part.

This concludes our presentation. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention.

I will now present a summary of the proposed resolutions before moving on to the Q&A session, during which priority will be given to the shareholders. In summary, the following resolutions are submitted for your approval. We are submitting for your approval of the parent company, consolidated financial state fiscal 2025. Having taken note of the various reports issued by the company, the statutory auditors. We're also proposing the payment of an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.4 per share. The detailed information relating to these 3 resolutions was presented earlier in the meeting by Gregory Lambertie.

We are also submitting for your approval. The statutory auditor special report confirming the absence of related party agreements for fiscal 2025 and describing the implementation of agreements previously authorized. Under the fifth resolution, you are being asked to renew the authorization granted to the Board of Directors to trade in BIC shares within a limit of 10% of the share capital.

With respect governance matters. We are asking you to renew the terms of office of Candace Matthews and Veronique Laury appears for periods of 3 years and 2 years, respectively. You are also being asked to ratify the cooption of Rob Versloot as director.

He will serve for the remainder of his predecessor's term, namely until 2028. Lastly, we are asking you to ratify the cooptations and renew the terms of office of Albert Baladi and Karen Guerra for periods 3 years as well as Geoffroy Bich's term of office for a period of 1 year.

Resolutions 15 to 23 relate to the compensation of corporate officers. In addition to the presentation made earlier, detailed information relating to this compensation is set out in the Board of Directors, corporate governance report in Chapter 4 of the 2025 URD as well as in the notice of meeting brochure.

This compensation is submitted for your approval in accordance with the provisions of the French Commercial Code. Resolution 15, 16 and 16 and 20 therefore, related to the compensation policy, including, in particular, the compensation of Gonzalve Bich, CEO until September 15, 2025, and have Rob Versloot, CEO from September 15 onward for the 2025 financial year. And the principle is applicable for 2026.

Resolutions 18, 19 and 21 relate to the compensation components applicable to the Chairman of the Board for FY 2025, namely Nikos Koumettis, who served as Chairman until May 20, 2025, and it would be who served as Chairman since May 20, 2025 as well as principles applicable for 2026. Resolutions 22 and 23 relate to the directors' compensation policy and to the aggregate annual amount allocated to directors' compensation for fiscal 2026 set at EUR 750,000.

Let us now move on to the extraordinary resolutions. Under Resolution 24, you are being asked to renew the financial authorizations granted to the Board of Directors to reduce the share capital through the cancellation of shares. Resolution 25 relates to the delegation of authority granted to the Board of Directors to carry out a capital increase through the issuance of new ordinary shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital while maintaining shareholders' preferential subscription rights.

Resolution 26 relates to the delegation of authority granted to the Board of Directors to decide 1 or more capital increases through the capitalization of reserves, retained earnings, share premiums or any other amounts eligible for capitalization. Resolution 27 proposes an amendment to Article 8 of the company's Articles of Association relating to disclosure thresholds. Lastly, the 28th in financial rather than a resolution is a customer 1 and relates to the granting of power is required to complete the legal formalities.

Now let's open the Q&A session.

My name is Jean-Pierre manager of a shareholder. I have a tiny question. And maybe a silly question, but following previous AGMs. I'm sorry, so we can barely hear you. In previous AGMs, we were given ball point pens as a goody. We were given lighters, we very given shavers. And I showed this quite original lighter to the people around me, and they felt it was extremely convenient and being able to use flat faced lighters. And we try to find it elsewhere and nobody has ever been able to find it. So is that on purpose, is that marketing campaign? Or does something fall through the cracks.

Thank you very much for your question. This product is very interesting indeed. It's extremely useful and has an added benefit. Its environmental impact, Its environmental footprint is extremely low. And we launched it in the U.S. market, and it's been extremely successful there. Why did we give the U.S. market priority? Well, in terms of supporting the brand, it's taking longer to launch and build this brand in Europe. Over time, you will be able to find it in more and more stores. But I'm delighted that you actually look for it. Thank you.

I'm an individual shareholder. Can you tell us about the proportion of plastics that come from the conflict areas in the Middle East? Is that a lot? And what is the impact on your cost prices? [Audio Gap]

My name is Mr. Rosen. I'd like to ask a question about the 4 color big pen. You can see it everywhere in France. You can't go to museum or to a new agent or to a small town without seeing it. There are new collections every week. I'd like to know what the impact is on Stationery. And this formula, this recipe has been very successful in France. Has it been copied elsewhere in the world?

David?

Thank you very much for your question. Yes, you're absolutely right. The 4 color pen is an iconic product for BIC. It was already very successful a few decades ago in France, but now it is in the U.K., in Spain, in Belgium, also in the United States. We have our Head of U.S. Operations. I think we have hit the 5 million or 7 million -- actually 7 bar, and we hit the 75 million bar, the world recently. So it is really expanding from France, the legacy country -- and now our ambition is to gain market shares everywhere in the world.

Thank you I am an individual shareholder. And I'd like to address the tattoo experience that was taken over a few years back. The company said that the outlook was fairly bright. So what are the main takeaways? I mean, what conclusions did you draw? Why did you decide to discontinue this activity? Also, India will become the largest population worldwide. Why are you pulling out of this market? And one last question. One of big specificities as I see it is integration, manufacturing and a lot of marketing activity. Is that -- how do -- what about the marketing activity for hair brushes? Is it done in-house? Or is it outsourced? Over to Rob.

Let me start with answering your question concerning the tattoo business, Skin Creative. I think earlier, the company was expecting a good performance of this business. But after having seen its performance in our portfolio for a couple of years, we concluded that, that business was actually negatively contributing to both our growth and profitability. And despite various tentatives to change the direction of that business, the company didn't manage to do so. So we felt for the long-term future and health of BIC, it was better to seize those activities. So that's Skin Creative.

Your second question is concerning our divestment of our operations in India. Also here, we concluded after having observed the performance over several years and several tentatives to improve the performance that we concluded that this business would not contribute significantly both to growth and to our profitability. So again, for the long-term future, we felt it was a better decision to divest the business.

And the third element. I think we are extremely happy with Tangle Teezer's performance. And as you may have seen also in James' presentation, they have a very strong marketing capability. I think we, as BIC can learn from it, but our intention is to maintain the marketing of Tangle Teezer separately from our other activities.

As regards to Tangle Teezer the gentleman's question was whether there was an industrial integration of production like in BIC.

Sorry, I misunderstood that. Absolutely. I think this is one of the many good aspects of the combination of Tangle Teezer and BIC. So we have started to produce the Tangle Teezer brushes in the big factories, both in Mexico and Tunisia. And by doing so, we will be able to generate cost savings. And you heard James speaking, he'd like to reinvest that in the brand to further accelerate the growth of Tangle Teezer So it's -- there are great supply chain synergies between BIC and Tangle Teezer.

No more questions. The Q&A session is now over. No one has requested the floor. We shall then vote on resolutions. Before we proceed with the vote on resolution, I'm going to inform you on the final quorum. There are 1,616 shareholders, voting shares that are present, represented or voted by proxy that represent a quorum of -- that represents 34,917,671 shares. That represents a final quorum of 85.88%. The quorum is therefore met for resolutions. We're going to watch a short explanatory video on how to vote with the tablets. A tablet has been handed over to you to vote during the general meeting. It's strictly for personal use and will be only used during this general meeting.

When the voting on resolution is announced, the voting window will automatically pop up on your tablets, even though the tablet can be on standby. Voting is extremely simple. Press the button that reflects your choice in favor of abstention against. Press okay to confirm your choice before the end of the vote. Once your vote has been approved or confirmed, you cannot change it. Please make sure you return your tablets on your way out of the room. Thank you.

Resolution 1, approval of the corporate statements of the financial year ended on 31st of December 2025.

[Voting]

The resolution is adopted with 99.99% of votes.

Resolution 2, approval of consolidated statements for the financial year ended on 31st of December 2025. Voting is open.

[Voting]

Voting is over. This resolution is approved with 99.99% of votes. Resolution 3, appropriation of earnings for the financial year ended on the 31st of December 2025 and setting of the dividend. The vote is open.

[Voting]

The vote is closed. Excuse me, sir. The question was off mic, but the interpreter that Mr. said as from the 3rd of June, this resolution is approved with 99.97% of votes .

Resolution 4, report by statutory auditors on related party agreements. The vote is open.

[Voting]

The vote is over. This resolution is approved with 81.64% of votes. Resolution 5, authorization granted to the Board of Directors to allow the company to take action on its own shares. The vote is open.

[Voting]

This resolution is approved with 99.92% of votes. Resolution 6, reappoint of Candace Matthews as a director. The vote is open.

[Voting]

Vote is closed. This resolution is approved with 91.99% of votes. Resolution 7, reappoint Veronique Laury as director. The vote is open.

[Voting]

Vote is closed. This resolution is approved with 86.11% of votes. Resolution 8, approval of the cooptation of Rob Versloot as director to replace Gonzalve Bich. Vote is open.

[Voting]

Vote is closed. This resolution is approved with 99.3% of votes. Resolution 9, approval of the cooptation of Albert Baladi as Director in replace of Jake Schwartz. Vote is open.

[Voting]

Vote is closed. This resolution is approved with 99.9% of votes.

Resolution 10 reappoint Albert Baladi as a director.

[Voting]

Resolution carried, 99.23%. Resolution 11, ratification of the cooptation of Geoffroy Bich as a director to replace Timothee Bich.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 91.08% of the votes. Resolution 12, reappoint of Geoffroy Bich as a director.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 90.05% of the vote. Resolution 13, ratification of the cooptation of Karen Guerra as a director to replace [indiscernible].

[Voting]

Resolution carried 99.52% of the vote. Congratulations. Resolution 14, reappointment of Karen Guerra as a director.

[Voting]

Resolution carried, 98.61% of the vote. Resolution 15, approval of the information on the remuneration of the corporate officers referred to Article L 22-10-9 of the French Commercial Code for fiscal year 2025.

[Voting]

Resolution carried, 99.03%. Resolution 16, approval of the fixed variable or exceptional components of total remuneration and benefits paid or granted for FY 2025 to Gonzalve Bich, CEO until September 15, 2025. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 76.7%. Resolution 17, approval of the fixed variable or exceptional components of total remuneration and benefits paid or granted for FY 2025 to Rob Versloot CEO from September 15, 2025. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 93.78%. Resolution 18, approval of the fixed variable or exceptional components of total remuneration benefits paid or granted in FY 2025 to Nikos KoumettisChair of the Board of Directors until May 20, 2025. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 99.91%. Resolution 19, approval of the fixed variable or exceptional components of total remuneration and benefits paid or granted in FY 2025 to Edouard Bich Chair of the Board of Directors from May 20, 2025. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 94.27%. Resolution 20, approval of the remuneration policy for the executive corporate officers. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried, 94.24%. Resolution 21, approval of the remuneration policy for the Chair of the Board of Directors. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 99.99%. Resolution 22, approval of the remuneration policy for directors. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 99.86%. Resolution 23, setting the total annual amount of remuneration for directors for fiscal 2026. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 99.86%. Resolution 24, authorization to be granted to the Board of Directors to reduce the company's share capital by cancellation of treasury shares. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried, 99.99% Resolution 25, delegation of authority to be given to the Board of Directors to increase the share capital by issuing ordinary shares and/or securities giving access to the capital with preservation of shareholders' preferential rights of subscription. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried Resolution 99.71%. Resolution 26, delegation of authority to be given to the Board of Directors to decide to increase the share capital on one of several occasions by incorporation of reserves, profits or premiums or other sums of money whose capitalization shall be accepted. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried, 93.99%. Resolution 27, amendment to Article 8 of the company's Articles of Association relating to threshold crossing. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 87.27% Lastly, Resolution 28, powers for formalities. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution carried 99.99%. This concludes the voting process. Thank you. And I will now hand over to our CEO.

