Georges Plassat - CEO Pierre Jean Sivignon - CFO Jerome Bedier - General Secretary

Xavier Le Mene - Bank of America Merrill Lynch Ivan Letessier - Le Figaro Sreedhar Mahamkali - Macquarie Matthew Maley - Deutsche Bank

Well, good morning. We're only missing the Eskimos really for this introduction, but there are quite a few people who are late, but apparently there's a reason for that because the Dutch king will be there on the Champs Elysees which were blocked and that's much more important than our presentation I'm sure. So I'm surrounded by people you know, Pierre Jean Sivignon and Jerome Bedier, who are both delegate general directors of Carrefour and who will assist me and support me when it comes to managing this group, which is a very large group. So, Pierre-Jean as usual will be telling you about the financial results, and Jerome shall be focusing on extra-financial performance which he's been working on for a few years already. So the results of 2015 are quite good, I would say. There are no surprises. There might be a few challenges, and we'll talk about these. But without any further ado, I'd like to give the floor to my two colleagues and I shall maybe wrap up afterwards and qualify these results. But I would also like to say a few words about the future of our corporation and how we see the future, what strategy we should like to implement for the future. So without any further ado, I'd like to give the floor to Pierre Jean Sivignon.

Good morning, everybody and thank you for coming along this morning for the presentation of our annual results for 2015. I suggest we move on straightaway to the analysis of our accounts. In 2015, the Group once again recorded growth in its income. It has also has also been marked by a clear improvement in the management of free cash flow and by a reduction in our debt. Sales, excluding taxes, €76.9 billion, are up by 3% in organic terms and plus 5.5% excluding fuel at constant exchange rates. Our commercial margin and our EBITDA are also up compared to last year, both in terms of volume and in terms of percentage. Recurrent operating income, €2,445 million, is up 2.4% to constant current exchange rates and up 7% at constant exchange rates. Let me remind you that for France, this figure includes three special items

the integration of Dia, which as you know is a project which is going to create value in the midterm, the rise in taxes on sales service, this was an additional charge in 2015, it will remain applicable at the same level in 2016; and then there's the transfer to CARMILA of the rents of shopping malls that was done when that company was founded. So, adjusted for those three items, the recurrent operating income of the Group is up 11.5% at constant exchange rate. I'll come back in more details with this later. After we take into account the share of associates and joint ventures, the recurrent operating income is up by 7.2% at constant exchange rates. Adjusted for exceptional items, the adjusted net income Group share is up by 7.1% in 2015, at a level of €1.113 billion. And finally, Group debt amounts to €4,546 million on December 31, 2015. This is a drop of €408 million compared to the figure in December 2015. It's due very largely to the improvement in free cash flow excluding exceptional items which amounts to €951 million in 2015. Now let's have a look at these figures in more detail, beginning with sales. On slide number 4 you can see that in 2015 we recorded strong organic growth in sales, plus 3%. This growth is due to sales which are up on a like-for-like basis in our stores at 2.4%, but there's also a 0.6% contribution from our expansion. Acquisitions had a positive impact of plus 2.5%, chiefly this concerns Dia in France and Billa in Italy, so, overall, taking into account the impact of fuel prices and exchange rate impact, our sales amount to €76.9 billion, up by 3%. The Group has consistently recorded organic growth over all of the last four years. Average growth has been 2.5% over those four years. That means that the cumulative growth is now close to 11%. We have several driving forces which justify this growth, as I shall explain later. Let's move on now to the commercial margin. In 2015 this amounted to 23.4% of the sales excluding tax. The margin is up by 6.4% at constant exchange rates. That's a rise of 60 basis points if it's expressed in percentage of sales. The improvement of the commercial margin has benefited from the action plans which were implemented in all countries, combined with the increase in the volume of sales. The change is in line with that that was reported in the first half-year and can partly be explained by the drop in the percentage of fuel sales in our total sales. Let's move on now to Slide 7, analysis of our operating costs excluding cost of assets. The costs have increased by 6.1% at constant exchange rates during the year. As a percentage of sales excluding fuel, the increase is 20 basis points. So, overall, operating costs have been well-controlled. They have to take into account wage rises and energy cost increases in Latin America and Asia and also the impact of the Tascom sales service tax in France. The rise was compensated for by our efficiency plans in all the countries where we are present. Now, what about the cost of assets? These asset costs have increased essentially because of the increase in reserves set aside for depreciation. This is linked of course to the resumption in investment over the last three years. This reinvestment takes into account both the renovation of our assets and also continuing expansion. Now, what about the performance region by region? First of all, in France, for the third consecutive year in France, our organic sales excluding fuel has displayed a robust growth of more than 1%. In 2015 sales are up in all our formats. The commercial margin has held up well, thanks to the reduction in wastage and thanks to logistic gains, making it possible to maintain price competitiveness. Our recurrent operating income in France is now €1,191 million; that's an operating margin of 3.3%. Restated to take into account those three items previously mentioned, i.e. the integration of Dia, the rise in the Tascom tax, and the impact linked to the foundation of CARMILA, the pro forma ROI is up despite the fact that we are still in a very competitive environment with no inflation. So our pro forma operating margin is up by 10 basis points; it's now 3.7%. In the other countries in Europe, sales excluding tax is €19.7 billion. That's an organic rise of 1.2%. It's the first time in the last four years that our sales have gone up in this zone. All countries