Bureau Veritas Sa

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to everyone. Thank you for joining us for our full year 2025 results. I'm joined by François Chabat, our Group CFO. In keeping with our solid plan execution, 2025 delivered sector-leading organic growth and strong margin progression. In the second year of our Leap 28 strategy, we delivered results fully aligned with our ambition to accelerate growth and enhance returns. During the year, we implemented our new organization, which is now accelerating strategy execution across our geographic platforms and product lines. Our results reflect a strengthened portfolio, the tangible impact of our performance programs, and efficient capital allocation. I'm proud of our leaders and their teams' contributions across the world and of the consistency in delivery in a fast-changing market. Let me start with our financial highlights for the year. 2025 was the second year of our LEAP28 strategy, and we continue to gain traction across all pillars. We delivered 6.5% organic revenue growth, including 6.3% in the last quarter of the year. Adjusted operating margin of 16.3%, up 32 basis points year-on-year and 51 basis points at constant currency. Adjusted earning per share is up 2.8% on a reported basis and 9.2% at constant currency. Free cash flow of $824 million with a very strong 107% cash conversion. At Constant Currency, we deliver double-digit shareholder returns. For 2025, we will propose a cash dividend of $0.92 per share, up 2% versus last year. It is fully in line with our 65% payout ratio. Finally, as we have done in the last two years, we will be issuing a new 200 million share buyback program to increase shareholder returns. Moving now to our revenue performance by business and geography. Across the portfolio, our organic growth was supported by strong momentum in energy, the continued buildup of digital infrastructure, and rising demand for corporate and enterprise risk assessment solutions. This sector-leading growth reflects the attractive mix of our strengthened portfolio. Industry, certification and marine and offshore delivered the strongest performance, growing from high single-digit to double-digit organically. The rest of the portfolio grew in the mid-single-digit range, with some activities benefiting from very powerful structural drivers. In BNI and infrastructure, data centers were up 30% organically year on year. In industry, energy-related activities were up 13.9%. In commodities, metals and minerals were up 9.2%. From a geographical perspective, strong organic growth across all regions. The Americas grew by 4%, supported by sustained energy spend and expanding data centers. Our momentum in Europe continues with 4.1% organic growth, largely above GDP growth. Asia-Pacific reported 8.2% organic growth with broad-based expansion across Asia and Australasia. And our fastest growing region was the Middle East and Africa, up 16.6%, benefiting from major infrastructure programs and sustained energy investments. I would like to report now on the progress of our CSR programs. In health and safety, continuous prevention programs further reduced our accident rate versus last year. On decarbonization, we further reduced our scope one and two emissions by 7% year on year. This is fully in line with our science-based target initiative expectations. For gender diversity, steady progress with our ongoing program. In 2025, we improved or maintained all our major non-financial ratings, confirming Bureau Veritas' leadership. We raised our EcoVadis score to 80 out of 100 and obtained the top 5% distinction in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2026. Let's now move to the business highlights. I will start with Marine and Offshore. The division delivered a very strong performance in 25, with 14.3% organic growth. This marks the third year in a row of double-digit organic revenue growth. These results were driven by the ongoing renewal and modernization of the global fleet and the expansion of specialized vessels. Looking at it by segment, new construction delivered high double-digit growth from accelerated shipyard deliveries and capacity expansion, particularly in China and Korea. In 2025, we secured 14.4 million gross tons of new orders, bringing the backlog to 33.5 gross tons, up 23% year-on-year. Core-in-service achieved mid-to-high single-digit growth, largely driven by increased volumes and some pricing. At year-end, we serviced more than 12,300 chips. Marina North Shore continues to invest in new solutions to support our clients' energy transition. In Qatar, we opened a global gas center of excellence, supporting LNG projects worldwide through our global technical network. Looking at our agri-food and commodities, this business delivered 3.7% organic growth this year. In oil and petrochemicals, performance remained resilient in challenging market conditions. Non-trade activities grew strongly, supported by increased demand for biofuels, marine fuels and sustainable aviation fuel, and also from new lab capabilities. Metals and minerals delivered high single-digit organic growth driven by increasing projects in copper and gold, and by the expansion of our lab network specifically in Chile. In agri-food, we are completing the pivot of our portfolio with the sale of our food testing business in 2025. This divestment will be accretive to the divisional margin on a 12-month basis. In industry, the division delivered 8.9% organic growth in 2025. We are a key player in the industry segment, a 1.4 billion division predominantly exposed to energy and energy adjacent sectors. This performance reflects robust market dynamics supported by strong energy sector investments as countries continue to secure energy supply, decarbonize and transform their energy mix. The evolution of the portfolio is ongoing, with acquisitions supporting the new strongholds of