Thank you, Laura. Dear shareholders, first of all, thank you. Thank you for your votes. I'm delighted to have taken part in my first shareholders' meeting as Chief Executive Officer of Societe BIC. And I would like to share a final few words with you, and I will do it in French. Thank you.

I have always been struck by the unique character of this company. BIC is a universal brand that is deeply embedded in the everyday lives of billions of consumers around the world. Our mission is rooted in a simple belief to provide essential, high-quality, thoughtfully designed products that meet the real needs of consumers or as I often say, beautiful everyday essentials.

To continue strengthening the power of its brand, the group must keep reinventing itself. 2026 will be a year of transition, a year during which we will continue streamlining and transforming the organization. The goal being to restore sustainable, profitable growth and also create long-term value for all stakeholders. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all our teams. Across the world, I have met employees who are committed, who are deeply attached to the brand and who are determined to move BIC forward.

Also, I would like to thank the Board of Directors. Thank you all for your trust. I'd also like to thank you, dear shareholders, for your support throughout this important year for BIC. Thank you so much.

Ladies and gentlemen, as Rob just said, 2026 will be a transition year for our group, a year during which the leadership team led by Rob with the support of the Board of Directors will present and implement a new strategic plan. Please be assured of the commitment of all our employees around the world, our leadership team and our Board of Directors to uphold and embody BIC's values.

It is now time to bring this AGM to a close. Thank you all for being with us today, and I propose that we adjourn the meeting. I look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Good day, and welcome to BIC's First Quarter 2026 Net Sales Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions]

And now I would like to hand the call to your host, Brice Paris, VP, Investor Relations.

Good morning, and welcome to BIC's First Quarter 2026 Net Sales Call. I'm Brice Paris, Vice President of Investor Relations. We are in Clichy today with Rod Versloot, our CEO; and Gregory Lambertie, our CFO. This call is being recorded, and a replay will be available on our website with the presentation and press release.

We'll start with the usual results presentation, followed by a Q&A session. First, please take the time to read the disclaimer at the beginning of the presentation. With that, I give the floor to Rob.

Thank you, Brice. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I'd like to start by highlighting that Q1 unfolded in a still highly volatile environment, marked by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and their broader consequences across markets. Against this backdrop, we delivered 1.6% organic net sales growth in the first quarter, in line with the trajectory we outlined in February.

More importantly, we are executing with discipline and clarity. We are taking the right actions to reposition the group and build a stronger foundation to deliver sustainable performance. We have streamlined and strengthened our portfolio, exiting underperforming businesses that have weighed on our growth and profitability for too long.

These actions were critical to simplify our portfolio and improve focus. Our new leadership team is fully in place and operational, working with focus and determination to shape and deliver our new strategy. We have reset our priorities with organic growth now firmly established as our leading KPI, guiding decisions and execution across the organization.

Turning to our Q1 performance. There are 3 key takeaways to highlight. First, growth was broad-based across all categories and key regions with a clear improvement in North America, an important signal that our actions are gaining traction.

Second, Tangle Teezer continues to be a strong growth engine, delivering double-digit growth in both the U.S. and Europe, driven by distribution gains and increasing brand momentum.

Third, performance in Middle East and Africa was impacted by the ongoing conflict, which continues to weigh on the growth of the region as we speak. Let me now briefly walk you through our performance by geography.

In the U.S., we saw a clear sequential improvement driven by stationery, while lighters returned to stable performance. Shavers remain challenging in a competitive environment, but we are seeing encouraging traction in value-added products in the men's segment, particularly with the Flex 5 Refillable shaver. Tangle Teezer again delivered very strong performance in the U.S. with double-digit growth fueled by further distribution gains and continued market share expansion.

This enabled us to consolidate our #3 position in the U.S. hairbrush category. Brand visibility remained high, supported by strong cultural relevance from high-profile appearances such as Zendaya's polished look using a Tangle Teezer Chrome Brush at the 2026 Oscars to successful collaborations.

These included the recent sellout partnership with Kim Kardashian's SKIMS brand, followed by the upcoming Devil Wears Prada limited edition collection. Looking at the rest of the world, performance in Q1 was more mixed. Europe and Latin America showed improving momentum, driven by Tangle Teezer in Europe and solid execution in lighters and shavers in Latin America.

Innovation also contributed with promising early results from the new BIC Cristal Figurines in France. In Mexico, we are seeing early signs of stabilization, which is an important step given last year's weak performance.

In Middle East and Africa, as mentioned, performance was negatively impacted by the ongoing conflict. At this stage, the financial exposure remains limited, the region accounting for less than 2% of group net sales, and we have not experienced major supply chain disruptions so far. However, the situation remains fluid, and we are closely monitoring developments with a disciplined and proactive approach.

To conclude this first part, we delivered Q1 net sales in line with expectations. And more importantly, we are making tangible progress in reshaping the group. 2026 remains a transitional year, but the early signals we see today are encouraging and consistent with our road map. Our priority remains unchanged, building solid foundations to deliver sustainable, profitable growth.

With that, I now hand it over to Gregory to walk you through the net sales performance in more detail.

Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Let's begin with an overview of the main drivers of our Q1 evolution. Q1 net sales stood at EUR 453 million, up 1.6% organically or EUR 8 million, driven by positive contributions from all categories, starting with stationery for EUR 4 million, lighters for EUR 3 million and Blade Excellence for EUR 1 million.

Foreign exchange and perimeter had a significant negative impact this quarter of respectively, 5 points and 1.9 points on group net sales.

Turning to Slide 7. Let me walk you through our first quarter performance by division, starting with Human Expression. Net sales were EUR 141 million, up 3% organically.

In North America, BIC delivered solid organic growth, fueled by a strong performance in e-commerce and at specialized retailers in the U.S.

Among the best-performing products during the quarter were correction tapes, ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils. In Europe, net sales were relatively flat. While we saw growth in key markets, thanks to strong commercial execution and distribution gains, this was offset by weaker performance in countries such as the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands.

In Latin America, the strong performance in some markets was partially offset by muted performance in Brazil, back-to-school. Finally, in Middle East and Africa, organic net sales declined, impacted by the current situation in the Middle East alongside weaker performance in Nigeria and South Africa.

Moving on to Flame for Life. Net sales were EUR 165 million, and BIC delivered 1.7% organic growth. In North America, organic growth was slightly positive. And following a challenging performance in '25, our lighter business in the U.S. improved significantly.

This was primarily led by growth in the Pocket Lighter segment. In Q1, we saw an improvement in the convenience channel, driven by effective anti-counterfeit defense from BIC.

In addition, the U.S. lighter trends improved in the measured market, growing 2.1% in value year-to-date. In Europe, organic growth was flat. Strong growth from the iconic BIC Maxi Lighter and solid execution in France and Central Eastern Europe were offset by softer performance in Germany and Netherlands. In Latin America, organic growth was solid in all major countries. In Brazil, performance was driven by strong execution in the Pocket Lighter segment, while in Mexico, growth was fueled by distribution gains in traditional channel.

In EMEA, net sales grew organically, driven by strong performance in North America and Ivory Coast, partially offset by net sales declines in the Middle East. Turning on to the next slide on Blade Excellence. Net sales were EUR 139 million, up 0.6% organically.

In North America, strong performance at Tangle Teezer was more than offset by declines in the core shaver business in the U.S. in a challenging competitive environment, particularly in the women's segment.

However, value-added products such as BIC Flex 5 Refillable contributed positively to growth in the men's segment. In Europe, strong organic growth mainly came from Tangle Teezer and from our shavers business across Western and Eastern Europe.

Product ranges such as the BIC Flex 5 Hybrid and Soleil Escape continued to deliver supported by strong commercial execution. In Latin America, organic growth was strong in both Brazil and Mexico, driven by the success of the Soleil and Flex ranges, illustrating the continued success of our trade-up strategy.

Lastly, in Middle East and Africa, net sales were significantly down, mainly due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, which resulted in shipment delays and reduced market activity. Finally, let's turn to Tangle Teezer on Slide 10. Building on its strong first year within BIC in '25, Tangle Teezer continued to deliver a very strong performance in the first quarter with net sales up 13% organically.

Tangle Teezer grew double digits in both Europe and North America, mainly driven by e-commerce with additional strength in partnerships. Growth was fueled by products from the core and the premium detangling ranges, including our flagship Chrome and Matte collections.

This concludes the review of our net sales performance for the first quarter. For the remainder of the year, we will be focusing on sharpening our execution in key regions to reach our objectives.

We are fully committed to deliver a sound strategic transformation, reigniting the core values that made BIC a success. We will share BIC's new strategy to renew with profitable growth in September. With that, I give the floor back to Rob.

Thank you, Gregory. I'd like to conclude by reaffirming that 2026 is a key transitional year for BIC and my first as CEO. After a period of underperformance, we are taking decisive actions to reset the business on a stronger, more sustainable footing. While we will present our full strategy in September, our immediate focus is clear, delivering on our commitments.

And our Q1 performance was fully aligned with this objective and with our full year plan shared in February. As a result, our 2026 outlook remains unchanged. We continue to anticipate under current assumptions, improving organic net sales trends, a slight expansion in adjusted EBIT margin and stable free cash flow year-on-year.

At the same time, we remain mindful of the highly volatile environment, particularly the evolving situation in the Middle East. While our direct exposure is limited and no major operational disruptions have been observed to date, we are actively managing potential risks and maintaining flexibility in our execution. What matters is that we are moving forward with focus, discipline and increasing momentum.

The new leadership team is in place, fully mobilized and already shaping the organization to support our future operating model and restore sustainable, profitable growth. I look forward to coming back in July for our first half results and in September to share with you our new strategy and the next phase of BIC's transformation. Thank you. We will now take your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

The first question comes from Andrei Condrea with UBS.

Two from me, please. Firstly, on the Middle East, could you please quantify the impact you've seen in Q1 from the conflict when it comes to group organic sales? And I appreciate it's still early days, but could a prolonged conflict put at risk your FY '26 outlook in terms of improving your OSG trends versus '25?

And tied to that, because we're looking at potentially higher input costs from the conflict, particularly in oil, how confident are you in your ability to take pricing in what is now a very different market from 2020?

And what tools and levers do you have at your disposal to mitigate these risks? And secondly, on Tangle Teezer, obviously, Q1, very strong on the back of a very strong full year '25. Should we expect 2026 to be similar to the growth you've seen in '25?

And what options do you have at your disposal to sustain or even better accelerate this growth this year and over the medium term?

Thank you, Andre. I'll take the first question. This is Gregory speaking. So on Middle East, as you saw, Middle East and Africa have a net sales decline of minus 4.9%, which is effectively driven by significant deterioration in the Middle East following the conflict in the region.