have recorded an improvement in their operating results. The commercial margin has increased in percentage terms. We have of course continued to pay close attention to our price positioning. And secondly, operating costs are under control both in terms of volume and in terms of percentage, and this is particularly true in the second half-year. So the recurrent operating income is €567 million, up by 33.4%. The operating margin has increased by 70 basis points to 2.9% of sales. In Spain and Italy, there has been a clear improvement in profitability. That reflects the acceleration of business in those two countries during the last quarters and also the impact of the various action plans that were implemented there. In Belgium, there has also been an improvement in profitability, thanks to a good control of costs. In Poland, the operating margin has improved slightly, in a very tough competitive environment. And finally, in Romania, we've recorded a good performance with growth in sales combined with stability of the operating margin at a very high level. Overall then, the trends in this zone confirm that it is now becoming a good additional source of growth for the Group both in terms of sales and in terms of income. As you can see on slide 11, our excellent performance in Latin America is continuing. The sales figures are up by 15.7% in organic terms excluding fuel and the recurrent operating income is up by 23.5% at constant exchange rates. The commercial margin is up, thanks to the growth in sales and the good performance of financial services in Brazil. Let me remind you that organic sales in Brazil are up by 13.5% excluding fuel for the year, despite the environment which as you know has become more difficult. In Argentina, organic sales are up by 23.3%. Furthermore, the operating costs reflect in particular an increase in energy costs in Brazil, wage inflation, but also of course our strong expansion in this zone. Overall then, the operating margin in Latin America is 4.9%. That is up by 20 basis points compared to 2014. We can say then that in Latin America our performance is once again very good, despite an already high baseline. However, we need to remain very vigilant about the changes in exchange rates, particularly concerning the Brazilian real. Its volatility has an impact on the Group's results. Over the last three years, the problems of exchange rates have had a negative impact on our recurrent operating income of more than €300 million. In Asia, the sales before tax at current exchange rates are up by 5.9% at €6.7 billion. On organic terms, sales have gone down by 9.5%. The recurrent operating income is €13 million. Despite the drop in sales, the commercial margin is holding up well. The rise in operating costs reflects the wage inflation. In China, in the context of an economic slowdown and rapid changes in modes of consumption, sales have gone down in organic terms by 12.6%. As you know, in this country we are going ahead with determination with our action plan to make it an engine for growth once again. We're working on our in-house organization our cost structure and also the integration of our logistics system. We closed 19 stores in 2015. That makes about 30 over the last two years. We are repositioning our business model and we are deploying a multi-format, multi-channel strategy with more convenience stores. Naturally these measures require time. They may lead to temporary problems in our business. But as has been shown by our recent reorganizations in Italy, in Spain and in Poland, we are strongly convinced that the implementation of this type of measure will bring fruit over time. And we are confident that the repositioning of our model will lead to a reinforcement of our medium-term position in China. In Taiwan, there has been growth in organic sales in 2015 for the first time in the last three years. The operating income is also up. This country has benefited from the acceleration of our multi-format strategy, illustrated by the development there of our network of supermarkets. 2015 has shown once again and in fact strengthened the good balance in the Group's portfolio, as you can see here on slide 13. The Carrefour Group is now moving ahead, thanks to several engines for growth, which encourages its growth. In the domestic market, we are improving our sales in a difficult environment. Europe is also improving. Its potential is illustrated by Spain and Italy in 2015, and that potential is genuine. And thirdly, all the emerging countries represent a new center for growth despite the slowdown in China. Performances in Latin America and Taiwan bear witness to this. Let's move on now to slide 14, the operating accounts. Let me remind you that we calculate two levels of recurrent operating income. The second takes into account the share of associates and joint ventures. This is in line with the recommendations of the French accounting standards authority. This share represents €44 million for the first half-year, compared to €37 million in the previous year. In 2015 we recorded non-recurrent charges of €257 million, principally due to the costs of reorganization and transformation in various countries particularly in China and in France, notably with the integration of Dia in France and the Caravelle project. In 2014 we recorded non-recurrent income of €149 million, principally due to capital gains on sales, the sales made when we set up CARMILA. Financial income has improved compared to 2014. It now amounts to minus €515 million. That reflects the drop in the cost of financial debt after of course the refinancing of redemptions at lower rates. Taxes amount to €597 million. That's an effective tax rate of 34.8%. Minority interests represent €143 million. The increase is due largely to the presence of a new minority holder in Brazil. Overall then, the adjusted net income Group share, that's to say the net result of continuing operations restated to take account of exceptional items amounts to €1.113 billion. That's up 7.1% compared to the previous year. Slide 16, here you can see the change in our investments both on a regional basis and also in terms of their nature. The Group is continuing to invest in the renovation of its various different formats to bring them up to standard. And this is accompanied by selective expansion. The overall then, investment amounts to €2.4 billion. This is overall in line with our plans and it is stable compared to 2014. In France, investment amounts to €1,078 million. That's slightly up compared to 2014. This investment takes into account the renovation and simplification of our information systems, but it also