renewable and low-carbon energy services. By segment, oil and gas deliver double-digit organic growth, driven by new projects particularly in gas and in major resource-holding regions. Geographically, the Middle East, Africa and Asia have sustained investments in new oil and gas fields. Power and utilities maintain double-digit growth. This was supported by investments in renewables and nuclear as electricity demand accelerates on the back of data center expansions and national electrification programs. Geographically, strong momentum across North America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. In terms of transition services and green objects revenue streams, in the Middle East, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with Masdar, an Abu Dhabi clean energy company, to help shape renewables and green energy standards in the region. We were also awarded a contract to support a client's first renewable energy project combining solar generation and battery energy storage in the United States. Moving on to buildings and infrastructure, we delivered 5.2% organic growth in 2025, including a strong 8% in the fourth quarter. Today, BNI represents 2 billion euros in revenue, a clear leader in the sector. 2025 was a strong year for our portfolio expansion, with successful integrations, particularly the APP Group in Australia, and further portfolio streamlining, including the divestment of non-core construction technical supervision business in China. Growth for BNI at constant currency was at a high 11.6%. Our CAPEX activities delivered high single-digit growth, fueled by data center commissioning projects across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and supported by recent acquisitions that are already accelerating organic growth. OPEX activities remained resilient, underpinned by the structural need for environmental measurements and energy efficiency audits. Infrastructure delivers steady growth. It now represents 20% of the divisional revenue. This was supported by government-led spending in Europe and major rail and terminal programs in North America. Major infrastructure investments are also ongoing in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. We are expanding our services for green objects in BNI. We secured a multi-year contract for a new battery gigafactory in Spain. In transition services for this division, we delivered a large-scale decarbonisation programme for a European fitness chain. Moving to certification. In this division, we delivered a strong performance in 2025 with 7.9% organic growth for the year, with an acceleration at 8.4% in the fourth quarter. The certification business benefits from increased needs for assurance, decarbonization, supply chain resilience, and cybersecurity solutions. This business represents many opportunities to innovate and create new schemes for customers as they pursue their own business plans. A number of acquisitions were completed in the last 18 months are expanding this portfolio in sustainability and cyber. Growth at constant currency in certification was up double digit. Looking by segment, QHSC, quality health, safety in the environment and specialized schemes grew at a high single digit rate, supported by robust activity in most regions and very strong demand for food safety certifications. Sustainability and digital certification recorded double-digit organic growth. This was fueled by rising demands for carbon and greenhouse gas verification, supply chain ESG audits, and upcoming regulatory requirements such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism. During the year, we secured several important transition services contracts, ranging from large-scale ESG audits for a global aerospace manufacturer to a decarbonisation roadmap for a major Middle Eastern energy company. We also secured a contract to support the cybersecurity workstream for autonomous military land vehicles for the European Commission. Lastly, looking at consumer product services, the division delivered 3.7% organic growth in 2025, including 2.6% in the fourth quarter against very tough comparable. Performance was supported by accelerated sourcing shifts away from China, with South and Southeast Asia leading growth, while Latin and Central America began to benefit from recent investments. This division is navigating a diversification strategy for the last two years, culminating in the acquisition of nine companies. These additions contributed to the expansion of our services in new geographies, in new sectors, and with new services, helping essentially pivot this portfolio circa 10% towards higher growth elements. In January, we completed the acquisition of Spin360 in Italy, strengthening our sustainability, testing and certification capabilities for luxury brands. By segment, soft lines, hard lines and toys delivered low to mid single digit organic growth with a front loaded first half of the year and a normalized half to a sourcing shifts gradually took place. Supply chain and sustainability services achieved double digit organic growth driven by strong demand for supply chain resilience services and social audits amid sourcing changes in Asia. For the technology segment, it delivered stable organic growth supported by diversification with contribution from acquired companies of setting softer wireless and automotive activities. On the electrical consumer goods and appliances front, sourcing shifts enabled growth in our central and South American business, contributing to a robust performance. Finally, transition services continue to expand as we supported client sustainability programs, including full decarbonization support for a leading sportswear brand and a large-scale social audit program for a global technology company, therefore reinforcing transparent and responsible supply chains. I will now hand over to François for the financial review.