Obviously, we're monitoring the situation closely and its global consequence. If you think about specifically the overall impact on our Q1, it's 0.5 percentage point on the Q1 growth. So we would have been at 2.1% without the Middle East impact.

If the conflict lasts, we anticipate negative impact on growth and disruptive impact on global supply chains, freight and raw material costs. Obviously, variation in oil prices impact, plastics, chemicals and this could start hitting our P&L in H2 '26 and continue in '27 if we were to have a prolonged conflict.

The levers that we're using are obviously a strong cost discipline. We are taking some cost actions. And we're also closely monitoring our ability to hedge further our exposure.

Should the conflict be prolonged and oil prices remain at a significantly high price, we would be back to you in H1 results. So that's that for Middle East conflict and let me...

Yes. Hello, Andrei, Rob speaking. I'd like to take your second question concerning Tangle Teezer. Looking back on Q1, we are proud of the very strong performance of Tangle Teezer in Q1 with a remarkable organic growth of plus 13%.

Tangle Teezer is contributing about 0.5 percentage point to the group growth. And looking forward, because you were asking us what are your expectations for Tangle Teezer in '26?

We're confident that Tangle Teezer will continue to grow strongly and be accretive to the group's margin with continued momentum, both in the U.S. and Europe. And our confidence is supported by continued market share and distribution gains, solid e-commerce contribution and brand and marketing investments. So we're looking forward to a good year with Tangle Teezer.

The next question comes from Christophe Chaput with ODDO.

Christophe Chaput speaking from ODDO. Two questions for me, please. The first one is on the current trading. The Q2 will be probably much more difficult in terms of basis of comparison. So what should we, let's say, expect in terms of organic, even if I fully understand that the context is volatile and we are at the very beginning of the Q2.

But what are -- yes, the current trading? And the second question is that in the 1.6% organic you print in Q1, is there a specific price effect? And what category, let's say, it could impact during the quarter?

Thank you for your question. I'm going to take your first question concerning expectations for the second quarter. Very simple, we expect to continue to be in line with our full year plan and the trajectory that we have outlined in February.

Of course, we have to remain cautious given the volatile environment in the Middle East, and we are closely monitoring this. And as you just heard from Gregory, the Middle East, Africa region was negative in Q1. If that conflict will last longer, we do anticipate some negative impact on growth and certainly also a disruptive impact on global supply chain, freight and raw material costs.

And Christophe, I'll take your second question on the split of our growth for Q1. So if you look at things, it's very, very simple, minus 1% for volume. And so the volume continued to decline slightly. And on the price/mix front, we're seeing positive signs on all our markets. So it's a pretty good quarter from that perspective.

The next question comes from Marie-Line Fort of Bernstein.

I've got 3 questions on my side. Could you remind us what percentage accounts -- plastics accounts in your input costs? That's my first question. And you mentioned that you don't expect any impact before H2 2026.

So we can suspect that you've got enough inventories at some point to manage your production for the first half? The second question is about Tangle Teezer. You mentioned in the call at the end of 2025 that you start some production integration, if I remember, in Mexico, was a test. Could you come back on this test?

And at what reason do you expect to produce -- to pass to a real production for Tangle Teezer? And the last question is about shavers. The division seems to be under pressure. There is a lot of competitive pressure that we can see in Europe as well on the women segment.

What is your strategy there to regain momentum in face of very high competitive pressure?

Hello, Marie-Line, good morning. So in terms of the raw material, the plastics account for 40% of our raw material costs. As you rightly point out, this will be a delayed impact given the 6-month inventory that we effectively hold.

So that's the time lag to be reflected in our P&L. However, we will be taking on impact on our free cash flow since we will be buying as of now. So the free cash flow impact will be felt earlier. So that's on the sort of impact and timing for raw material. Obviously, as mentioned to Andrei earlier, we are taking cost actions already, and we'll be back to you with an update on margins in H1.

Hi, Marie-Line, I will take your question concerning Tangle Teezer and your other question concerning shavers in the U.S. So your question concerning the in-sourcing of Tangle Teezer, I'll give you an update on that. We have started to build capacity in our Mexican plant in Saltillo.

And we expect towards the end of the year to deliver those products to the market, so to really commercialize that. That is well on track, and we look forward to that. Your question concerning strategy, U.S. shavers or maybe broadly more than the strategy in shavers here, I would like to pause and inform you once we have our strategic plan. We are very busy at the moment defining our category growth strategy. So if you allow me, I'll come back on that one in [ September ].

[Operator Instructions]

The next question comes from Alessandro Cuglietta of Kepler.

I have 2. First is on the consumer and distributor behavior. What are you seeing with the current macro environment in terms of consumer and distributor behavior? Are they more cautious or are still things very volatile?

And the second question is regarding U.S. tariffs, especially the reciprocals. Just wondering if you filed any reimbursement claim if they were accepting and how this new environment could change your outlook? Is it mostly positive or neutral?

Hi, Alessandro, this is Rob speaking. I would like to answer your first question concerning consumer and distributor behavior.

Obviously, it's a tough environment. I think especially in the U.S., lots of inflation in the past, consumers are under pressure. And of course, the conflict in the Middle East is also concerning and might lead to further pressure on consumers.

However, I think within this context, we have managed to deliver growth. And as mentioned earlier, we expect also our performance to be in line with the plan that we outlined in February.

Okay. Hi, good morning Alessandro. And on your second question on U.S. tariffs, as you know, and as we all saw, the tariff landscape changed recently with last year's tariffs no longer in place. The U.S. administration pivoted to a 10% to 15% global tariff framework, and we're currently assessing the impact on our business and the way we will respond.

In the meantime, we've also applied to the refund. It's still uncertain outcome as of today, but that should be a positive on cash flow. The question is when, '26 or '27. And overall, given the comparison we make between the old and the new framework is probably a net positive for our P&L this year.

So net positive for the P&L this year. We had expected to have EUR 31 million in total, EUR 13 million of which we took last year and EUR 18 million was expected to be taken this year.

I would say that we -- compared to that older environment, we're probably better off by around about EUR 5 million.

So this concludes our question-and-answer session. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the BIC's 2025 Full Year Results Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to our first speaker today, Brice Paris. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, and welcome to BIC's Full Year 2025 Results Call. I'm Brice Paris, Vice President, Investor Relations. We're in Clichy today with our new management team, Rob Versloot, our CEO; and Gregory Lambertie, our CFO. This call is being recorded, and the replay will be available on our website with the presentation and press release.

We will start with the usual results presentation, followed by a Q&A session. First, please take the time to read the disclaimer at the beginning of the presentation. With that, I give the floor to Rob.

Thank you, Brice. Hello, everyone. I am pleased to be here with you today for our first full year earnings call together. And I'm joined by Gregory Lambertie, our new Chief Financial and Digital Officer. I will start with a brief overview of the key highlights from 2025. Gregory will then walk you through the consolidated results for the year. I'll then introduce my new leadership team and share our outlook for 2026. Highlighting the opportunities ahead before closing with a few concluding remarks.

2025 was a year marked by a volatile macroeconomic environment, softer consumer markets and geopolitical uncertainty. Against this backdrop, BIC faced many challenges in 2025. When I look back at my initial assessments of BIC's strength, and what we can build on for the new strategy, they are all clearly confirmed, the power of our brand, our deep distribution network and our excellence in manufacturing. The key takeaway for 2025 is that we delivered results in line with the expectations set when I became CEO. We achieved full year net sales of EUR 2.1 billion, down 0.9% at constant currency, an adjusted EBIT margin of 13.6% and a resilient free cash flow generation at EUR 222 million.

Most importantly, we stabilized the business and achieved modest growth in the second half. Let me start by commenting on our main challenges in 2025. We faced significant headwinds in the U.S. across our 3 categories impacted by tough market trends. In the lighters, shavers and ball pen segments, markets were down mid-single digits in 2025. In Latin America, we faced serious challenges in Mexico. Net sales performance was impacted by big distribution losses and intense competition. We recently made leadership changes in Mexico with a clear objective to improve performance going forward. Finally, the very disappointing performances of our Skin Creative businesses, Rocketbook and Cello, weighed significantly on our growth and profitability in 2025.

As I mentioned in Q3, it is my responsibility to act swiftly and rationally. As a result, we have taken decisive steps to streamline our portfolio, including the discontinuation of these underperforming activities. However, despite the numerous challenges we faced, we saw an improved performance in the second half of the year, particularly in the Middle East and Africa and in the U.S. Now let me highlight some key achievements for 2025. First, Tangle Teezer was integrated successfully, growing double digit in 2025 and contributing 4.1 points to the group's growth with accretive margins. This very strong performance reflects disciplined execution, strong collaboration across teams and the rapid alignment of Tangle Teezer with BIC's operating model.

I will come back to this in more detail later. Second, we saw strong momentum from our value-added and recently launched products, all supported by impactful advertising campaigns. Products such as the 4-Color Smooth pens, the BIC Flex 5 and Soleil Glide shavers resonated well with consumers reinforcing the strength of our brands and our ability to drive mix through meaningful innovation. We also continued to make tangible progress on our ESG actions. We launched the Twin Lady razor, featuring a handle made from 87% recycled plastic and blades incorporating 70% recycled steel, reflecting our commitment to more sustainable product design without compromising performance. In addition, we achieved key milestones across 3 core ESG KPIs. 100% of cardboard packaging now comes from a certified recycled source. We reduced our Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions by 47% compared to 2019.

And lastly, we helped improve learning conditions of 245 million children across the globe, notably through the work of the BIC Foundation. I now want to tell you a bit more about our recent innovations and partnerships launched in 2025 and some planned for 2026. At the heart of these initiatives is a renewed focus on the power of our brand, which I strongly believe and see as essential to successfully execute our new strategy. In 2025, we launched the BIC Soleil 5 Glide, a new premium women's shaver supported by an impactful marketing campaign designed to modernize the category and strengthen brand engagement. Innovations like this one or like the BIC Soleil Escape are key to sustaining our leadership and driving mix within this segment.

In 2026, we will further strengthen our shaver portfolio with the launch of the new BIC 5 Trim and Shave. This innovation combines a 5-blade shaver with an integrated precision trimmer, delivering superior performance and versatility at an accessible price point. In 2025, we executed highly successful partnerships with Netflix on Squid Game and Stranger Things across Europe and Latin America, leveraging a strong cultural moment to create distinctive collectible designs that resonated particularly well with younger adult consumers.

For example, in Brazil, we partnered on a limited edition of the BIC 4 Colors and Stranger Things collaboration as one of Netflix's most successful global franchises, Stranger Things powered an activation that blended local pop culture with global entertainment, turning an everyday icon into a collectible. 2025 was also a year of major ramp-up for our first reloadable utility lighter, EZ Load. The product posted encouraging results, particularly in Europe, and our teams are working on expanding distribution further. EZ Load represents an important step in our efforts to combine innovation, sustainability and category premiumization. Lastly, in stationery, our iconic 4-Color pen once again delivered strong performance in 2025 with new additions such as the 4-Color Smooth contributing to growth.