takes into account the transformation plan for the Dia stores and convenience stores. This is a plan which will be accelerated further in 2016. In Europe, investments are up and amount now to €579 million. In Brazil, there is still a strong expansion of Atacadao and convenience stores, while the renovation of our stores continues in hypermarkets and in supermarkets. Let me state once again that exchange rates have had a negative impact on our investment in Latin America. In Asia, we are continuing our multi-format development strategy, particularly with the opening of convenience stores in China and of supermarkets in Taiwan. The change in our model in China also involves renovation of stores and the finalization of the project for the integration of our logistic chain. Let's now have a look at these investments in terms of their nature. Expansion represented 22% of our investment in 2015. We opened 1,123 stores, 52 hypermarkets, 221 supermarkets, and 850 convenience stores. Elsewhere, 26% of the investment was devoted to the remodeling of our stores, which of course helps to enhance the value of our assets. Maintenance still represents 37% of our investment because we are continuing the rehabilitation program that began in 2012. That share is down compared to the previous year, and that trend will continue in the forthcoming financial periods. And finally, the share of investment devoted to our information systems has increased over this period and now amounts to 15%. That of course is reflected in the improvement of our systems and also in the rise of our omni-channel rollout. So, after a low point in 2012, Carrefour has progressively made up for its backlog and is now in line with the average for the sector. Thanks to its robust balance sheet, the Group now has capacity to invest in a consistent and controlled fashion. In 2016, total investment should amount to between €2.5 billion and €2.6 billion. Let's move on now to slide 18 for the analysis of our cash flow tables. Free cash flow amounts to €687 million. That's a significant rise compared to 2014. Excluding non-recurrent items and the discontinued activities, free cash flow amounts to almost €1 billion, and that too represents a clear improvement, it's up €287 million compared to the previous financial year. So this is explained by three main elements. First of all, and this I think is what you need to bear in mind, there's been this sharp improvement in our self-financing capacity up to €229 million; an improvement in the variations in working capital requirement of plus €62 million; and thirdly, favorable changes in the sources of fixed asset suppliers, €153 million, that's linked to the way we have phased our capital expenditure over the year. When we take into account these exceptional items, the free cash flow excluding exceptional items amounts to €951 million, and once again let me say that this is a clear improvement compared to 2014. Let's have a look now to debt, this is slide number 20. Net financial debt at the end of 2015 amounted to €4.5 billion. That's a drop of €408 million compared to the end of 2014. This reduction in our debt is due essentially to the generation of the free cash flow which I just mentioned. Secondly, it's due to the sale of part of our treasury shares in March 2015 that resulted in a cash inflow of €394 million, and then the sales of additional participation in our Brazilian subsidiary, sale to Peninsula which now holds 12%. This drop in debt was achieved taking into account the payment of the cash part of the dividend for 2014, on November 17, 2015, that gave rise to a cash-out of €390 million; and then some non-recurrent items, which, although they have fallen considerably to 2014, nevertheless represent a cash-out item of €309 million. Slide 21, analysis of our bond issues. In February 2015 there was a bond issuance of €750 million, with a maturity of 10.3 years and a coupon of 1.25%. This issuance, combined with those that we made in 2014, has made it possible to extend the average maturity of our bond debt, as you can see there on the side. The average maturity, this is a really important figure, has increased. It's now 4.4 years. And that of course reflects the regular improvement over the last two years. We should note that in June 2015, June 2015 was the maturity date for €644 million of bonds with a coupon of 5.375%. You can see these were important figures. The various refunding operations with more favorable coupons and this major maturity date in last June have made it possible to optimize our financial costs in 2015 as we've just seen. You can see then that Carrefour is continuing to improve its balance sheet and to strengthen its financial structure, and that represents a major plus point in the current environment. Let me remind you that in 2015 the three rating agencies updated the rating for the Group and all three now agree and they're rating Carrefour at BBB+. This puts an end to the split rating situation. Now what about the dividend? Slide 22. As you can see, the Board will suggest to the Annual General Meeting of shareholders on May 17 a dividend of €0.70 per share. That's a rise compared to the €0.68 of 2014. That corresponds once again to the distribution of exactly 45% of our adjusted net income Group share, and that's perfectly in line with the distribution policy that was announced and set up in 2012. Once again this year we proposed payment of the dividend in cash or in shares and payment will be made should be made normally on June 21, 2016. In conclusion then, in 2015, Carrefour has continued with its dynamic growth policy and posts a further improvement in its income. It has further improved its capacity to generate free cash flow. It strengthened its balance sheet by reducing its debt while continuing to invest. Our investment policy is consistent. You can note the effects of this today, notably in France, in Brazil, Spain and Italy. The repositioning in China, the integration of Dia, the omni channel rollout, these are all examples of investment which will give rise to still better growth in the future. Carrefour is now a strong Group with its strengths in food business and has refocused its portfolio in a relevant manner. We are in control of our property situation and our financial structure and we have a constant strategy. We are online and in 2016 we forecast investment of 2.5 to 2.6 billion. We paid close attention to free cash flow. And we shall continue to impose strict financial discipline, the aim of course being to maintain our BBB+ rating. Thank you very much for your attention. I'll now hand over to my colleague Jerome Bedier.