Thank you, Inda. Thank you very much. Good afternoon to everyone. So let me now turn to our financial performance and to the sustained momentum we delivered in growth and in returns. So as it has been already briefly presented to you, 2025 was once again a solid year for the group. marked by robust and broad-based organic revenue growth, 6.5% across the year. This growth translated into strong profitability with a reported adjusted operating margin of 16.3%, up 32 basis points in a reported manner. At constant currency, we expanded our adjusted operating margin by 51 basis points. We take the advantage of higher operating leverage programs and continued progress on functional scalability initiatives. Bottom line, the adjusted EPS reached 1.42 euro, up 9.2% at constant currency. The company will propose as a consequence a further increase in its dividend at 92 cents. It is payable in full in cash as usual. Turning to cash generation, free cash flow amounted to 824 million euros. It includes a couple of one-off effects linked to the disposal of our fault testing business, notably the tax cash out on the capital gain. Excluding this transaction, free cash flow increased even by close to 4% year-on-year. On the next page, we sum up a little bit the last few years when it comes to since the start of our plan. So as you've seen, we continue to deliver consistently on the long-term objective. For several years in a row, we have delivered consistently at or above high single-digit revenue growth at constant currency each and every year. This is a mix of organic growth and a positive net scope effect from acquisition and divestment together. It reflects our commitment to active portfolio management. Since the start of the plan, we have rotated almost 10% of our portfolio, taking into account both acquisition and divestment combined. In terms of profitability, the ongoing execution of our program produced measurable improvements in operating leverage and functional scalability. This led to meeting expectations for both reported adjusted operating margins as well as constant currency margins. On the cash front, right below, cash conversion exceeded expectations, reaching 107% this year, mainly driven by a further reduction of working capital as a percentage of revenue by another 100 basis points compared to 2024. And as you see, we've delivered 3.7% at the end of 2025. Returns now, expressed at constant currency, including dividends, adjusted earnings per shares, and the benefit coming from the €200 million share buyback program, have met or exceeded projections each and every year. Including negative foreign exchange impacts, returns were maintained at high single-digit levels. Let me now deep dive into the revenue for 25. We delivered almost 6.5 billion in 25, corresponding to a 3.6% growth on a reported basis. Organic stood at 6.5, supported by strong business fundamentals and increased demands in energy, digital infrastructure, and risk assessment solutions. Bolton acquisition close in past quarters contributed 2.9%, almost 3% to the growth. This was partially offset by the divestment of the food testing business as part of our active portfolio management. Factoring in those M&A components together, the net scope effect was 0.8% on a full year basis. Currency fluctuations negatively impacted revenue by 3.7%, mainly due to the euro strength against most currencies, especially US dollar, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, and the renminbi. Now, if we take a closer look at our business and how they perform in 25, you see here both the organic growth and the scope component of the growth. All divisions grew well, with several delivering very strong performance, including scope effects for businesses posted double-digit growth, reflecting both solid organic traction and the impact of our discipline M&A bolt-on executions. Let me briefly walk you through those segments. M&O, Marine Offshore, delivered double-digit organic revenue growth. Industry grew by a single digit, powered by strong global demand for energy solutions. Oil and gas, renewable, nuclear, all delivered double-digit growth in 2025. Building infrastructure and certification also reached double-digit growth at constant currency, boosted by last year and this year acquisitions in sustainability, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. which contributed respectively 6% and 3% to the growth of each segment. Consumer products, we just touched upon, delivered mid-single digit growth at constant currency, with a solid organic performance at 3.7% and a scope contribution at 1.7%. Finally, agri-food and commodities posted low to mid-single digit organic growth, mainly driven by metals and minerals, partially offset by the divestment of our food testing activity, which is now fully completed, So overall, this broadband performance highlights the strengths and the active pivoting of our portfolio. It's part and parcel of our Leap 28 strategy and commitment to the investors. If we now turn to the margin bridge. Before going to the basis points and the percentage, let me share with you that for the first time in Bueta's history, we crossed the 1 billion adjusted operating profit mark, which we are all very proud collectively. On a reported basis, we delivered a strong 32 basis point margin improvement, closing the year at 16.3. It is another year of disciplined execution and operational leverage. Organically, we delivered a strong 74 basis point improvement driven by operating leverage, the benefit of our 2024 restructuring, and tight cost discipline. Scope at a negative impact of 23 basis points, reflecting the investment made to scale our newly acquired businesses. At constant currency, our 51 margin uplift is very solid. Aligned with our LEAP commitments, we aim at delivering consistent margin progression year on year. If we look now at our divisional margin performance for the year 2025, starting with marine offshore, we held a strong margin at 23.4%, essentially stable year-on-year, with organic improvement bringing 67 basis points of improvement and offset by currency headwinds. Agri-food and commodities delivered a notable uplift to 15.1% of margin, up more than 100 basis points, driven essentially by very strong organic improvement, plus 122 basis points, and the continued dynamic of our metal and mineral segment. Scope-wise, we expect the full benefit of the food testing divestment to positively impact 2026, as this divestment took place throughout the year 2025. in different momentum. Building infrastructure posted a strong increase to 13.6% at up 81 basis points, Robust organic leverage, plus 138, and the first sign of our performance programs are starting here to materialize. On the same note, consumer products continue to strengthen, reaching 22.4% of margin, here again supported by 55 basis points of improvement on an organic manner. On the other side, certification ended at 18.2%, down 138 basis points, reflecting investment to scale our sustainability and cybersecurity acquisitions. Organically, however, margins remain broadly stable. And finally, industry closed at 13.9%, down 52 basis points, with organic decline limited to 21 basis points. So it is mainly driven by a change of mix due to project delays at your hand. Looking now at other financial metrics. On the bottom line, our adjusted earnings per share continued to grow regularly. It was up 9% at constant currency. This evolution has been driven by the incremental operating profits, up 11.2% at constant currency as well. Net financial expenses increased year on year, reaching $116 million in 2025, compared to roughly $70 million in the prior year. This evolution is mainly driven by lower income on cash and cash equivalent, reflecting the change in cash levels and decrease in interest rates versus 2024. On the tax front, our adjusted effective tax rate continues to normalize downwards. We closed the year now at 30%, 50 basis points below last year, despite, for the specialists, the exceptional French corporate tax contribution that we've supported in 2025. Turning to cash generation, another year of reduction of our working capital needs, of our revenue, as you can see on the chart on the right-hand side. Buentas is now well set below the 5% threshold. Let's remember that not so long ago, the working cap of our revenue used to be at 9% and above, so it reflects our constant attention to free cash generation and to cash discipline in general. Overall, free cash flow amounted to 824 million, slightly below the record level achieved last year. It takes into account some one-off effects linked to the disposal of the food testing business, notably the tax cash out and the capital gain. As I mentioned in the introduction, excluding this transaction, free cash increased by close to 4% year-on-year. Now, I would like to summarize for you what we have done in terms of capital allocation in 2025. First, on M&A, we've invested 162 million euros in nine acquisitions and completed two divestments in line with the strategy to optimize the Buetas portfolio. Year-to-date, 2026 this time, we have already added three more acquisitions. On CapEx, we stayed very disciplined with a ratio of 2% of our revenue. In 2026, we expect to remain within the leap 2028 range and get somewhat closer to the 2.5% to 3%. that we had announced during the capital market day. Our leverage is at 1.1 times. At the low end of our guidance, as you can see, we have significant headroom to accelerate our M&A agenda while returning cash to shareholders at the same time. Speaking of returns, after completing our €200 million share buyback in 2025, we are now launching a new €200 million programme. This reflects both our confidence in the prospects of the company and the resilience of the business model of Bureau of Etas. So overall, Bureau of Etas delivered another year of strong financial results, and I want to thank all our team for their continued commitment and performance quarter after quarter. With that, I hand it over back to Inda for an update on our Lib 28 strategy.