In January '26, we launched new BIC Cristal Figurines now available in our main markets. This great innovation combines the quality of a BIC Cristal with playful animal figurines and pastel colors to target a younger audience and encourage a collection trend. This launch allows us to access a growing consumer segment while leveraging one of our most iconic products. Finally, we also delivered several exciting innovations and partnership within Tangle Teezer, which I will cover more in the next slide.

Moving on to Slide 6. Tangle Teezer delivered a very strong performance in its first year within BIC with double-digit net sales growth and margins accretive to the group. From a product perspective, The Ultimate Detangler hairbrush family drove strong growth in 2025 with consumers picking up the new premium Chrome and Matte collections. The Mini Ultimate range also proved to be a highly successful driver of incremental sales in impulse retail locations. And at the end of 2025, a limited edition collaboration with the popular SKIMS brand of Kim Kardashian further reinforced Tangle Teezer's appeal and was a clear commercial success.

More recently, Tangle Teezer also partnered with the hairstylist of Grammy Awards winning artist, Olivia Dean, using the Ultimate Detangler for her red carpet look, authentically placing the brand at the center of a high-visibility global cultural moment. All these achievements helped consolidate Tangle Teezer's market leadership, securing the #1 position in the U.K. and growing market share in the U.S. to become the #3 detangling hair care brand. Finally, I am proud to see the continued progress in seamlessly integrating Tangle Teezer. And I'm very happy to share that in December 2025, we started to produce our first Tangle Teezer brushes in a BIC factory.

Now before I give the floor to Gregory on the financials, let me go over our shareholder remuneration. In line with BIC's capital allocation policy, the Board of Directors will propose an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.40, representing a 50.6% payout ratio. In addition to this dividend, we are renewing our share buyback program in 2026 with a total consideration that can reach up to EUR 40 million. Our resilient free cash flow in 2025 enables us to continue delivering these returns to shareholders while reinvesting in the business to deliver on the strategic goals and new capital allocation policy that will be communicated later this year.

With that, I will now hand it over to Gregory, who will present to you our 2025 consolidated financial results.

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Having joined the group in early January, I'm pleased to be here with you today for my first earnings call with BIC. I'll present to you our full year '25 consolidated results and then hand it back to Rob for the conclusion.

Let's start with a general overview of our key financial figures. Full year net sales stood at EUR 2.1 billion in 2025, down 0.9% at constant currency and 4.7% on an organic basis. As mentioned earlier, we saw improved momentum in the second half after significant declines in the first half. Net sales in Q4 were EUR 495 million, up 1.1% at constant currencies. Excluding perimeter impacts from the acquisition of Tangle Teezer and the sale of Cello, net sales declined 2.3% in Q4. Full year adjusted EBIT was EUR 283 million, representing a 13.6% margin compared to 15.6% last year, mainly impacted by the decline in our revenues and partly offset by cost actions. Consequently, adjusted EPS was EUR 4.74 compared to EUR 6.15 in 2024. Lastly, free cash flow totaled EUR 222 million in '25, down EUR 49 million versus last year.

Turning to Slide 10. Let's review the main building blocks of Q4 net sales evolution. In Q4, net sales were down 2.3% organically, mainly driven by the 2.2% decline in Flame for Life and in Human Expression by 1.7%, while Blade Excellence was up 1.6%. For the full year, net sales were down 4.7% organically, 0.9% at constant currency. Again, Human Expression and Flame for Life were the biggest negative drivers, declining minus 2% and minus 2.5%, respectively while Blade Excellence was down 0.2%.

Turning to Slide 12. Let me walk you through the 2025 performance by division, starting with Human Expression. Net sales for the full year were EUR 736 million, down 5.6% organically. Constant currency performance was lower since discontinued businesses were a drag on growth. In North America, BIC's performance was significantly impacted by Skin Creative and Rocketbook. And as Rob mentioned earlier, we took decisive actions in Q4 with the discontinuation of these activities. In addition, the U.S. ball pen segment, where BIC is most exposed, declined mid-single digits in value. However, net sales for the core stationery business improved meaningfully in H2 versus H1 as we experienced a strong back-to-school sequence in Q3 in segments like mechanical pencils and correction.

In Europe, following a very good 2024 driven by growth in flagship products such as the 4-Color Olympics, net sales were slightly down in 2025. Performance was resilient despite a challenging market, and it's worth noting the sequential improvement throughout the year, thanks to steady distribution gains and the success of recently launched 4-Color pens addition like the 4-Color Smooth.

In Latin America, the decline was mainly driven by Brazil and even more by Mexico. In Mexico, in particular, we implemented managerial changes and are already seeing a stabilization. Lastly, in Middle East and Africa, net sales grew mid-single digits, driven by good commercial execution and solid back-to-school season in key countries like South Africa. Human Expression adjusted EBIT margin was 7.5% in 2025, flat versus last year. The impact of unfavorable currency fluctuations and higher raw material costs was offset by lower expense as well as favorable price and mix.

Moving on to the performance of the Flame For Life division. Net sales were EUR 723 million in 2025, down 6.7%, both organically and at constant currencies. In North America, net sales were down significantly in the first half of the year and were impacted by deteriorating trading environment and lower consumption. Market trends, however, showed sequential improvement throughout the year. The U.S. pocket lighter market ended at minus 3.7% in value in 2025, and BIC managed to maintain its share in the [ lighter ] market. Our net sales were more significantly impacted in the convenience channel.

In Europe, net sales were slightly down, impacted by soft performance in key countries like Italy and Germany. This more than offset distribution gains in the discounters channel and solid performance in the utilities lighters segment. In Latin America, we were impacted by challenging market trend with tough competition in Brazil and Mexico. In Mexico, in particular, performance was particularly poor in the traditional channel. As mentioned, this has been addressed through managerial changes.

Finally, our net sales in Middle East and Africa grew double digits with strong commercial execution in Nigeria and distribution gains in Morocco. Flame For Life adjusted EBIT margin was 29.9% in 2025 compared to 33.3% last year. This decrease was mainly due to net sales decline and the negative impact of U.S. tariffs in H2.

Turning to the next slide on Blade Excellence. Net sales totaled EUR 602 million, down 0.8% organically. As mentioned, Tangle Teezer performed very well, growing double digits and fueled by new products and distribution gains. In the U.S., our core shaver business declined mid-single digits, facing deteriorating market trends and high competition, particularly in the women's segment. However, we did a solid performance in the premium range and the new products such as BIC Flex 5 and the BIC Soleil Glide.

In Europe, net sales declined slightly on a like-for-like basis as a result of softer performance in key countries such as Italy and Greece, and this more than offset strong commercial performance in Eastern Europe and the success of value-added products like BIC Soleil Escape. In Latin America, our trade-up strategy towards the multiblade segment continued to deliver positive results, particularly in Brazil.

Lastly, in Middle East and Africa, net sales grew slightly, mainly driven by good Q4 performance in key markets like Morocco and Nigeria. Overall, Blade Excellence '25 adjusted EBIT margin was 15.9% compared to 18.5% in 2024, mainly due to tariffs and a very high comp in '24.

Moving on to Page 15. Full year '25 adjusted EBIT margin was 13.6%, down 2% versus '24. Gross profit had a negative impact of 1.6 points, driven by high raw material and the negative impact of tariffs. This was particularly offset by continued manufacturing efficiencies and the positive contribution of Tangle Teezer. Brand support was relatively flat versus last year, and we had lower operating expenses, thanks to disciplined cost control. That said, as a percentage of net sales, operating expenses increased 0.3 points due to negative operating leverage.

On Slide 16, let's review the key elements of our P&L. Adjusted EBIT stood at EUR 283 million, down EUR 60 million versus last year. Nonrecurring items amounted to EUR 127 million, mostly due to the sale of Cello and the discontinuation of our Skin Creative activities and Rocketbook announced in Q4. This included mainly EUR 104 million related to the discontinuation of Skin Creative and Rocketbook announced last December, EUR 11 million related to the negative impact of Cello's disposal and EUR 10 million related to the fair value adjustment on the Power Purchase Agreement in France and the Virtual Power Purchase agreement in Greece. As a result, income before tax was significantly down to EUR 139 million compared to EUR 298 million in 2024.

Lastly, net income group share was EUR 86 million compared to EUR 212 million last year, while our adjusted net income group share was EUR 195 million compared to EUR 256 million last year. Our adjusted group EPS stood at EUR 4.74 compared to EUR 6.15 last year.

On the next slide, you can see the main building blocks of free cash flow in 2025. Operating cash flow amounted to EUR 400 million, down EUR 71 million year-on-year, mainly due to the decrease in operating margin. Change in working capital was a positive contribution of EUR 7 million and income tax paid was EUR 90 million. CapEx were EUR 87 million, flat versus last year. As a result, in 2025, free cash flow was solid at EUR 222 million.

Before giving the floor back to Rob, let me present our net cash position on Slide 18. On top of the free cash flow elements in 2025, we spent EUR 127 million in dividends and EUR 40 million in share buyback. This concludes our review of BIC's full year 2025 consolidated results.

In summary, 2025 was a difficult year for BIC in most of our key regions, marked by continued inflation, consumer anxiety and tariff uncertainty in the U.S. Against this backdrop, the group continued to focus on free cash flow resilience through disciplined cost management and working capital improvements. Looking ahead, as we develop our strategic plan, we will continue to focus on protecting our cash, simplifying our organization to ensure we are fit for growth and well positioned to drive growth and profitability. With that, I give the floor back to Rob.

Thank you, Gregory. 2025 was also a year of major changes in our governance structure. I just put in place a new leadership team, tighter and leaner with a clear objective of improving the business going forward. I strongly believe that BIC now has the right structure and leaders to execute and drive our next phase of growth. In addition to this, more, than half of BIC's Board of Directors was renewed last year and it is now fully equipped to support the implementation of our new strategy. These leadership and governance changes are essential to putting the business back on track.

Let's now take a closer look at our 2026 outlook. Starting this year, BIC will now guide on organic net sales performance, a key KPI and priority for us going forward. It reflects the true underlying performance of our business, excluding the impacts from perimeter and foreign exchange. In this year of transition and as BIC's leadership team prepares its strategic plan, which will be presented later in the year, we anticipate under current assumptions, improving organic net sales trends in 2026, a slight expansion in adjusted EBIT margin and a stable free cash flow generation year-on-year.

To conclude, 2026 is a transitional year as we are focused on improving and transforming our business as well as implementing the right structure and operating model. With the full support of the Board of Directors and my new leadership team, I strongly believe we are well positioned to prepare a clear plan of action and write the next chapter for BIC. I'm very optimistic that the decisive action we have taken so far are laying strong foundations for BIC to return to sustainable, profitable growth.

I could not conclude this call without honoring the memory of Francois Bich, son of our founder, Marcel Bich, who sadly passed away this Monday. Throughout his career, Francois played a pivotal role in developing iconic safe lighters and transforming them into a global success through his visionary leadership from the acquisition of Flaminaire in 1971 to leading our lighter category until 2016 when he retired from his executive position. When I joined as CEO, I had the immense privilege of speaking with him. And I have to say that without Francois, BIC would undeniably not be the company we all know today. His legacy will continue to inspire us for the years to come.

This concludes our presentation for today. We will now take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] And we take our first question. And it comes from the line of Andre [indiscernible] from UBS.

