The General Meeting adopted all the resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors, notably:
- the payment of a dividend of €0.75 per share in respect of 2020, with the option of receiving payment of the entire dividend in new shares (see press release at edenred.com);
- Edenred’s transformation into a European Company (Societas Europaeas – SE);
- the renewal of the terms of office of Françoise Gri and Sylvia Coutinho as directors;
- the appointment of Angeles Garcia-Poveda, Monica Mondardini and Philippe Vallée as directors.
The Board of Directors now has 14 members, including two employee-representative directors. It includes five women appointed by the General Meeting (representing 41.6% of its shareholder-appointed members) and the proportion of independent directors is more than 91% (11/12) based on the calculation method in the AFEP-MEDEF Code, which excludes employee-representative directors. Directors whose names are followed by an asterisk (*) are independent directors:
- Jean-Paul Bailly*
- Sylvia Coutinho*
- Dominique D’Hinnin*
- Bertrand Dumazy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
- Gabriele Galateri di Genola*
- Angeles Garcia-Poveda*
- Maëlle Gavet*
- Graziella Gavezotti, employee-representative director
- Françoise Gri*, Lead Independent Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Jean-Bernard Hamel, employee-representative director
- Alexandre de Juniac*
- Jean-Romain Lhomme*
- Monica Mondardini*
- Philippe Vallée*
As the terms of office of Sylvia Coutinho and Françoise Gri were renewed by the General Meeting, the Board of Directors confirmed:
- Françoise Gri’s position as Lead Independent Director, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Compensation and Appointments Committee; and
- Sylvia Coutinho’s position as member of the Compensation and Appointments Committee.
The Board of Directors, on the recommendation of the Compensation and Appointments Committee, also appointed Jean-Bernard Hamel as a member of the Commitments Committee.
Enrich connections. For Good.
During the Meeting, Bertrand Dumazy spoke of Edenred’s long-standing commitment to social, societal and environmental issues. This commitment is reflected both in the Group’s CSR policy, known as “Ideal”, and in the fact that the solutions it provides encourage more responsible behavior in the world of work. The Group also presented to shareholders its diversity and gender balance initiatives, as well as its talent attraction and development actions.
Lastly, Edenred unveiled its purpose – “Enrich connections. For good.” – and the related commitments (see press release dated May 11, 2021).
Growth potential intact more than a year after Covid’s emergence
The Meeting was also an opportunity for the Group’s management to look back on the 2020 financial year, during which all Edenred teams demonstrated an exemplary level of commitment and agility. While the pandemic was severely disrupting economies around the world, Edenred posted a solid financial performance. The Group showed resilience at the height of the crisis, then demonstrated a strong capacity to rebound from the middle of the year, even delivering operating revenue organic growth in the second half. This trend continued in the first quarter of 2021, when all business lines and regions were back to organic growth.
With this performance, Edenred has shown that its growth potential remains intact, as does its ability to continue expanding in still largely underpenetrated markets. Leveraging its agility, dynamic sales momentum and innovation, the Group offers solutions that meet essential needs for people at work and cater to structural trends, such as the development of remote working, digitalization, the emergence of more responsible behaviors and digitalized payment, all of which have accelerated with the pandemic.
Thanks to its digital platform, Edenred has also developed specific-purpose payment solutions – in some cases in record time – to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the most vulnerable communities in several countries. Examples cited at the Meeting included the United Kingdom, where the Group digitally distributed funds earmarked for food on behalf of the Department for Education to 1.3 million British children who usually receive a free school lunch, and Romania, where Edenred manages digital meal subsidies for people over 75 in need.
A replay of the General Meeting, as well as the detailed results of the votes, can be accessed on Edenred’s website (www.edenred.com, Investors/Shareholders section, then General Meeting). A summary will be available online shortly.