Thank you, Francois. I'll start with a few highlights on the major secular trends shaping our markets. From early on in this decade, megatrends included urbanization. We talked about connectivity and digitalization, energy transition, increased ESG compliance expectations, and the gradual evolution at the time of supply chains following the COVID shock. You fast forward to last year, 2025, the picture has evolved. The technology race we are witnessing in this age of intelligence will have a profound impact on re-industrialization and urbanization. In addition, the rapid development of AI and the associated needs in computing capacity and data storage are feeding a massive build-up phase for data centers and all related ships and equipments, to take a few examples. This is also creating an unprecedented demand for electrical power. Therefore, energy supply worries are mounting, driving developments of all energy sources from fossil fuels to new forms of energy. Finally, we are seeing a shift for organizations, both private and public, from a compliance-driven approach to sustainability to a risk-based approach that aims to protect their reputation, their brand, and their competitive advantage. I believe that these developing trends support a consistently growing and accessible market for our services and solutions. Now, from a LEAP28 strategy execution angle, looking at the portfolio, if you recall, our portfolio strategy is about refocusing on key leadership markets, both existing ones and future ones. It is about an active portfolio management approach. Here we are gaining traction. Since the start of the plan in 24, we have acquired businesses totaling €279 million in annualized revenue and divested €202 million of non-core activities. These transactions are progressively reshaping our revenue stream. Overall, and François mentioned it, after two years, we have pivoted circa 10% of our original portfolio mix. From a mixed perspective, New Strongholds is leading the growth with 19.8% revenue growth at constant currency, supported by both organic momentum and targeted M&A, where scaling capabilities in renewables and cybersecurity. Second, our expanded leadership stream covering our activities and certification in BNI delivered 9.4% growth at constant currency since we onboarded significant acquisitions in BNI and some in certification as well. Finally, as expected, the optimized value and impact businesses are growing at an aggregate rate of 3.1% at constant currency, reflecting the divestment of our non-core food testing activities. These businesses constitute half of our portfolio today and are essential to our cash generation and baseline growth. Turning now to the performance and on the performance-led execution side, our performance programs are progressing well, both in terms of creating operating leverage and getting some functional scalability. In line with Leap 28 roadmap, our margins have continuously improved over the last two years, both at constant currency and as reported. In 24, we improved our adjusted operating margin by 38 basis points. And in 25, we improved again with an additional 51 basis points, both at constant currency. This steady year-on-year improvement is also enabling investments in new production systems and digitalization programs. So in summary, we're pleased with the progress of our performance programs, and we intend to continue on this structural margin improvement path. A third update I would like to share is about our new operating model implementation that is essentially taking took place early this year from January 2026. This organization intends to simplify our operating model through the rationalization of our geographical platforms. It will also integrate and connect product lines into the regions. The intention is very clear. It is to better leverage our client proximity to maximize our sales as we consistently scale our product line services and solution. This new structure will allow us to take advantage of our company scale, both from a geographical and expertise perspective. We'll also speed up decision making, capturing additional opportunities and accelerating innovations. We intend to make a step change in growth and performance through increased cross-selling and global coordination of opportunities. To ensure the success of this organization, we have also introduced a new short-term incentive package for managers that formalizes common objectives between different parts of the new operating model. I would like now to spend some time exploring our approach to AI. The role of a third-party independent and impartial organisation like Bureau Veritas remains critical to secure trust in any commercial or trade transaction. Bureau Veritas builds on its equity of almost 200 years of trust brokerage. The value proposition of our company resides in its ability to assess physical assets, to test actual products in accredited labs, and to certify projects and systems with no interference. This is achieved through qualified and accredited experts within a regulatory or quality infrastructure framework. Now we believe AI represents multiple opportunities for the company. We look at them in two ways. On the one hand, there are opportunities in existing services. On the other hand, others exist through our new ways of working and new services. First, let me start with the existing services and markets. The buildup of the infrastructure ecosystem to feed AI needs is spurring unprecedented investments in data centers and specialized manufacturing. Bureau Veritas is uniquely positioned to benefit from these investments. We have established a leadership position in data center commissioning and quality assurance and control, working with leading hyperscalers and other growing data center players around the world. The insatiable need for electrical power from data centers is triggering increased investments in all types of energy sources and energy infrastructure. We will benefit from this trend as we build on our unmatched global footprint and capabilities in oil and gas and other forms and expand it into renewables and low carbon energy. This AI dynamic is also contributing to the development of new supply chains that need to be deployed fast and that must be assessed to manage and mitigate risks. Bureau Veritas has robust expertise in supporting customers as they shift their sourcing and redesign their supply chain. Let me now to the second part and where we see the opportunities. And those are in our ways of working and in creating new services. First, the rapidly developing capabilities of LLM models and agentic AI are opening new possibilities to transform our ways of working, creating substantial gains in efficiency and productivity. Additionally, these technologies will impact customer service quality, profoundly changing their experience and increasing the stickiness of our services. At Bureau Veritas, we are accelerating the implementation of such technologies. We have been rolling out a new production system and certification since mid-2025. This will be the first product line to be transformed. Second, the integration of AI into customer workflows and organizations requires them to verify and validate that these AI models are fully aligned with their values and policies, compliant with their legal frameworks, and respond to their customers' and other stakeholders' expectations. Bureau Veritas today is building capabilities for AI assurance to address these needs. especially as the regulatory landscape around AI assurance evolves every day. Finally, Bureau Veritas conducts over 10,000 inspections or assessment of assets, products, projects, or systems every single day, generating hundreds of terabytes of data per year. In addition, our experts have a full understanding of our customers' equipments, workflows, and assets lifecycle. Through this knowledge, we believe there is an opportunity to help them impact their performance. As an example, for our industrial customers, maximizing the uptime of their operating facilities is a major challenge. They manage equipment from different manufacturers and juggle with maintenance priorities. They must optimize the fully integrated system. In combining our deep knowledge of their facilities with the data collected, we can integrate AI technologies to pinpoint vulnerabilities that can then optimize their uptime and their facility performance. This is an exciting journey for us. One, we are starting with a sense of positive urgency and we will be reporting on our progress regularly. Moving now to the outlook. And looking ahead to 2026, we enter the third year of FLIP28 with confidence. Our markets are strong, supported by increased energy investments, rapidly urbanizing countries, and a massive digital infrastructure buildup. The ongoing technology and defense race and increasing risk management and mitigation needs are acceleration factors. Continuing our sector-leading trajectory of growth we expect to deliver in 2026, mid-to-high single-digit organic revenue growth, continued adjusted margin improvement at constant currency. As usual, we remain committed to a strong cash flow generation while we deploy our capital allocation program. We will be expanding our capabilities through acquisitions. We will accelerate the integration of AI in our workflows, and we will deploy CapEx in growth markets. Moving to summarize, 2025, our second year of leap 28, shows the impact of our strategy and the consistent execution of our plans. We delivered sector-leading growth and strong margin expansion, underpinned by structural performance programs and the ongoing transformation of our portfolio. The secular trends I have discussed earlier are structurally supporting our served markets growth. The energy sector massive transformation, the ongoing and rapidly moving urbanization, the AI-driven buildup of the intelligence infrastructure, and the evolving supply chains are feeding sustained demand for our services in this period of rapid change. Our portfolio rotation is also accelerating. Since the start of the plan, we have already rotated around 10% of the portfolio, and in line with our Leap 28 strategy, we intend to double that in the next 12 months. This is a shift toward businesses with higher growth, higher margin, and stronger strategic relevance, while exiting non-core activities with limited potential. At the same time, we continue to invest in innovation and in capabilities that enhance differentiation and enable long-term growth. Finally, we remain committed to superior shareholder returns. With the dividend increase and the launch of our third share buyback since the start of the plan, we are demonstrating both confidence in our strategy and an efficient capital allocation. Before opening for the Q&A session, I wanted to share that we will be looking forward to welcoming you to our Capital Market Days on September 22nd in Paris. We will update you on the next phase of our LEAP 28 strategy. Thank you. And now Francois and I are happy to take your questions.