Obviously condolences to the Bich family. I have a couple of questions. Firstly, on the 2026 outlook. Could you confirm that when you talk about an organic -- an improvement in organic trends, this does not necessarily mean you're going to return to growth in full year '26. And coupled with that, your margins will only increase up to 10 basis points because you talk about a small margin improvement. Coupled with this, where do you see the sharpest improvement coming within your divisions? And how much of that will be driven by Tangle Teezer?

And secondly, obviously, Rob, Gregory, you've been with BIC for a few months now. What are your first impressions? And without giving too much ahead of the strategic update, any areas that strike you as most right for improvement?

Andre, for your questions. I will start with your first question, which was about our guidance for 2026. I want to make it very clear. 2026 is a transitional year in which we aim to stabilize performance and laying the foundation for our new growth cycle. That would be our key priority for this year.

I think your second question was related to the margin expansion. Look, I think what helps us in 2026 is the fact that we have exited underperforming businesses in Q4, namely Rocketbook, Cello and Skin Creative. We are also focusing on disciplined cost control. But on the other hand, we're also being hit partially by tariffs in the U.S. So the combination of all this makes us believe that we will be able to slightly expand our margin in 2026. It was related to my impressions of BIC.

I would like to summarize that in 3 things. First of all, we have a wonderful brand, which is known in many places across the globe. So I think it's a fantastic brand platform. The other thing that has impressed me in my first month is the amazing manufacturing capabilities we have to produce super high-quality products at very cost competitive levels. And thirdly, we have a fantastic distribution footprint in many parts of the world. So I think this company has some really -- some key strengths and -- which will help us to revive growth going forward.

Last point, if I get you right, Andre, was the Tangle Teezer performance. I can honestly tell you, we're super happy with Tangle Teezer. Also in 2025, our first year of full integration, we could notice that Tangle Teezer continues to grow at a fast pace, double-digit top line. It's margin accretive for our company. It has consolidated its #1 market share position in the U.K., and it's a fast-growing brand in the U.S., now reaching #3. So yes, all lights on green for Tangle Teezer and it also has been a key contributor to our growth in '25 with 4.1 points to the group's net sales performance.

[Operator Instructions] And the next question comes from the line of Geoffrey d'Halluin from BNP Paribas.

I've got 2 questions, please. First one is related to the end of 2026. If you can share with us any thoughts on the trading trends you've seen in the first weeks of 2026, especially for the Flame For Life division in the U.S. That's my first question, please.

And second question is related to the exit of businesses, so like Cello, Skin Creative business and Rocketbook. Could you share with us how much is it in terms of revenues, which is exited the company? And maybe also any thoughts regarding the profitability of this business? And on top of that, do you expect any additional one-off costs related to these disposals or business exiting?

Geoff, thank you very much for your question. This is Rob speaking. I will answer the first part of your question, and then I will pass on to my colleague, Greg, to answer the second part. So your question was related to our expectations for Q1 and current trending. What I can tell you is that we expect a relatively flat organic growth for Q1. And what we are doing is we are taking actions to set ourselves up for real sustainable growth, amongst others, by rightsizing level of inventories at key distributors and wholesalers globally.

Maybe more in particularly because I think you were also mentioning the Flame For Life. We expect a slight recovery in the U.S. despite the fact that macroeconomic environment continues to be uncertain with especially low-income consumers continuing to feel the pinch following the implementation of U.S. tariffs. We can also notice that we see some key customers continuing to optimize their level of inventory. So that's the U.S.

Then in Mexico, where we, of course, in the recent days, we had a lot of unrest, where our primary concern is the health and safety of our employees. But concerning performance, we clearly expect a stabilization in Mexico. We had a very tough year last year. We took action, put new management in place, and we believe that we will be able to improve the performance in Mexico accordingly. Other regions, our expectation for now is more or less flat versus last year. This concludes my answer to your first question. I now pass on to Greg for your other question.

Geoffrey, on your second question regarding disposals, I will not comment on the specific in terms of numbers, but the disposal of Cello and discontinuation of Rocketbook and Skin Creative will have a positive impact on organic growth and should be pretty -- organic growth in EBIT margin and should be pretty neutral between the disposal proceeds and the wind down cost in terms of free cash flow.

[Operator Instructions] And now we're going to take our next question. And it comes from the line of Marie-Line Fort from Bernstein.

Yes. I've got -- I would like to come back on 2 topics. The first one is about tariffs, the impact of the new tariff announcement? And what do you expect at this stage, even if it's not very clear?

The second question is about the start of production of Tangle Teezer brushes. Could you tell us a bit more? Where is the production located? Is it a trial? What will be the ramp-up? And when do you see new synergies in terms of production and in terms of evolution in margin?

Regarding tariffs, it's obviously too early to tell regarding the impact of the Supreme Court decision. It should persist -- and our view is that it should persist as we enter 2026 because raw material and local inventories were built at a higher cost that included those tariffs. So we'll now need to assess how the U.S. administration will react to this decision.

Just to give you a sense of the numbers, in the current environment, the overall impact of tariffs for BIC as of -- for '25, '26 on an annual basis, the overall impact is EUR 31 million, of which EUR 13 million already impacted 2025. So we have EUR 18 million ahead of us, which we obviously try to offset through a number of levers, pricing, gross profit optimization, accelerating transformation of our supply chain and adjusting our manufacturing footprint and also disciplined cost management, which has to be one of our priorities as well. So that's that regarding the impact of tariffs. And on Tangle Teezer production?

Yes, let me take that one, Greg. Marie-Line, I want to come back on your question related to Tangle Teezer. So we have started to produce the first brushes in our factory in Mexico by the end of last year. And we also have plans to produce the brushes in Tunisia in the course of 2026. So that integration is going well.

And in terms of synergies, any kind of ideas of what could represent and at which or reason?

Sorry, Marie-Line, we couldn't hear you very well. Can you repeat, please?

Sorry. Just wanting to know if you can precise the synergies expected, not in terms of figures precisely, but in terms of calendar, at least?

So it's pretty much limited in '26 and should be accretive going forward.

Excuse me, Marie-Line, do you have any further questions?

No, that's fine.

Thank you so much. Dear speakers, there are no further questions for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker, Rob Versloot, for any closing remarks.

Thank you. I'd like to thank you all for attending today's call. And looking forward to stay connected with you throughout the year. Thank you very much.

Indeed, thank you for your attention. Bye-bye.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now all disconnect. Have a nice day.

Good day, and welcome to BIC's Third Quarter and 9 Months 2025 Net Sales Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

And now I'd like to hand the call over to your host, Brice Paris, VP, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to BIC's Third Quarter 2025 Net Sales Call. I'm Brice Paris, Head of Investor Relations. I'm glad to welcome Rob Versloot, our new CEO, who will lead his first analyst call at BIC. Chris Dayton, our interim CFO, is also with us today in Clichy.

We will be available after the presentation for the usual Q&A session. As a reminder, this call is being recorded, and the replay will be available on our website, along with the presentation and press release. As always, please take a moment to read the disclaimer at the beginning of the presentation.

With that, I now give the floor to Rob.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. It's great to be here with you for my first earnings call as CEO of BIC. Taking on this role in September was a new chapter opening for me, both personally and professionally. I'm honored to lead a company with such a strong legacy, and I'm even more excited about the opportunities ahead.

Throughout my career, I've seen firsthand the reach and relevance of the BIC brand around the world. It's a brand that people know, trust and use every day, and that's something truly special.

I want to start off by acknowledging that 2025 is a challenging year for BIC. Since the beginning of the year, our global business has struggled in the face of a tough environment, and we've now experienced negative organic growth for the third quarter in a row. In Q3, each of our categories declined with the exception of Tangle Teezer. And this leads us to revise our full year outlook, which I will detail more on in my conclusion.

As the new CEO, my first priority is very clear. We need to shift gears and set a strong foundation for the future. This transition won't happen overnight, but we're moving quickly with speed and focus. I'll share more on how we're approaching it at the end of the call.

Specifically, regarding BIC's Q3 performance, I want to highlight 3 key overarching takeaways. First, our performance in the U.S. continued to be challenged despite a slight rebound in our core Stationery business. Second, we saw areas of growth in other regions, driven by our value-added products and strong back-to-school season in several countries. And third, we had mixed performances in our acquired businesses. While Tangle Teezer continued to perform super well, others like our Skin Creative business and Rocketbook were disappointing and weighed on our overall financial results.

Starting with the U.S. The overall business environment remains difficult for our 3 categories. However, in Q3, we saw a solid improvement in our core stationery category with record high net sales driven by strong retailer momentum and stand out performance in the Mechanical Pencils segment.

In Flame for Life, net sales were still negative in Q3 despite improvement in lighter market trends since the beginning of the year. And in Blade Excellence, we struggled in a deteriorating shaver market with slowing consumption trends and ongoing competition.

That being said, we had areas of growth in other regions and categories. Our value-added shaver products, including our Flex and Soleil ranges performed particularly well in Brazil and Europe. Back-to-school seasons were solid in several key European countries like Germany and the U.K., while performance in France was relatively flat.

Finally, it's worth noting our acquired businesses delivered a mixed performance in Q3. While Tangle Teezer positively contributed to 3.6 points of the group's growth, other businesses such as Cello, Rocketbook and Skin Creative had a 2-point negative impact on the growth of our Human Expression division in Q3. Therefore, one of my first key actions as CEO is to complete the divestiture of our Cello activities in India.

Despite our repeated efforts to turn the business around, BIC was never able to transform Cello into a growing and profitable business. My responsibility as CEO of BIC is to ensure that every decision and every part of the company drives sustainable and profitable growth while reducing complexity in the organization.

To conclude this first part, I am determined to act swiftly. Since I joined the group a month ago, I've been closely analyzing BIC's long-term performance, and I've gained a deeper understanding of the current challenges we face. Right now, my teams and I are working hard to prepare a clear plan of action and define a new strategy to write the next chapter for BIC.

I will now hand it over to Chris, who will share more details on our net sales and operational performance during the third quarter.

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. I'm Chris Dayton, Interim CFO, and let's begin with an overview of our net sales performance for the third quarter of 2025 on Slide 6.

Net sales totaled EUR 519 million, down 3.9% as reported and up 0.3% at constant currency. Excluding the 3.6 points positive impact from the Tangle Teezer contribution, net sales were down 3.3%. Currency fluctuations had a negative impact of 4.2 points, mostly coming from the U.S. dollar.

Turning to Slide 7. In the first 9 months of 2025, net sales totaled EUR 1.595 billion, down 5% as reported and down 1.6% at constant currency. Excluding the 3.8 points positive impact from Tangle Teezer, net sales were down 5.4%. Currency fluctuations had a negative impact of 3.4 points, largely coming from the U.S. dollar and the Brazilian real.

I'll now provide you with a snapshot of the performance of our 3 divisions for the third quarter, starting with Human Expression on Slide 8. Net sales were EUR 192 million, down 0.5% at constant currency, a strong sequential improvement since the beginning of the year.

In North America, net sales grew high single digits at constant currency, with solid growth in the U.S., mainly driven by back-to-school phasing of orders from Q2 to Q3. However, this was partially offset by poor performance of both Rocketbook and Skin Creative.