Ladies and gentlemen, our Corporation now wants to provide regular updates on its extra financial performance as it does for its financial results. This is a will that was expressed at the last annual meeting in June 2015. And so for these annual results, we would like to say that the Company should be seen as a whole. There is financial figures on the one hand and the societal impact of the company on the other hand. Carrefour is a major stakeholder in its industry and we would like to take on our responsibility when it comes to corporate social responsibility. We are the industry leader in that front and we're amongst the top companies in all countries where we are present. We're also aware of the fact that this responsibility, which should make us a stakeholder that pays attention to its environment, is at the same time a must when it comes to creating value to better serve our customers The CSR policy of Carrefour is in line with a mid and long term vision of our business and of the contribution of our Company to society. Quite simply, what we mean is doing a good job. This is a motto and you've known it for quite some time now. This vision is of course based on the own characteristics of the company being local, because, thanks to multi format, usage of new technologies and broader international experiments, all actions will be used to better serve the priorities that we have defined. The impact of CSR is also key when it comes to efficiency and when it comes to motivating the 380,000 workers, employees of our company. It helps foster and better mobilize partners, suppliers, local stakeholders, and all civil society representatives. I no need to dwell on the methods that we use to boost our CSR approach, they are, they were already described and they're based on international standards and benchmarks which are known and they are detailed in the useful indicators with the useful indicators in the documents of the company. Actions taken by Carrefour in 2015 are based on three priorities, the three pillars of our CSR anti wastage, biodiversity, and relationships with our partners. And those were recognized by those who look at these monitor these policies. And our ranking is 96-B on the CDP assessment, which means we're in top of we're ahead of other French groups in this particular sector. And we improved our ranking by seven points on the RobecoSAM DJSI assessment. We got the prize in France we got several prizes and awards in France and abroad, the ESSEC prize for responsible trade in France, the Good Energy Award in Italy, the Top 10 Sustainability of the Chamber of Commerce in Argentina, and another award by the Forbes Magazine, and the Best Energy Efficiency Program of the Year in Romania. Now, to highlight that this is really well, I would like to focus on two subjects that marked our performance in 2015. The commitment of Carrefour for climate and the fact that we really want to focus on agro ecology. Climate, as you know, was one of the key topics of 2015, with the COP21, and we're actively involved with other companies as part of the French business climate pledge and the UN initiative called Caring for Climate. As far as this is concerned, we officially committed ourselves to cutting by 40% our CO2 emissions in our stores by 2025 and by 70% by 2050. This target is based on a program of actions using all possible levers. First of all, Carrefour last autumn decided to voluntarily set a price for CO2 to include it in our investment calculations. Setting the price of carbon means you add to the initial cost of your technology the cost of CO2 that it will be releasing during its life. I would like to recall that Carrefour released 3.58 million tons of CO2 in 2015. Secondly, savings will be generalized in our stores, thanks to closed cold storage units using LED lighting, centralized meters, optimization of cold and hot streams in conformant -- in compliance with ISO 50001. Number three, innovative experiments will be multiplied, the creation of self-sufficient stores, the objective in terms of consumption is 250 kilowatt-hours per square meter, plus new methodologies to monitor our energy consumption. Plus corrective action will be implemented immediately. The share of renewable energies in our supplies will continue to increase. Carrefour will continue producing electricity directly on its sites. Also intermittent energy storage was tested and we would like to get our overall consumption by 2.5%, and by the way, it's 5.9 terawatt-hours in 2015. HFC gases are no longer used in our new facilities and it's been the case since 2015. They are replaced by CO2. We have 260 cold production units based on that technology in seven countries, including in areas where it is particularly hot. Last but not least, CO2 emissions coming from transport were cut by 14.3% for the past five years and will be cut by at least as much within the next 10 years. We should also like to focus increasingly on agro-ecology across the world and we'd like to focus on a more environmentally friendly agriculture. This -- or farming. This is at the heart of the food -- of our food business and this is in line with the needs of our customers. As for many other areas of CSR, agro-ecology is a source of -- is a very useful source of innovation. It is a powerful tool for progress and differentiation, which will help better and sustainably meet the needs of consumers. Carrefour has long been committed on these issues, which sometimes lead to challenging debates but always useful debates like on GMOs, something that we -- or GMOs that we do not want to have in our quality sourcing approach. Many issues behind this word agro-ecology. Cutting usage of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, integrated farming, circular economy, reduction of antibiotics, bio-controls, better valuation of wastes coming from crops, closer sources of supply and animal food -- feed. And Carrefour would like to offer new solutions as far as all of these topics are concerned. Selling quality products based on our quality sourcing approach for 168 such products in 10 countries. That increased by 6.1% on 2014 in 2015, thanks to the developments and thanks to the information we have provided to our customers on the characteristics of these products. Similarly, sales of organic food have increased by 21.5% in 2015, which certainly bears witness to the fact that our customers are interested in these products. As far as sustainable fishing is concerned, I mean our concerns are the same. We need to focus on the best practices, the most respectful practices for nature, and which can help foster biodiversity. We are the industry leader as far as this is concerned and we work with several organizations like the Marine Stewardship Council in order to better qualify the choices made by our Company. Last but not least, I would like to say a few words on small and medium-sized companies which work for us. Across the world, developing bonds and links with SMEs is a top priority. This is in line with the strong values of our Company. It helps strengthen the territorial presence of our multi-format system and it helps present a local offering and it helps differentiate products and innovates. In all countries, the local offering was increased. The number of local products in France is now -- we now have 60,000 local products. 