Thank you very much, ma'am. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask an audio question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Please also ensure that your line is not muted until I reach your equipment. So there's star 1 for questions. Our very first question today is coming from Annelies van Meulen of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Good afternoon, Hinda and Francois. I have two questions, please.

So, firstly, on data centres, which I think saw a strong acceleration in Q4, was that mainly in the US or was it relatively broad-based? And perhaps could you talk a little bit about how you estimate your market share of new data centre commissioning? Do you think you have a number one position in most of your end markets? And how your expectations for data centre growth are shaping your growth outlook for BNI in 2026, i.e., can we expect further acceleration? And then second question was just on AI. So thank you for the additional color on AI for Bureau Veritas. I was just wondering if we could put some numbers around this. So when you look at slide 21, for example, when you talk about performance improvements, where do you think that that comes from? Do you think it means you can keep headcount flat while continuing to grow mid to high single digit organic through productivity improvements? And if you could talk about which divisions or sort of service lines you see the biggest opportunity for those efficiency gains driven by AI, that would be helpful. Thank you.

Thank you, Annalise. Thank you for the questions. Look, the data centers, the market itself, the spend, if you look at the spend of the hyperscalers and others, is actually growing double digit in the low teens. We have been growing and we made no secret about it. Double digit, a strong or a high double digit. So the growth has been actually global. The U.S., of course, there is a major spend in the U.S. Europe is also growing. Asia Pacific is also growing. So I would say those are the key top regions with the U.S., of course, having the lion's share of the growth. So data centers expectation that it will continue to grow. I would say double digit on the high end, really high double digit. And I'm expecting that, of course, that will carry part of the growth in BNI. Now, BNI, you know, it's no surprise that data centers are are boosting the growth in BNI. We were very explicit in leap 28 strategy and we made it very clear that part of our investment, expansion of portfolios to develop capabilities in essentially activities in complex buildings like data centers, like other specialized manufacturing. So it's not a surprise that a lot of that growth is carried by those and we continue to hunt for such activities. So BNI will continue to benefit from that. But there are also other growth areas for BNI. Infrastructure is growing healthily. We are growing geographically in newer regions, what we tend to call emerging markets. The United States is also growing in different activities. And there is a dynamic between the different regions that is contributing to the BNI growth. On the AI side, sorry, you had also another question there. You have multiple questions in the first one at least. So on the commissioning position, look, there are very few specialists commissioning and doing QA, QC on data centers. We are the largest player. There are, of course, others who insource the work. Very few and tend to be some EPCs mostly. Very few really data center owners do that because they really need the expertise. So I would I would say conservatively say we're we're the top player in the specialists serving the market. The second question is on AI. Look, we really are very, very, very committed to implement AI and benefit from the efficiency and productivity gain. We think these are use cases that are very clear. It's a matter of implementing them and scaling them consistently. And I would say quickly. So in term of performance improvement, I'm not going to be able to give you specifically right now the numbers. But this is something we are looking at and working on very closely. And, you know, the reason we are very, in a way, strong and bullish about the value is the fact that today we're seeing many use cases that are very clear, right? On a baseline level of AI, you can automate so many tasks that our people spend time on. That's gains in personal productivity. It's also gains in full-on productivity that can actually benefit the customer in terms of turnaround time on their requests or on their service. So so the productivity and the efficiency we are envisaging today could apply to many businesses. I gave you an example of certification only because it's a business that we have profound. We're profoundly changing how we will work there by massively investing in in a new production system and reviewing products. systematically all the workflows and automating them. We are, for example, today, we have a very, I would say, near-term to mid-term target to have over half of our certification admin work essentially automated, right? So there are many, many things we're working on. But certification is an example. I can give you many others. Inspection services is a great example where we can use AI for efficiency and productivity. And the intention here is because we're pursuing growth, this is about doing more with our people. It's really about freeing our people so they can spend more of their time on productive tasks so we can grow our business, grow our volumes very, very efficiently.