In Europe, net sales were relatively flat at constant currency with mixed performance across the region during the back-to-school season. Growth was solid in Eastern Europe, Germany and the U.K. And our value-added products like the 4-Color Smooth, Intensity paint markers and break-resistant Mechanical Pencils performed well. However, this was offset by weaker results in Southern Europe.

In Latin America, net sales declined high single digits in Q3 at constant currency, mainly due to tough performance in Mexico, impacted by significant competitive pressure from private label. In Brazil, net sales growth was negative but improved compared to previous quarters.

Finally, in Middle East and Africa, net sales grew slightly at constant currency, driven by a solid back-to-school season in the Middle East and good performance in Nigeria from our iconic BIC Cristal and Lucky Pen products.

Moving on to Slide 9 to review Flame for Life performance. Net sales totaled EUR 175 million in Q3, down 4.3% at constant currency.

In North America, the U.S. pocket lighter market improved versus the beginning of the year while remaining negative at minus 2% in value in Q3. Additionally, the utility lighter market declined minus 4.1% in value. In this context, BIC's performance remained challenging and net sales decreased mid-single digits at constant currency.

In Europe, net sales declined mid-single digits at constant currency as a result of softer performance in Eastern Europe, Italy and Germany. This more than offset solid growth in France and the Netherlands where we saw distribution gains, particularly in utility lighters.

In Latin America, net sales decreased mid-single digits in Q3 at constant currency.

In Mexico, BIC faced strong competition from low-cost pocket lighters while in Brazil, we were impacted by market slowdown and heavier competition.

Finally, in the Blade Excellence division, Q3 net sales amounted to EUR 146 million, up 7.4% at constant currency.

As Rob mentioned earlier, Tangle Teezer was the main driver, posting double-digit growth driven by the U.S. and Europe. Excluding Tangle Teezer, net sales were down 6.1% in Q3. In North America, net sales declined double digits, excluding Tangle Teezer.

Our core Shaver business continued to face challenging market trends and continued competitive pressure. Net sales were also negatively impacted by reduced promotional activity versus last year.

In Europe, excluding Tangle Teezer, we experienced slight growth on a comparative basis in the quarter. This was driven by continued distribution gains in Eastern Europe and the success of value-added shavers such as hybrid Flex 5 and Soleil Click 3. In Latin America, Q3 net sales increased low single digits at constant currency.

The continued success of our 3 to 5 blade offerings led to robust growth in Brazil. However, this was partially offset by a weak performance in Mexico due to a very competitive environment.

Lastly, in Middle East and Africa, Q3 net sales decreased significantly at constant currency mainly due to poor performance in Northern Africa and competitive pressure in South Africa.

This concludes the review of our Q3 and 9 months net sales performance. With that, I'd like to hand it back over to Rob.

Thank you, Chris. I think it's fair to say that BIC has faced difficulties adapting to shifting consumer trends and a challenging global market environment. And this was again the case in Q3 where the performance was not where we wanted to be. As a consequence, and since we expect Q4 performance to remain broadly in line with what we have seen over the past few months, we are adjusting our full year outlook.

We are now expecting net sales growth at constant currency in the range of minus 1% to minus 1.5%, an adjusted EBIT margin at around 13.7% and a free cash flow at around EUR 210 million. This outlook now includes the full impact of U.S. tariffs in our P&L and free cash flow, which was not the case before.

As I mentioned earlier, my goal as the new CEO is to build a solid foundation and clear plan for the next chapter of BIC. While I'm still refining the strategy, my goal is to move as quickly as possible. I will share more details on further strategic priorities in due term.

As we approach the end of the year, my top priority is to sharpen our focus on operations to make steady progress despite the hurdles we face.

With that, that team and I will take your questions. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take our first question from Geoffrey d'Halluin of BNP Paribas Exane.

I will have three questions, please. The first one is related to your new guidance, especially the new EBIT margin guidance. Would you mind to give us a bit more details on what you expect in terms of U.S. tariffs impact? And basically, breaking down what drove the new guidance before the prior ones.

My second question is related to your Cello disposal. Would you mind to give us a bit more details on -- or at least remind us what was the overall revenue and EBIT numbers for this company?

And the last question is -- so I get the point you would update the market for your new strategy in due course. But maybe a question is regarding the portfolio of brand activity in BIC, are you happy with the current portfolio? Or could we expect to have much more exit of brands in the next coming months, as you've just done with Cello?

Yes, Rob speaking. Thanks a lot for the question. Maybe to comment on your first question on overall, the main reasons behind the outlook revision. Maybe starting with the U.S. and as mentioned by Chris, in the lighter segment, we see slower-than-expected recovery, and the business is still down mid-single digit in Q3, and we believe that this should continue to be down in Q4.

And in another important segment, the shavers in the U.S., there, we see higher-than-expected decline in net sales mainly due to a combination of deteriorating market trends, continued competitive pressure and less promotional activity. Also this situation, we expect to remain tough for the remainder of the year. So that's about the U.S.

Then if we look in our Latin American business in Mexico, which is one of our top 5 countries in net sales, we saw a poor performance in Q3, double-digit down due to tough market trends, intense competition for private labels and distribution losses. We recently changed leadership in Mexico with the objective of improving the situation.

A third element is concerning our new businesses. We observed very disappointing performance of Skin Creative, Rocketbook, BIC Blade-Tech and Cello. And this is one of the reasons why we concluded the sale of Cello to limit the negative financial impact it's having on our results.

And lastly, and I think you were alluding to that, we are now including the full impact of U.S. tariffs on both our margin and free cash flow outlooks. And the gross tariff impact in 2025 is expected to be about nearly EUR 50 million, and we should be able to offset less than half of it at adjusted EBIT margin level. At a free cash flow level, the impact is expected to be at nearly EUR 15 million.

Commenting on your second question, the divestiture of Cello. We've looked at it, and we have observed that Cello has been dilutive on the Human Expression division financial performance for many years. And despite repeated efforts of the company to turn the business around, BIC was never able to transform Cello into a growing and profitable business. So yes, my first decision as CEO of BIC is to conclude the sale of Cello to limit the negative financial impact going forward.

And generally speaking, I see it as my responsibility to sharpen our focus on activities that can drive growth and profitability while continuing to invest in markets where we have a winning strategy.

Coming to your last question with what about the strategy going forward, I want to manage expectations. I joined BIC a bit more than a month ago. So I'm afraid that I can't give you any communication on my strategic plan right now or in the near future.

I have been analyzing closely the long-term performance of BIC and gaining understanding of our current challenges. I'm currently working very hard with my team to prepare my action belt. I am determined to act swiftly. My first bold move is concluding the sale of Cello, and I will update you in due course of the details of my strategic plan. That said, my top priority as we approach the end of the year is to focus on operations and make sure we deliver on our promises. Thank you.

And we'll now take our next question from [ Andre Conger ] of UBS.

Two for me, please. First of all, on the outlook, and this is more about 2026, if you can share anything is, obviously, you saw the market deteriorate in Q3 and Q4 expected to be similar. What does this imply for the BIC, at least for the beginning of 2026, given the subdued market growth rates?

And my second one, just going back to the tariffs, if we may. For 2025, you said that the impact is about EUR 15 million growth. What is the impact you envisage for 2026 essentially on an annualized basis, if I may?

Thank you for the question. Rob speaking here. Talking about 2026. As mentioned, I'm working on my strategic plan, 6 weeks in the business. So analyzing the long-term performance, but also the current challenges.

I'm afraid it's a bit too soon for me to give an expectation on the 2026. But be assured, this is on our agenda. We'll come back on that as soon as we can and have a full understanding of the business where we are and our plans going forward. Thank you.

Andre, thanks for the question. This is Chris. To answer your question on the annualized impact of tariffs, we expect it to be around EUR 30 million on an annualized basis. We should be able to offset more of that on an ongoing basis than we do in 2025. We've built our action plans around 3 levers: pricing, gross profit optimization and then finally, managing at the EBIT level through cost management. Thank you.

And we'll now move on to our next question from Marie Fort of Bernstein.

First question is about the Shavers. What do you attribute the market pressure in Q3 which is very strong? And how do you plan to implement a new strategy in this context? And particularly regarding Blade-Tech, what is your thoughts on Blade-Tech?

Second question is about your governance structures. How do you envisage the new organization? And particularly, will you mention -- will you maintain a dual organization between Paris and the U.S.? That's it for my question.

Thank you, Marie-Line, for the question. The performance in U.S. Shavers during Q3 had 3 key drivers. First of all, difficult market trends, particularly in the drug store and discount channels with an accelerated market decline in Q3, it was down nearly 5% in value. We are seeing continued competitive pressures as well, especially in the women's segment despite the success we've seen in BIC Soleil Glide.

And finally, while some competitors are aggressively pricing to take share, we decided to reduce certain promotional activity versus last year to eliminate low ROI programs.

Yes. Marie, Rob speaking. Thank you for your question on organization. Yes, as we are still working out the strategy, which is, let's say, our first priority. And of course, as a logical follow-up, we will look at what is the best organization to execute our strategy. As we have not concluded our strategy process, yes, it's a bit too early for me to make any remarks about our organization going forward. Other than that, we will look at opportunities to simplify the organization. Thank you very much.

And coming back to the BIC Blade-Tech performance. Here, we noticed that this part of our business continued to report poor performance in Q3 and is expected to be flat this year. That said, BIC Blade-Tech represents a no material amount of the group's revenue. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] And we will now take our next question from Alessandro Cuglietta of Kepler Cheuvreux.

So most of my questions have been answered, but I can add maybe one on Flame for Life. Maybe can you detail what's driving the underperformance this year? Do you think it's only macro-driven or still some structural headwinds in this category in the lighter business?

Thanks for the question, Alessandro. We did have poor performance, challenging performance across the board in Flame for Life. In the U.S., despite the improvement since the beginning of the year, net sales declined in Q3. Remember that in Q2, we did see some positive benefit from the inventory replenishment at certain retailers that didn't repeat in Q3. We are seeing continued improvement in the convenience channel since the beginning of the year. And it's also important to note that we've taken recent actions against counterfeit lighters in the convenience channel, including lawsuits against several wholesalers.

In Latin America, we continue to face heavier competition in both Mexico and Brazil. And in Europe, we had soft performance in Eastern Europe, Italy and Germany. On the bright side, I would say that the Middle East and Africa posted growth during the quarter, driven by continued distribution gains and geographical expansion. Thank you.

There are no further questions in queue. [Operator Instructions] And we'll now take our next question from Christophe Chaput of ODDO.

Yes. Just a quick one for me. So just to offset the tariffs, let's say. So on several segment, you are going to pass some price hike, I assume in 2026. And I just wonder if you could give us more detail about what you could do in '26. Is it going to concern, let's say, all the division, only a part of it because in shaver, for example, the competitive landscape seems to be difficult? So yes, that's the first for me.

And the second one is that could you, let's say, give us more detail about the level of inventories on the Stationery business? Is there a good, let's say, [ adequation ] sell-in, sell-out on the market in the U.S.

Thanks for the question. Yes, we'll take pricing as a weapon or as a mitigating activity against the tariffs. I'm not going to go into any more specifics around that. And then we do see normal levels of inventory within our retailers in Flame for Life. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions coming through. I will now hand it back to Rob for final remarks.