5,000 SMEs account for 9% of our sales. In Belgium, in 2014, we launched a new project which meant that 680 local producers could provide products more than 7,000 products to the stores that were less than 40 kilometers away. SMEs also have their own specific action programs to streamline their administrative relationships with our Company to have better referencing to have involved SMEs on CSR actions, based on self-tests for instance. Actions were taken, action was taken when it comes to boosting exports, in particular for our three brands, Reflets de France, Terre d'Italia and Nuestra Tierra. We carry out these programs hand in hand with organizations representing SMEs or agricultural cooperatives. Carrefour shall continue developing specific solutions for SMEs which have very, which are very different from large international corporations which are also our suppliers. Now that was just a quick overview of our extra-financial performance for Carrefour in 2015. It is way too short of course and it is certainly not complete. The idea, however, was to show that our Company is fully committed and we certainly want to tackle all of these issues in a very professional way to do a good job fostering and nurturing dialogue with all stakeholders. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Jerome. Well, I believe that the number one development in the retail sector is that we want to have a smart approach. This is a rough environment and things are changing. And we are moving towards what I would refer to as being intangible. And this is precisely what Jerome just said. I mean he's been focusing on the CSR. And this is something that is currently being implemented throughout the Company and of course there might be reluctances here and there because it's not immediately profitable and people don't necessarily immediately see the advantages of that CSR approach, but he has my full support. And I'm convinced that different leaders of different countries of Carrefour know that we have to focus on these strategies, focused on society, on environment. All stakeholders know that there is a good reason for that. Our stores are showcases of our, of what we do, and we can't just focus on prices. As far as financial results are concerned, I think everything was said. We are there. This is the result of balances that we've been developing for quite some time, different formats which are balanced. There's a new balance in terms of financial ingredients. We have contained debt, kept at a very reasonable level. We have free cash flow. We still have CapEx capacity whenever necessary, expansion, remodeling, and at the same new IT and logistics systems. So I would say that the teams of Carrefour in 2015 spared no effort and I should like to welcome the investments of our shareholders, generally speaking, and also I should like to say that you have economic societal and environmental elements, which mean, which helped lead to these results and which is the result of a lot of work. As far as the profile, Company profile is concerned, because this is what matters at the end of the day, Carrefour, increasingly over the past few years, especially since we've been merging with Promodes, Carrefour has been developing and from a hypermarket, we are increasingly a multi-format corporation and we need to insist on that. This is key when it comes to today's societal changes and developments. And so this new step, the idea is to refocus the Group on more local stores, so, convenience stores. And this is something we certainly want to do, we have to do. It means it is a cultural change. It means that we have to be closer to Promodes. And also this is a fundamental strategic decision. And also at the same time, I believe that, I believe that different formats of our society need to meet different needs. Hypermarkets is where you should have as many products as possible, at the best possible prices, and there should be several regular events and seasonal offerings, because there is enough space to do that. At the same time, this is a true marketplace where you can sell fresh produce, with a huge array of products available. And this is at the heart of our DNA but this is also at the heart of our sales and profits because 70% of our sales come from that. So, 65% eight to ten years ago and things are still developing, and this is quite good. And hypermarkets indeed are culturally in the DNA of Carrefour, and that will remain in the future. At the same time, when we take, when we sold shopping malls to Klepierre a couple of years ago, that means that we can control our hypermarkets but also our surrounding environment. And this means that we can now focus on new service approach. And this is new, providing services, relationships, developing our ability to show empathy, et cetera. This is all going in the right direction. So this means that all formats are there. We have hypermarkets, the events prices, et cetera. Supermarkets are stores where you have a huge well, you have a lot of traffic, meeting regular food needs and generating higher profits from the same customers in the same places. Now these supermarkets of course mean that our customers are closer to us, closer to where they live. And in the future this means that we'll be able to consolidate our food market share which is key of course. But at the same time we can develop our local presence, small convenience stores, whether it be a city, in urban areas or contacts which we're currently developing and I'll be talking about that in a minute, via the acquisition of Dia or Bio, because we also want to focus on the development of organic food. Bon App', this is something also modernizing and that will be very successful, I believe. And this is the grocery world linked to the catering restaurant world. All of this is currently developing across the world. We do that not in spectacular way or at a spectacular