EXTRACT FROM SPEECH BY THE CHAIRMAN
EXTRACT FROM SPEECH BY THE CHAIRMAN
A remarkable new era in the L’Oréal Adventure is beginning.
JEAN-PAUL AGON,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of L’Oréal
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear shareholders,
Exactly one year ago, I expressed my confidence and serenity when I handed over the reins of CEO to Nicolas Hieronimus. Today, as you have been able to see for yourselves, your Company is in the best hands.
The quality of the 2021 results is the best demonstration of this. The strategic choices we made - both before the crisis, to transform the company, and during it, to adapt it to this unprecedented context - have paid off.
Your company’s business model is virtuous, robust and value creator. Beyond economic success, you know that, as ever, we are aiming to be exemplary in ethical, environmental, social, and societal terms. L’Oréal will continue to be at the forefront of all these issues.
On the environmental front, our L’Oréal for the Future programme, launched two years ago in the midst of the pandemic, is radically transforming your Company. All our teams are involved. All resources mobilized. Because continuing to accelerate in this area is absolutely vital.
On the inclusivity front, the L’Oréal Foundation is redoubling its efforts to support and promote ever more women. Because they have been disproportionately affected by the climate and health crises, which have accentuated inequality, precarity, and discrimination.
Dual financial and non-financial excellence is the backbone of our strategy. It is the one that drives us forward with both performance and purpose. Your company has countless assets to continue its path to success.
Our number one asset is our 85,000 beauty experts who give life to the L’Oréal you and I love so dearly. They are the ones who create sustainable and shared value. I would like to warmly thank and congratulate each and every one of them.
I would add that another of our great strengths is the quality and stability of our shareholder structure.
Dear shareholders, you are a key pillar of L’Oréal’s success. Your trust and support give us the desire to outdo ourselves.
An ever-closer relationship with you, our shareholders, and always more stability. In 2021, L’Oréal’s shareholder stability was reinforced around the unfailing support of the Bettencourt Meyers founding family, which has always backed our development, and Nestlé.
The agreement for L’Oréal to repurchase 4% of its capital held by Nestlé is a strategic milestone for your Company. It is in the interests of L’Oréal and of all of you.
This shareholder stability is a fundamental asset which allows us to develop a long-term vision.
I have immense confidence in the future of your Company. A remarkable new era in the L’Oréal Adventure is beginning, with your support and ever-improving governance.”