Yes. On behalf of the company and our team here, I'd like to thank you very much for joining our call this morning. Thank you also for the great questions. And I'm looking forward to meet you soon. Thank you. Have a great day.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Good day, and welcome to BIC's First Half 2025 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions].

And now I would like to hand the call over to your host, Brice Paris, VP, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to BIC's First Half 2025 Results Call. I'm Brice Paris, Head of Investor Relations. We are in Clichy today with Gonzalve Bich, our CEO; and Chris Dayton, our Interim CFO. We are also pleased to welcome Rob Versloot, our incoming CEO, who is also with us today.

We will be available at the end of the call for the usual Q&A session. As a reminder, this call is being recorded, and the replay will be available on our website along with the presentation and press release. As always, please take a moment to read the disclaimer at the beginning of the presentation.

Before we move on to it, let's start with a short introduction from Rob Versloot. Rob, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Brice, and good morning, everyone. I'm Rob Versloot. It is a great pleasure to attend this call with you today. I am really looking forward to stepping into my new role as BIC's CEO and will begin my duties starting September 15.

I think there are many things in common between the BIC of today and the world I come from, and it is undoubtedly a right time for me to join the group. I am eager to contribute to a new chapter of BIC, leveraging my lengthy experience in transforming brands and companies.

During this transition period, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to count on Gonzalve, who will be my side for the next few months, passing on to me the numerous subtleties and DNA of BIC.

Let me finish this short introduction by giving you some insights about my background for those of you who don't know me. I started my career at Nutricia and Danone, where I held several positions in senior marketing, commercial and general management. Across various geographies, I worked in Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, Europe.

I joined the Hero Group in 2008, initially overseeing regional markets in Europe, North America and China, before being appointed as the CEO in 2012. Since then, we deeply and successfully transformed the company, building high-performance teams and capabilities across both emerging and mature markets to drive sustainable growth while improving profitability.

I am sure I will have the opportunity to meet some of you during the second half of the year, and we will all be in touch at BIC's Q3 net sales conference call in October.

With that, I will now hand it over to Gonzalve and Chris for the results presentation, and I will be available to answer any of your questions at the end of the call, during the Q&A session. Thank you.

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. As you know, this is my final earnings conference call as CEO of BIC. I'll reflect more on my time as CEO after taking you through our performance for the first half of 2025.

BIC continued to demonstrate its resilience in a highly volatile trading environment. And here are the key takeaways I'd like to highlight. Firstly, BIC returned to growth during the second quarter, delivering 1.4% growth at constant currency. That's a notable 8.4 percentage points improvement in net sales growth compared to Q1.

Secondly, we saw sequential improvement across all 3 of our core businesses and geographies, with the most significant progress coming in Flame for Life, where net sales performance rebounded by 15 percentage points versus the first quarter.

Thirdly, Tangle Teezer was a star performer, achieving double-digit growth and contributing 4 points to the group's overall growth in the first half.

And last, as we focus on what we can control in H1 by maintaining a resilient margin of 13.7%, 120 basis points below last year, despite a tough start to the year. This is a reflection of the capabilities we've developed across the business through Horizon.

Let's now move on to our H1 results in more detail. As you all know, the first half of 2025 presented us with a series of complex global challenges, including ongoing tariff uncertainties, shifts in consumer behavior and broad pressure on purchasing power. Globally, consumer confidence has declined with shoppers becoming far more cautious, particularly in discretionary categories.

The effects were especially evident in the U.S. where all 3 of our core markets contracted, some more than we expected. In stationery, the U.S. market declined 1.7% in value with the ball pen segment, our most exposed category, experiencing mid-single-digit declines.

The U.S. lighter market fell 5.4% versus minus 5% in 2024, while the disposable shaver category was down 1.5% in value. As a result, our total group net sales for the first half declined 2.4% at constant currencies. However, we did see a solid rebound in Q2, driven by sequential improvements across the board.

In Human Expression, while global market conditions remain challenging, we saw encouraging momentum in key regions like the U.S., supported by growth in core stationary segments like mechanical pencils and correction products.

In Flame for Life, we continue to navigate headwinds in the U.S. and faced heightened competitive activity in Latin America. Nevertheless, we demonstrated resilience, improving quarter-on-quarter performance across all geographies and returning to growth in Europe and the Middle East and Africa, powered by distribution gains.

In Blade Excellence, our performance was fueled by our premium hair brush brand, Tangle Teezer. Our core shaving business also performed well with solid growth in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa, and modest growth in Europe driven by the continued success of our value-added Flex and Soleil ranges.

Returning to Tangle Teezer, the brand successfully outperformed its category in the first half, achieving double-digit net sales growth. This success was driven by distribution gains and bold creative advertising campaigns across the U.S., Europe and especially the U.K. The Ultimate Detangler brush family and the newer Chrome and plant brush collections were standout contributors.

In the U.S., brand awareness has tripled, a testament to the strength of our marketing strategy and the effectiveness of our distribution capabilities.

Our Horizon strategic plan came into its own during the first half of 2025. We remain fully focused on executing the plan, and I am proud of the progress we've made in each of our strategic pillar as we approach the finish line.

Let's start with innovation and our continued focus on improving and launching new products that meet consumer demands, which is the cornerstone of our growth model. In stationery, we should be proud of the success of our iconic 4-Color pen over the years, which has grown an impressive 35% in net sales since 2021.

More recently, the launches of the 4-Color Smooth and Intensity Paint markers in Europe were met with strong market enthusiasm, and both were key contributors to our first half performance.

Our strategy to serving every lighting occasion, indoors and out, continues to drive innovations in our lighter business. Last year, we launched our EZ LOAD lighter, a first-of-its-kind refillable utility lighter, across several countries in Europe. In France, this launch exceeded expectations, especially in modern mass retail where it was supported by excellent in-store execution by the team.

In Blade Excellence, we successfully rolled out the Flex 5 sensitive shaver for men globally, featuring an innovative anti-inflammatory ingredient for a smoother shaving experience. In the U.S., this breakthrough innovation was a great success in the first half and enabled us to gain further market share in the competitive men's segment.

Another important pillar of Horizon is to elevate brand visibility and connect more deeply with consumers, and we continue to do so through impactful marketing campaigns. In Europe, our Squid Game lighter collection has attracted consumers with its creative designs. The campaign was launched in May and has been gathering strong momentum. This sleek all-black limited-edition lighter was well received by consumers, adding a more premium edge to our standard range.

In Brazil, the Soleil Escape summer campaign delivered solid results, driving significant consumer engagement. This campaign, coupled with our trade-up strategy in the region over the past 5 years, has helped the Soleil range to deliver more than 30% average annual growth between 2020 and 2025.

Looking ahead to the back-to-school season, BIC is launching major campaigns across several European markets, including a "Pen For Every Side Of You" for our iconic 4-Color pen and "Go Make WOW" for the BIC Kids collection.

Another key Horizon priority is our relentless focus on supply chain optimization. A highlight in H1 was the transfer of production of our correction range, the Mini Pocket Mouse, from Mexico to our Bizerte facility in Tunisia. This move brings our operations closer to the European market, reduces transportation and manufacturing costs, and enhances supply chain agility, a critical gain in today's volatile environment.

Fourth, we pushed forward with achieving distribution gains across key channels and geographies, enabling further increases in brand awareness. In Europe, in just 2 years, we've delivered an impressive growth of more than 20% in the discounters' channel, driven by stationary and lighters, evidencing the success of our omnichannel strategy.

Building BIC consumer loyalty is also critical when it comes to preserving gains. To that end, I'm especially proud that BIC was recently named France's favorite consumer brands out of more than 1,300 brands across all categories, becoming the first nonfood brand to win this distinction.

Our talented teams from BIC Brazil won 3 Lions awards at the Cannes Lions Festival for a campaign celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Cristal pen. In our own unique way, we used a robot powered by AI to rewrite Romeo and Juliet, replicating Shakespeare's own handwriting. This was a beautiful testimony of the pen's durability and the brand's timeless value.

To conclude this first section, despite significant market uncertainties, we are progressing steadily. As expected, we saw a rebound in the second quarter after a soft start to the year by deploying the numerous capabilities developed under our Horizon plan.

With that, I'll now hand it over to Chris, who will walk you through our financial performance for the first half.

Thank you, Gonzalve. Good morning, everyone. I'm Chris Dayton, Interim CFO, and I'm happy to be with you today to present our consolidated results for the first half of 2025.

Let's start with an overview of our performance and some key financial figures on Slide 6. In the second quarter, net sales were EUR 598 million, up 1.4% at constant currencies, sequentially improving across all divisions and geographies, relative to Q1. In the first half, net sales were EUR 1.1 billion, down 2.4% at constant currencies. Excluding Tangle Teezer, net sales declined 2.7% in Q2 and 6.4% in H1 on a comparative basis.

H1 2025 adjusted EBIT was EUR 147 million, representing a 13.7% margin, down 120 basis points versus last year. Adjusted EPS was EUR 2.35 compared to EUR 2.95 last year.

In the first half, free cash flow was negative EUR 14 million, compared to a positive EUR 37 million last year. And at the end of June 2025, our net cash position was EUR 21 million.

Turning to the next slide, I'll provide you with a snapshot of the performance of our 3 divisions in H1 2025.

Let's begin with Human Expression. Net sales were EUR 406 million, down 7.8% at constant currencies. In North America, performance was impacted by a challenging trading environment with the U.S. stationery market declining 1.7% in value. We saw a steeper decline in the ball pen segment of 6.4% where BIC is the most exposed. In this context, net sales performance declined significantly in H1, but improved in Q2 versus Q1.

In Europe, net sales decreased low-single digits due to lower consumer demand in France and softer performance in e-commerce in the U.K. However, the success of recent launches, including the 4-Color Smooth and 4-Color Pastel, delivered growth. And ongoing distribution gains in the discounters' channel also contributed.

In Latin America, net sales remained negative in H1, impacted by increased competitive pressure across traditional channels in both Mexico and Brazil. However, recent launches in Mexico, like the Gel-ocity and BIC Intensity ranges led to solid growth in the gel and coloring segments.

In the Middle East and Africa, performance was driven by strong commercial execution in Nigeria with the continued growth of the iconic BIC Cristal pen and distribution gains in Morocco. These successes offset market headwinds and competitive pressures in some countries, and overall sales in the region were flat.

In H1 2025, Human Expression adjusted EBIT margin decreased 40 basis points to 11% driven by higher raw material costs, unfavorable Rocketbook performance and currency fluctuations. This was partially offset by favorable price and mix, and lower operating expenses.

Moving on to our Flame for Life division's performance. Net sales totaled EUR 354 million in H1 2025, down 8.6% at constant currencies. Following a challenging first quarter, BIC demonstrated resilience with net sales evolution improving by 15 percentage points in Q2 versus Q1 driven by all geographies.

In North America, our lighters activity in H1 was impacted by lower consumption trends. However, Q2 performance improved significantly relative to Q1. BIC was able to deliver steady share gains, particularly in the utility lighters segment where we gained 1.8 points of market share in value.

In Europe, following soft performance during the first quarter, BIC returned to growth in Q2 with relatively flat net sales growth in H1. This was mainly driven by key products such as the Slim pocket lighter and the BIC EZ Reach which grew double digits in the first half.