That's great. Thank you very much. And yes, apologies. It was more like two and a half questions. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, if your question has been answered, you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star 2. We'll now move to Suhasini Varanasi of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. Just a couple from me, please. One is on margins. Given that you've completed the disposal of the food business, can you help us understand the scale of the margin benefit? in that particular division for 2026. And similarly, when we think about the drag from M&A scope effect in certification, how should we think about the drag from that scope effect in 2026? When does it, let's say, fall away, the effects in that particular division? That would be the first one. And I think just on your marine division, Can you help us understand what your expectations are for 2026, please? You've obviously had a very strong double-digit growth here in 25. And I know we've talked a lot about normalization of growth. Just wanted to get the latest sense here. Thank you.

Thanks. Good to hear from you, Suassini. Thank you. I'm going to let François comment on the margins, and then I'll answer you on Marine.

Hi, Suassini. So on the food testing that we've divested, so this business was having a margin lower than the group average. I could answer to you very simply, but actually the answer is a bit more tricky. We've divested this business in trenches. We've had actually 11 different... divestment, 11 different countries, to speak plainly, that we sold between December 24 and August 25. So the exact number will be tough to assess, but one is positive to group margin, and we could say a couple of basis points, a bit more, at group margin level for 2026. So it's not a step change. It is more positive on the division, of course, group-wise, few basis points. When it comes to the second question on the M&A dilutive or the scope dilutive contribution to certification, I think it's important to come back to what we said in March 24. The LEAP plan is not only a plan of pure financial performance, it's financial performance and investment at the same time. And in this segment, certification, what we are building, we are building solutions we are supposed to and capable to scale beyond that domestic market. So we've made a couple of acquisitions with strong position in their native market, home market, and we actually grow them outside their comfort zone to be within a wider area, whether it is Europe for one or the whole of the U.S. for the other. And these come with a cost, and I think we make no mystery that we are investing So this is what is happening in 2025 that will resolve in 2026, of course, as it will be payback time.

Thanks, Francois. On the Marine Division, so seeing on the growth, you're absolutely correct. We had expectation that the growth would have moderated probably from last year, simply on the assumption that the shipyards would would have taken longer time to reach basically maximum, I would say, throughput. Usually when you, particularly if you open shipyards that were mothballed for a while, it does take time for them to come up to speed. And the capacity was building up gradually for the last few years, right? Actually, we were pleasantly surprised that they were much, much better at ramping up than in past, if you like, in past times or in past years. And therefore, the throughput was much faster. And that's really where that growth came in. It really came for the new construction. Very, very good cadence that allowed us to convert our backlog very quickly. Now, as we look forward, first of all, our backlog I mentioned earlier is 35, is over 30 million gross done, 23% year-on-year growth. We have a very comfortable and solid backlog. We have a very good team in place that has been doing all this great work. Really, we have everything with us and the shipyards are progressing, but we have reached that capacity. Now, I am not necessarily able to say will there be many new shipyards that can open and come up to speed very quickly or not. And therefore, with everything we know today, we think there will be moderation. Of the growth from essentially from the 14 percent you've seen to something in the in the high single digit. This is how we think about mid to high single digit. It all depends whether the shipyards can move much faster or can be much more productive than what we thought. But today, that's the I guess the limited visibility we have. It's the one time that I will say I hope I'm wrong on this one, but we'll see. That's very clear. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

We'll now go to Geoffroy Michelet of OdoBHF. Please go ahead.

Thank you and congratulations for those very nice results. Three questions for me. First one would be for Francois, maybe. What is your unspeakable target for working gap since it is always improving now? You haven't set a formal threshold you would like to reach or a floor, let's say. The second question is on your M&A pipeline. Do you have confidence it could accelerate on a larger transaction? And the third question is on AI again, but maybe on another angle, the angle of potential threat or newcomers or new solutions that you are seeing on the market. Thank you very much.

Absolutely. Thank you, Geoffroy. François, you want to address the working cap?