pace but this is much -- this will work in the long term. So, hypermarkets have their role to play. Supermarkets have their role to play. Local convenience stores have a role to play. And the 101 is food. We are the number one food retailer in the world today. And I think that our geographical distribution, following the divestment we carried out a couple of years when we left countries where we had very limited opportunities and we couldn't be the market leader and we couldn't be multi-format without huge investments that would have been problematic for our financial health or balance. We now have a distribution between Asia, South America and Europe, which is quite relevant, even though emerging countries were -- everyone was saying that these were wonderful a couple of years ago, but these are less emerging these days, and everybody said that Europe was going to be facing a disaster. But indeed this is not quite the case and things are recovering. And all of these are very positive signals for the future of Carrefour, provided we can capitalize on these assets, hypermarkets, the food business, and as Jerome just said, and this is the case when it comes to CSR, this wonderful culture of affiliates, subsidiaries, because we had lost track at some point. I mean we need to invest in our industry, we need to recruit the right professionals still. In the long term we have to be the food leader, we have to have the best brand of product offering, we have to have a retailer brand that should be positioned centrally. We should have -- we should be very efficient when it comes to price/quality ratio. We need to be sober in our packaging and our marketing definitions. And last but not least, we need to focus on low-end products, free products. And this is something we are currently doing across the board wherever we think it is relevant. So we need to be the leader when it comes to food, multi-function, multi-format. And whenever possible, we need to be leaders when it comes to the price/quality ratio. The key asset of Carrefour today is that, facing the development of the internet, the food business will still be a major business in the future. No one can deliver a customer in their home than the local convenience stores, for distance reasons, for time reasons, and for the -- because of the quality of the product. Also you may order books and you do order books and you might sell books in the hypermarkets. We're the number one bookstore in France by the way. But as far as food is concerned, food will indeed help keep that social bond, link between consumers and their environment. The other day somebody asked me whether from home, sitting on your sofa, using your mobile phone or smartphone, whether you could actually order from anywhere all products at the best price. Yes, it is possible. How long? We might die before that, but I don't know. But I believe that physical trade will be profitable in the future, provided and that's the challenge because there are pressures in terms of efficiency because the digital world is very efficient because there is no contact between people and products, but we have to be humane in our approach. And this indeed is what we are doing at Carrefour. If we keep food in our DNA, then we will win the game. This is the physical strategy of Carrefour. We are a multiyear format corporation in almost all countries in the world, in France of course. Italy, things have been taking off the past three to four years, and Italy is currently emerging in terms of emergent in terms of results, thanks to great improvement of our food offering, Terre d'Italia, et cetera. And so we can show that we believe in local produce. Spain, following a tough and challenging economic environment, is also booming these days, thanks to its food offering. We'll talk about China later. China, despite trouble because of the transformation the country is actually going through, is leading a low cost manufacturing business and moving towards added value activities, focusing more on the environment. And at the same time, we they try to have domestic consumption pickup. And this means that the fresh produce in Carrefour in the fresh food offering in China is developing and expanding. It will take time but it is working. So we are multi format in China too because we have Easy, which is the word we chose locally for convenience local stores. We also developed, we also tried to sell over the internet, food over the internet. In Taiwan, very close to China, they are developing wonderfully, especially so because our local employees and leaders revived the quality food approach. EBIT increased by 10% to 12% and the average basket has also increased similarly. And so if we do, if we do focus on food, then this is the basis of our global development. This is the first stage, the first step and we need to consolidate the physical foundations of our business. You cannot change the rest. If we get closer to our consumers with physical local stores, we help cut the distance, we have customized services and this in turn means we can be we can help cut carbon emissions. And we talked about that earlier. This is the first stage, which means a consolidation of multi format. We've been talking about that for quite some time and so it people might think that it doesn't mean anything. But it's not quite the case. We have to be multi-channel. Now things need to be streamlined and simplified. This is easy to understand. First of all, we need to consolidate our different formats wherever possible. This is what we are currently doing in France, in Brazil. This is also the case with the phenomenal success of Atacadao. Then there is the efficient revamping of our hyper markets which helped to boost the brand name in Brazil. We are currently developing a network of supermarkets that we had taken over and that had been left aside for quite some time. And now we are launching convenience stores, quite successfully. No need to talk about Argentina, but still this is a forgotten country that was that had started a crazy race. But it's no longer just focusing on itself. This is a country that is opening up. We are multi format. We have local stores. We have a great network of supermarkets, hypermarkets. We have Maxi which is the equivalent of Atacadao and hypermarkets which are working doing really well. And so the Group as a whole is developing and multi format, this approach is consolidating or being consolidated. And our vision is increasingly understood by our employees and we now need to move on to the second step or second stage, which is to have a better IT base and to go digital. What