In Latin America, net sales decreased high-single digits in H1. In Brazil, BIC gained distribution in the utility lighter segment. However, performance was negatively impacted by strong competition from low-cost pocket lighters.

In the Middle East and Africa, BIC returned to growth in Q2, driven by solid performance across Western and Central Africa as well as distribution gains in Nigeria. This led to high-single digit growth in the region during the first half.

In H1 2025, Flame for Life adjusted EBIT margin was 28.6% versus 31.5% last year. This decrease was mainly driven by the net sales decline during the first half, particularly in the U.S., and by higher raw material costs, unfavorable absorption and currency fluctuations.

Finally, in the Blade Excellence division, H1 net sales were EUR 302 million, up 15.6% at constant currencies. As mentioned earlier by Gonzalve, Tangle Teezer performed very well, growing double digits, driven by the U.S. and Europe.

On a comparative basis, Blade Excellence net sales were down 1.4% in the first half. In North America, BIC continued to face tough competition, particularly in the women's disposable shaver segment, leading to a mid-single digit decline in H1 on a comparative basis.

In Europe, while net sales declined slightly in H1 on a comparative basis, Q2 growth was positive. Performance was boosted by continued distribution gains in Eastern Europe and the success of value-added shavers such as BIC Hybrid Flex 5 and Soleil Escape.

In Latin America, our trade-up strategy to the multi-blade segment continued to deliver positive results in the region. In Q2, Brazil achieved strong growth and we continued to grow in Mexico.

Lastly, in the Middle East and Africa, H1 net sales were down mid-single digits with a significant growth in Q2. This was driven by a solid mix of value-added products and distribution gains in key markets such as Morocco and Nigeria.

The Blade Excellence adjusted EBIT margin for H1 improved by 60 basis points versus last year, reaching 14.7%. Favorable price and mix, fixed cost absorption and manufacturing efficiencies were key margin drivers. However, raw material and electricity costs were unfavorable.

Turning to Slide 8. Let's now review our consolidated financial results, starting with net sales evolution in the second quarter and first half of 2025. Net sales for the second quarter were up 1.4% at constant currencies. Excluding the 4.1 point impact of Tangle Teezer, growth on a comparative basis was minus 2.7%. Currency fluctuations had a negative impact of 4.5 points.

For the first half, net sales were down 2.4% at constant currencies. Excluding the impact of Tangle Teezer, net sales were down 6.4% on a comparative basis. Currency fluctuations had a negative impact of 3.1 points.

Now let's review the change in our adjusted EBIT margin versus last year on Slide 9. H1 adjusted EBIT margin was 13.7%, down 120 basis points versus last year, mainly due to gross profit margin decline. This was driven by higher raw material and electricity costs, and unfavorable currency fluctuations.

This was partially offset by favorable price and mix, continued manufacturing efficiencies and the positive impact of Tangle Teezer. Brand support was favorable 30 basis points, while operating and other expenses had a negative impact of 50 basis points.

On Slide 10, we have the key P&L elements. Adjusted EBIT for the first half was EUR 147 million, down EUR 23 million versus last year. Non-recurring items amounted to EUR 25 million. This includes a EUR 19 million non-cash impairment on our digital writing business, Rocketbook, following an impairment test performed in June.

This was the result of lower-than-expected performance and a EUR 6 million inventory fair value adjustment for Tangle Teezer. This inventory was revalued at the time of the acquisition to reflect its fair value and impacted the P&L in H1 2025.

Income before tax for the first half of 2025 was EUR 111 million compared to EUR 155 million last year. Net income group share was EUR 76 million compared to EUR 111 million last year, while adjusted net income group share was EUR 97 million compared to EUR 123 million last year.

Our group EPS was EUR 1.85 compared to EUR 2.67 last year. Our adjusted EPS stood at EUR 2.35 compared to EUR 2.95 last year.

On Slide 11, we have the main elements of working capital. Our inventory levels increased by EUR 18 million compared to December 2024. We continue to improve our inventory in days versus June last year. Trade and other receivables increased by EUR 153 million, mainly due to back-to-school seasonality. Trade and other payables increased by EUR 25 million from the end of December.

Finally, on Slide 12, we see our net cash evolution from December 2024 to June 2025. Operating free cash flow amounted to EUR 199 million, down EUR 29 million year-on-year, mainly due to the decrease in EBIT following the net sales decline. Change in working capital and others was negative EUR 179 million versus negative EUR 159 million for the same period last year, mainly due to net sales seasonality.

CapEx were EUR 34 million in H1. This resulted in a negative free cash flow of EUR 14 million. During H1 2025, we also paid EUR 127 million in dividends and bought back shares for EUR 13 million. As a result, our net cash position at the end of June 2025 was a positive EUR 21 million.

This concludes the review of our first half 2025 consolidated results. With that, I'd like to hand it back over to Gonzalve.

Thank you, Chris. Let me now end with a few remarks on our 2025 outlook. Despite all macroeconomic and industry challenges we face, the strength and resilience of our model as well as the dedication of our teams globally make me confident in confirming our 2025 outlook.

For the full year 2025, net sales are expected to grow between 0% and 3% at constant currencies. Adjusted EBIT margin expected to be around 15% and free cash flow is expected to be above EUR 240 million.

As we bring BIC's Horizon chapter and my own to a close, I'm proud of how BIC has transformed as a stronger, more agile and innovative company. We've pivoted to growth by harnessing our capacity to innovate, embedding sustainability at the heart of our strategy and embracing new ways of working.

With great pride and confidence in BIC's future, now is the time to start a new chapter by welcoming Rob as CEO. As I prepare to step down at the end of September, I'm incredibly grateful for this journey leading such an iconic company.

The past 7 years have been full of learning, partnership challenges and achievements, and I'm very proud of what we've built together with our teams across the globe. BIC is in a strong position as Rob takes over. He brings a distinguished international career and a wealth of experience to the CEO role. And the company is in exceptionally capable hands under his leadership.

Before we open it up to questions, I want to take a moment to thank you all. We've interacted a lot during my time as CEO at numerous roadshows and conferences and with more than 30 conference calls together. And just so you know, I will still be listening in on these calls. And yes, I'll still be placing my bets on which analyst gets the first question.

With that, the team and I are happy to take your questions. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take our first question from Marie Fort of Bernstein.

Thanks, Gonzalve, for this last conference call and I would say [Foreign Language] for you.

I've got several questions. The first one is on earnings. Could you tell us what the impact was the contribution to EBIT, to adjusted EBIT of Tangle Teezer? Second question is about lighters and to better understand what explains the kind of rebound in Q2 sales.

Thirdly, it's about inventories. In which category did you build inventories? I suspect it should be stationery, but I would be curious to know the reason for this increase. And lastly, how do you explain the resilience of the operating margin for the stationery division on the back of strong organic decline -- sales decline?

Thanks. So for the first question on Tangle Teezer, in H1, Tangle Teezer was slightly margin accretive. For the full year, we expect it to contribute slightly to the group's margin. And then in '26 and beyond, we expect it to continue to be margin accretive.

Thank you for your comments. Lighter in Q2 sequentially improved. And I think part of that is definitely rebuilding of strategic inventories by some of our clients. I think we had said in the first quarter that some of them had run them down. I don't see anything particularly different from that. Nobody is arbitrating or trying to time the system there.

I would, in addition to that, call out the really great job that the North American team has done from a visibility and impact perspective as well as some of the more innovative digital campaigns that drove some of the sales on the limited edition and utility lighters.

For the question on HE margin, yes, it was pretty resilient given the headwinds we faced. We did have higher raw material costs, unfavorable currency fluctuations, and of course we did have difficult performance in Rocketbook. But we were able to offset that through favorable price/mix, lower operating expenses and manufacturing efficiencies.

Okay. And then lastly, I think there was a question regarding the inventory levels. Most of that is due to the seasonality that we experienced in back-to-school on the Human Expression side. We started a little bit later this year from some of our customer fulfillment, and we expect that to bleed out as we get into H2.

They asked for fulfillment later.

Yes. Yes.

It wasn't us delayed. It was the market asking. Yes.

Yes.

We will now take our next question from Cedric Rossi of Stifel.

So first of all, wishing you all the best to Gonzalve and welcome to Rob.

I've got three questions. The first one is, could you come back on the -- I was curious to have your view on the retailers mood, especially in North America ahead of the back-to-school season. So we have seen some retailers saying that they won't increase prices on stationary for back-to-school. So I was also curious to have your view on the order side of this business. And how do you expect the back-to-school season to occur in the U.S.?

The second question is to come back on Tangle Teezer. So a strong operational performance in H1. I was also curious to have your view on what are the next steps in terms of integration for the second half of the year? And are you enlarging the distribution globally? Or would you open up new categories and so on?

And the third one is on the FX. So what are your expectations for the second half of the year? So it has been a strong headwind to margin in H1. So I was also happy to have your view on the second half of the year.

Thanks, Cedric. Great questions. So I'm not an analyst, so I don't comment retailer statements. What I can tell you about non-food retail and specific to seasonal non-food retail is what I said in my prepared remarks, right, which is consumers are cautious. They're fickle. The wallet is tight, and so they're going to be looking for value for sure.

The good news is, and you all have covered us for long enough to know, that these plans were put in place 9 to 12 months ago. So it's really down to execution in-store, which I know that all our retail partners are hard at work on making sure that they're switching from summer barbecue to back-to-school before they set out Halloween. But when I look at the different in-store campaigns and marketing communication vehicles that the teams have fielded in all our top strategic markets, I'm confident that we'll deliver a very solid result this year. So I'm not particularly worried about that.

Tangle Teezer, I mean that team is doing super well. I was there a few weeks ago actually with Rob. That was my third kind of business review on integration this year with them. I'm really pleased both from a people, process, technology and outlook perspective. The brand has performed really well in H1, ahead of the market with double-digit growth and doing some incredible things, especially in the U.K., kind of their home market where we test things, but the U.S. also strong.

In my prepared remarks, I talked about the Ultimate Detangler and the new Chrome and plant brushes that we're excited about. 2025 is really about bedding this in and making sure that it's solid to continue to grow double digit in '26. So really, really pleased with that.

Cedric, on the FX outlook, we expect a continued unfavorable impact largely due to the USD, the real and the Mexican peso. On a net sales perspective, we expect it to be 350 to 400 basis points unfavorable for the year.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take our next question from Alessandro Cuglietta of Kepler.

Just a quick question on the benefit from price mix in H1. Maybe can you help us, I mean, quantify the benefit from that? It's mentioned multiple times in the release. And how much remains to be captured or how much that could be a tailwind for H2?

Alessandro, price mix was favorable in all three categories and about 50% in the first half, and then we'll expect 50% of that in the second half. It's pretty balanced throughout the year.

Thank you. There are no further questions in queue. I will now hand it back to Gonzalve Bich for final remarks.

So again, guys, thank you so much for all these years of -- I'm not going to say partnership, but gently ribbing me when it was necessary, pushing us and all the partnership for helping the investment community understand the company where it is, its performance and trajectory. And you can't see me, but I'm heartily clapping Rob on the back and wishing him well. So this is my final sign off, and you'll be talking to him and Chris and Brice late October for our Q3. Thanks very much, and have a great day.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.