It's a difficult question, you know. Just to remind everyone that, you know, you don't come from 10% working cap of a revenue to 3.4% with magic. It's been done, you know, the good old way, just making sure our clients are paying on time. And from a situation that's, you know, where somewhat, somehow, the cash element was a bit less considered, less regarded as what it should have been. So we've put back the discipline in place each and every year. I'm very pleased with having, you know, gone below the 4% threshold. I'm not I will not commit to a further downside. We still have options, by the way. We still have the option to further to further improve. But I would say I think it's no mystery. We are getting very close to some kind of natural threshold. The bulk of our business, 70% of our business is inspection related. So by definition, you work a week or two or three and then you invoice. So contrary to our lab segment of our business. which operate on a daily basis and where working cap can go as low as 0%, inspection, you reach a threshold. So I would say I would be very happy if we stay for the coming year around the 4% working cap of our revenue. We have ammunition to go a bit below, but it's too early to commit. I'll let you know perhaps more when we cross the June line on how we progress.

Thanks, Francois. On the second question, a question on the M&A. Look, the M&A pipeline is there. We have, you know, several multiple midsize or bigger than the bolt ons you you have seen recently targets that we are follow looking at in very specific markets that are of interest to us. So it's not an issue of pipeline. It's a matter of finding the right target that can be not only response to our strategic needs, but also can be integrated and scaled in an optimum ways, allowing us to actually deliver the returns we want. So it's a it's an equation that needs to balance all that. And that's why we could say with confidence that within 12 months we'll be able to continue to rotate the portfolio. I think our M&A program is going well. in a way is addressing what we need. There are a number of things we would have liked to do slightly faster, but not at any price. And that's very important that we have that balance between delivering what we need for the portfolio so we can progress with our growth agenda, but also making sure that our returns fit within the parameters that we have fixed for ourselves. So no concerns there in terms of availability of targets. Now, looking at the AI question, look, I think two things. I think it's very important to step back and say, and that's something I tried to address earlier in my remarks on the AI, what do we do and why we are needed? I am not concerned today that we will be completely replaced by AI for a very simple reason. We have... we are necessary for that trust. And what does it mean? It means that you have an entity, a structure that can actually be in the loop to, in a way, assess whatever decision or whatever transaction or whatever asset is being built or reconstructed and needs to validate that. That will require a human in the loop, a human in the lead. Now, that is not a license to become complacent and not do anything. I think the biggest threat today for us is to essentially be too slow to adopt AI. I think the urgency, and I tried to say it earlier, is to adopt AI very quickly because that is the catalyst, the turbo factor, if you will, to be able to grow faster. And I think with the technology movement, with the cadence of innovation, you cannot adopt this technology in the way we may have adopted other technologies before. So urgency is important. We believe strongly that our brand, the fact that you need the human judgment on many, many of the decisions we actually participate in to support customers and to protect them, to protect their risks and their liabilities, gives us that mode today. But again, not a license for complacency. It's very important that we adopt the technologies very quickly. Now, you mentioned whether there are newcomers and others. There will always be players who would want to find space like the tech sector, where you have lots of people and lots of data. But what a lot of these natives miss is that there is domain expertise and there is the brand that is actually necessary for our customers to secure their risk and to secure themselves against liabilities and show that there is actually a third party who has confirmed what they're doing and has assessed what they're doing. So I hope that answers your question. But I think the key thing probably to retain is we need to remain paranoid so we can move very fast. And we'll come back to you with progress in the coming publications. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Next question will be coming from Virginia Montorsi of Bank of America. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Good afternoon, and thank you for taking my questions. I just had two quick ones. On the margin side, could you help us understand a little bit how to think about industry margins, specifically into next year? I think we've touched on all other divisions, but this one. And then just one last question on AI. I think one of the questions we get sometimes from investors is the ability of testers to maintain pricing power as you guys adopt AI. and whether or not customers could potentially ask to be charged less as they know you incorporate AI. So I just wanted to ask, how do you think you can leverage your kind of organization and maintain good pricing, and how should we think about that? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Virginia. François, you want to comment on the issue?

Yeah, sure. So industry, you know, if you again contextualize a little bit, we had a couple of years with a good momentum from a margin point of view on industry. 2025 has been somewhat a bit disappointing if you look at it on a full year basis. I made some comment about it, but the second half of the year we had a bit of a change of mix of service because some of the contracts we were expected to deliver in H2 have been moved to Q1 and Q2 2026. These are big shutdowns without going into details. But to give you an idea, if you are running a raffinery, you need to shut down your raffinery for two or three weeks to make the necessary checks, during which we send 70 to 100 people. And obviously, the decision on when these shutdowns are planned is in the hands of the customers to some extent. You know, you have ranges during which they can do it. And we were actually expecting more of them to be done in H2. happens that it will be more in H1 2026 instead. So we do not consider the 2025 margin as a normative one. We should see incremental in 2026 on that segment. I don't know if that answers your question.