do I mean by digitization? Digitization means that you need to get rid of internal partitions within the company so that all data should be available when needed by all operators of our company. You might call that the cloud of big data. But at the end of the day the idea is to have big storage units where people can actually find information using relevant apps. And this is the entire challenge really. When you develop such a database which is compiled based on multi format, then of course people from logistics, purchasing units, our marketing people should be able to work on these data, compiling data, gathering data, processing data. And indeed, this is we are making our company more transparent than it was, in the future especially internally. And this is a major change. Psychologically speaking it will be a breakthrough. It's not quite the case yet. We are sparing no efforts when it comes to doing that, but we've seen the first results. I personally visited one of our hypermarkets in the Greater Paris area and in two minutes, we had all -- we had access to all data in terms of sales per brand category and price. And this is something that made me really happy because I could tell that a Company like ours with great talents, great people, when we really want to modernize ourselves, whilst capitalizing on our key assets, then the results can be wonderful. And so we are going digital, which means we have to have a greater IT basis. It means at the same time that we have to increase the flow of transactions and of databases and this needs to be made on a resilient and robust basis. And at the same time we are giving our people mobile connection instruments and new channels to access those data. Well, you know what the tools or the handsets are. This one is actually great. This is the greatest step forward humanity has ever made I would say. And we need everyone to be able to use these handsets plus computers etc. So digitization will lead to internal transparency and will lead to the ability for our employees to find in a shared database the information they need. From a technological point of view, it's a major breakthrough because instead of providing them information, top down, they can look for information, search and based on that they can assemble and create something new. And this means we're entering a new world. Exploration will be key and this means that people will have the ability to explore because exploring is what we do on a daily basis. We look here and there, a bit behind hedges, behind trees, beyond borders, etc. and we need to find this pleasure for exploration. And at the same time we need to be able to learn. So exploration, learning, these are key elements. And from a cultural point of view, these are wonderful elements. If we manage to do that and we will, it will be great. We'll manage because people are smart, smarter than we think and that's the only thing they are waiting for. They want to learn, they want to develop and put this at the service of the company they work for. And then the last point, exploring, learning, means setting out on an adventure. Yes, an adventure. But an adventure for whom? An adventure for us. In fact, if we do this in a disciplined way, if we fix a few limits, if we accept balances, if we accept the idea that independence and personal development is something that is stronger and more explicit when it leads to an association, a combination of skills towards a common end, towards the end of the Company in the direction fixed by the Group. If we can do that, I can say that everything is there to be able to make a success of this. So stage one, consolidation of the physical assets. Stage two, working on the IT, on a reinforced basis. And stage three, we go for it, all this without too much haste. Digitization is not a religion; it's a means like any other. It's more modern, more effective, it's faster. It's more stunning as it were and we can bring together an unprecedented quantity of data. But we don't need to rush ahead. We need to do things in the proper order. That's particularly true for a company of our size. We are not under pressure, pressure coming from the very considerable investments that are required for this business. But of course, investment expects a rapid payback and that means that everybody is under pressure. But I say we need to do this, but we need to do this cautiously, deliberately and without excessive haste. So that's what I believe in for Carrefour and I'm convinced that all this is now underway. We took some time to develop these ideas. They needed to be developed in a precise way. We had to do that so as not to be arrogant. We needed to remain modest because we have many challenges ahead of us. But all this is now underway. We are building something new, but we're building for the medium term. And so our investors, our shareholders, whom we respect, need to understand that in their own interests, we need to go ahead with the caution that I've indicated and taking the time that is required. Haste will only lead to disaster. And when you look at the extraordinary tidal wave of data which is going to engulf us tomorrow, then you can see that it's important to be able to filter all this to focus on the essential. And above all, we should not forget that if we bring together tangible elements, digital efforts, IT, plus our physical stores, it is nevertheless the people who finally make the difference. Robotization is possible in a certain number of types of industry. It helps to reduce physical labor. It makes it possible to perform repetitive tasks which can have a disruptive impact. But apart from that I think that robotization has no role to play. Our business remains very much a human business and so this is the major challenge for us in our Company. This challenge means looking ahead to the development and the training of our management teams because if we're present in 20, 30, 40 countries, it's obvious that managing from Paris, from Boulogne is no longer possible. Henceforth, we are working in a global business where the issues at stake in terms of image, in terms of corporate responsibility, in terms of environmental issues, but also in terms of tax issues, economic issues, social issues, are all enormous. So it's important that we should raise the level of understanding of our management staff. That I think is the major task that lies ahead of us. And if we pay close attention to this and if, here again, we come back to the policy which the Group has implemented for some years past now, which involves getting people to work together with a hierarchy based on the combination between two levels, so that we never lose contact. So that development is always mutual. So that investment and information can circulate without being too centralized. If we can do that, I think we've done everything. So that's how I see Carrefour tomorrow. And I'd like to add that some old skills which were abandoned are now coming back into focus. Property for example, property is coming back at high speed. I think that these are lines of business which can help us to create value. But I want to avoid some ambiguities which have been created around Carmila, particularly concerning the ability of our Company to maintain its share price. Property is essential for retail and will remain essential I believe. We are now professionalizing our approach here and it will create value. This will enable us to retain control of all the items involved. This will enable us to dynamize the management of our assets, which had become somewhat inactive. But it will also enable us to bring the various retailers who are in our shopping malls along with us. We can get them involved in our communication, in our databases, in our event organizations and so on. Let's not forget the back office. The back office is often overlooked, but it remains essential for us. Purchases, logistics, all these types of business are difficult and very often they have to work under pressure. But they remain extremely important. They're absolutely fundamental to us. In fact, they can't be replaced. People are essential here. Reflection of ideas, thinking, the quality of those ideas, that's something that you can't replace by computers. Computers, IT can help us; they can bring great advantages. But human judgment, human discernment, services and the neural connections that are essential between the back office and the stores, all these are essential. So once again, a major human issue for the future, but of course if we don't have major issues to face up to, then what's left in life? So let's face up to these challenges and these will give us great satisfaction. So we're looking ahead to Carrefour which will remain a world leader based on food retailing, in which fresh produce will remain essential to generate traffic. The representation of major brands of course will be a competitive advantage. The positioning of our own brands in the central situation will help us to rebalance the situation. We need to pay attention to entry level products, so as not to be overtaken by hard discounters who of course claim that they sell French products, whether that's true or not. And then of course we need to maintain physical proximity with the customer. This is absolutely essential if we are to face up to the attempts by some people to encourage deliveries to the home. So that's where we are. A well-balanced investment portfolio and I think that the rating that was mentioned and which is well deserved needs to be maintained. That's absolutely essential. I think that today our shareholder base has been enriched. It's become somewhat more exotic, let's say, with the arrival of a Brazilian operator in our capital structure. They represent 12% of holding in our Brazilian affiliate, but of course Carrefour holds the rest. I want to stress that fact. But this operator is also a shareholder in the capital of the Company as a whole. There's also the Moulin family that has joined us. They've been in this business for a long time, in a complementary line of business. They understand general retailing and they understand premium formats because they've done a brilliant job of developing convenience concepts on the basis of Monoprix. All this is very satisfactory so new shareholders, a new type of dynamism in commercial terms, stability, a good balance in financial terms. Professional and human management which I believe is excellent and which we are going to continue to promote in the future. That is where we are today. So 2015, 2015 was an adequate year, a very sufficient year I would say, which I think met market expectations. There were no major surprises. I hope that I've been able to shed some light for you on the future, which I think is a very promising future. And I'm very happy to be accompanied here throughout 2015, which had some negative points for some of us. But nevertheless we've seen that the Company remains very robust and fully turned towards its future. Thank you. That's what I wanted to say. And now if there are any questions, we shall try to give you an answer. The gentleman here. Would you please introduce yourself when you put your question? Mrs. Caron, somebody who has also undergone a transformation. Please go ahead. I'm sorry we can't hear the question. That's better.

Three questions, with your permission. The first question concerns the criteria for the management of your price positioning and the efforts you make in terms of promotions in France. What are the criteria that you adopt here? How do the market share indications that we've been given accompany this? They perhaps harm your shareholding, your share price. And what about the generation of traffic? What are the trends in terms of traffic in the different formats? Can you explain how you manage on a weekly or monthly basis all these elements? Or even on an hourly basis how do you manage your price positioning and your promotions? That's the first question. The second question concerns Carmila. Can you please help us, guide us in terms of the major aggregates? Can you talk about the mechanism for the creation of value? Can you update us concerning Carmila? Can you talk about what you expect to hope for here? And the third question, the last question. There have been some comments over the last few weeks, in the United States and also in Europe concerning deflationary pressures in some market segments. Because of the effects induced by the drop in some commodity prices, some raw materials prices have gone down very sharply. So can you update us concerning the situation here? Are you afraid of these deflationary pressures in some markets or some segments, particularly in Europe?

Thank you. We have a question of the telephone line from John Kershaw. Your line is now open.

The next question is over the phone from Sreedhar Mahamkali, Macquarie.

Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We've overrun our time slightly. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you for coming along to this meeting. And I wish you all a very good day and we hope that we have managed to reassure you and that we have reinforced your confidence in the Carrefour group. I hope to see you again soon. Thank you very much.