All right. Thanks, Francois. Look, on the AI implementation and the so-called differential risk, I think it's very important to step back and think about what is really our business model and how we operate. The bulk of our businesses are service fee models. Yes, of course, there are people doing the work, but it's a service fee model. And the way we think about AI integration into our workflows and into our work is you... It's very important that we articulate the value for the customer from efficiency. If efficiency is only about reducing people, that's not really a value proposition for the customer. So we consider that the integration of AI not only will bring in that efficiency in how people work, but it also will add value to the customer. I'll give you a couple of very specific examples. If you go to high-risk environments, when you send people to high-risk environments, you're actually creating a burden for your customer. Whether it's a mining site, an oil and gas rip, a ship, anywhere there are risks, you're requesting logistics, you're requesting actually this is an exposure of people in their facilities, it's time it takes, and so on. So less time is actually value for customers. And that's very, very important to be clear on. So we consider that because the bulk of our work is actually in service fee model, we will price differently as we progress. We will have to think of pricing in a different way and really value price. Of course, it's a massive change management in an industry that is used in a very specific way to price. But that's how we think about it. We don't think it's a fatal kind of risk. We think it's a risk if we don't act on it and we don't really value price, but we think it's manageable. Now, of course, there is a small piece that is billable hour. And when you have billable hour, the customer will be even more insistent that they want you to reduce their price. And this is where service quality, customer experience will come in. You have to flip the equation, if you will. You have to make sure that you're not actually only focusing on that number of people that you're going to pull out. You have to think about how you're doing the work and what does it mean for the customer in terms of essentially service quality, turnaround time, whatever parameter will be valuable for them in their own sector, in their own circumstances.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful. Thanks, Virginia.

Thank you, Virginia. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we have time for only one question. And the last question today will be coming from Alan Wells of Jefferies. Please go ahead, Alan.

Good afternoon, guys. Three quick ones from me, please. Firstly, just on the balance sheet capital allocation, obviously balance sheet leverage is in a good place at the lower end of your one to two time range. Free cash flow was strong. The buyback was obviously in line with what you announced last year. But how should we read into this in relation to capital allocation? How should we think about the cadence and size of bolt-ons versus the potential for further buybacks over the next year or two. That's my first question. Second question, just circling back on AI, but from the other side, how do we think about the level of investment that's going on internally at BDI? How should we think about that from a CapEx and OpEx perspective and where we may start to see that in the numbers? And then finally, and apologies if I missed it, just on the consumer margins, we're strong up 55 bps, I think, organically in the year. Just looking for a little bit more detail about what's driving that and how we should think about the cadence of further margin progression on the consumer product business into 2026. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Alan. François, you want to address the margins for?

So for consumer, I think you're right to point out it's been you had good incrementals. I think this is coming first. It's here to stay. It's not a one off or any, you know, any exceptional event. And it's based on two very deliberate arguments. action we've led now for two years, one which is rather visible. I mean, I think I mentioned this division, consumer product. is operating today 10% of its revenue coming from a totally new business compared to what it was at the end of 2023. So we have made very little divestment here. We have made add-on. And we've purchased 10% of the current revenue compared to where it stands. And obviously, we've made some bets in terms of acquisition, which are paying off with good margins, good incrementals. So the M&A or the portfolio reshape Again, and actually to be very fair and transparent with you, this has started even before we announced the plan. We went to the market in March 2024. We had designed the plan with our consumer product team. And I remember it was back in Hong Kong somewhere in September 23. So they are a bit ahead of the game, I would say, in terms of deploying capital to reshape the portfolio. So that's one, say, a good half of the explanation. The second half of the explanation is we have been working over the last two years to, in practical terms, exit, reduce, limit to exposure to some distressed segment of the tech part. So if you remember, you have the consumer, the traditional product testing, soft line are like toys, two-thirds of the business and one-third is tech. In this tech division, subdivision, we had some weak parts there that we discontinued. So I think some of you have noticed that the top-line momentum in 24 and early 25 was somewhat weak in tech. It is as well because of those actions we took. And obviously, when those businesses are out, then the margin is back up. And that's why I'm saying it's a sustainable improvement, and we expect this improvement to continue in 2026.

Thanks, Francois. On the balance sheet, Alan, I mean, we have headroom in the balance sheet. It's very clear. You mentioned it. For us, as we said, we're very clear on what we need. We're monitoring the market. We have pipelines we're working on, and we will balance when we buy. And when we buy, we have that room in the balance sheet, which means that any consideration for additional shareholder return, we'll have to take that into account. Of course, it's very important that we continue to execute our portfolio agenda, growth agenda, and that entails continuing to do bolt-ons, but also very specific M&As in very specific sectors. We have the room, and then when the time is right and we can also do shareholder share buybacks, we will consider that. And that's really what we just did this year, just now when we announced it today. And the other thing I think is very important to mention is I mentioned earlier, we mentioned it a few times, we said we have rotated already circa 10% of our portfolio and we will double that in the next 12 months. I think that gives you an indication that we have a number of things we are working on for the next 12 months. All right. The third question is on AI. The investments. Look, we said investments will be between two and a half and three percent in 2026. We were below that in 2025, as mentioned by Francois. And we have already slotted in investments for AI and digital. I would say we have a program ongoing, which was always part of our performance programs from the get go that. part of our operating leverage and functional scalability gain will be reinvested in the business as we modernize our product line. So do you want to give anything else on the investments?

On the investment, I think today we maintain what we've said during the capital market day in terms of capex intensity. anywhere between 2.5% and 3%. That's where we intend to stay. However, as Inda mentioned, it's somewhat of an increase compared to the very disciplined approach we had in the first two years of the plan. But we don't derail from this. There may be, however, indeed some need in the next year within this range.

Yes, absolutely. Right. I hope that answers your question, Alan. I understand this was the last question. So just a few things to say prior to closing. First of all, I'm very, very pleased with the results that our team have delivered in 2025. It has been, I would say. Quite an interesting year, to say the least, 2025, but the team have delivered very well. It's fully in line with our leap 28. 2026 is our third year. We're looking to accelerate a number of programs. And I think our guidance gives you confidence that we have very solid plans to support our growth and performance ambitions. Thank you very much.

Thank you.