Edenred, a responsible group taking action alongside people at work
amid the Covid-19 epidemic
Press releaseApril 7,
2020
Edenred, a responsible group taking
action alongside people at work amid the Covid-19
epidemic
Edenred
is taking action to support its teams, its partner merchants, its
clients and their employee users through the unprecedented health
and economic crisis arising from the Covid-19
epidemic.
- Teams working hard to ensure seamless business
continuity for clients, their employees and partner merchants.
- Innovative, adapted programs designed in record time.
- A number of community relief initiatives launched.
- “More than Ever” fund established to support
the most vulnerable Group employees as well as restaurant owners,
who have been significantly impacted by stay-at-home orders. The
fund will notably be financed through:
- The 20% decrease in the proposed dividend for 2019.
- The reduction in the compensation of the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, in line with AFEP recommendations.
- The reduction in the compensation of the members of the Group’s
Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
- Combined General Meeting to be held behind closed doors on May
7, 2020.
Bertrand Dumazy, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Edenred, said: “I’d first like to
express my deepest gratitude to Edenred’s teams, who have shown
extraordinary commitment since the start of the crisis. Every day,
around the world, they are putting all of their energy and agility
into ensuring business continuity for their clients. Innovative
solutions adapted to new needs emerging from the crisis have also
been developed in record time thanks to our digital expertise. In
addition to the many relief initiatives implemented by the Edenred
community, we are today announcing the establishment of a special
fund, “More than Ever”, intended primarily to assist our most
vulnerable employees and to support our partner restaurant owners,
who have been hard hit by stay-at-home orders. Now, more than ever,
Edenred is committed to being the companion for people at work and
supporting them through these tough
times.”
Agile, community-minded teams working
hard
As its teams work hard to ensure seamless
business continuity, Edenred, in collaboration with the public
authorities and NGOs, is leveraging its agility and innovation
capabilities to swiftly design specific digital
solutions to help communities feeling the strain of the
crisis. For example:
- In the United Kingdom, 1.3 million children
from disadvantaged backgrounds usually received a free school meal.
The Department for Education has called on Edenred to ensure that
they continue to benefit from a balanced lunch at home, by
administering dedicated funds for use in a network of partner food
outlets via QR codes.
- In Brazil, in partnership with the Gerando
Falçaoes NGO, Edenred has issued 27,000 Ticket Alimentaçao
cards to enable particularly vulnerable families to purchase
groceries.
- In France, Edenred has joined forces with BNP
Paribas to produce 20,000 Ticket Restaurant vouchers for the Samu
Social humanitarian emergency service in Paris, thereby providing
assistance to the homeless and other vulnerable people.
At the same time, employees from various Edenred
subsidiaries have spontaneously come forward to support local
communities through a number of relief
initiatives, including the following:
- In Brazil, Edenred
has organized 3,000 free telemedicine consultations for truck
drivers without health insurance, who are particularly exposed to
the epidemic.
- In China, France
and many other countries, Edenred teams are donating face masks to
hospitals and restaurants.
- In France, Edenred
is encouraging Ticket Restaurant cardholders to make donations to
the French Red Cross and non-profit organization Réseau de Cocagne
via the MyEdenred mobile app.
“More than Ever” fund established to
support Edenred’s ecosystem through the consequences of the
Covid-19 epidemic
Edenred has pledged to commit up to €15 million
to establish the “More than Ever” fund, whose purpose is to
mitigate the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic on its
ecosystem. In particular, the fund will:
- protect Edenred employees, notably the most vulnerable, in
countries with little or no healthcare coverage or social safety
net;
- support partner restaurant owners, who have been severely
impacted by strict stay-at-home orders in the various countries
where the Group operates.
20% decrease in the dividend for
2019
Edenred enjoys a balanced debt profile, with a
net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 1.9 at end-2019 and no major repayment
obligations until 2024. The Group also has a €750 million undrawn
syndicated credit facility maturing in 2025.
The Group could therefore honor the dividend
announced on February 26, 2020 in full, while maintaining enough
cash to navigate through the current situation and continue to
implement the Next Frontier strategic plan for 2019 to
2022.
At a special meeting on April 6, 2020, Edenred’s
Board of Directors decided, however, to decrease the proposed
dividend for 2019 to €0.70 per share, representing a 20% reduction
compared with the amount initially announced. This decision will be
submitted to shareholders for approval at the Combined General
Meeting on May 7, 2020, which will be held behind closed doors. The
dividend payment options remain unchanged1.
Reduction in management’s and directors’ compensation to
be paid in 2020
Bertrand Dumazy, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of the Group, will forgo 25% of his compensation to be paid
in 2020, as per the conditions laid out by French business
association AFEP in its recommendations of March 29, 2020. A
corresponding amount will be donated to the “More than Ever” fund.
Similarly, the members of the Group’s Executive Committee and Board
of Directors have voluntarily decided to donate part of their
compensation to the
fund.
Combined General Meeting to be held
behind closed doors on May 7, 2020
In accordance with the emergency legal and
regulatory measures adopted to slow the spread of the virus,
Edenred’s Combined General Meeting, taking place at 10:00 am on
May 7, 2020 at Edenred’s headquarters, will exceptionally
be held behind closed doors, with no shareholders physically in
attendance.
The Meeting will be broadcast with a delay on
Edenred’s website (www.edenred.com, Investors/Shareholders section,
then Annual General Meeting).
In light of this situation, the following shall
apply:
- shareholders are required to take part in advance,
either by voting remotely (online or by post) or
by giving proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting;
- shareholders are invited to vote or give proxy to the Chairman
of the Meeting online (given how uncertain postal delivery times
are in the current circumstances). As in prior years, Edenred will
offer the option of voting or giving proxy to the Chairman
via the Votaccess secure platform, which will be
live from 9:00 am (Paris time) on April 20, 2020 until 3:00 pm
(Paris time) on May 6, 2020;
- as it will not be possible to ask questions during the Meeting,
shareholders can send their questions by post (registered mail,
return receipt requested) or by email (AGM.2020@edenred.com),
provided they are received no later than April 30, 2020.
Detailed information on how to take part
remotely prior to the Meeting can notably be found in the notice of
meeting published in the French legal gazette (BALO) on April 1,
2020. Given that circumstances may change in line with public
health, legal and regulatory requirements, shareholders are
encouraged to regularly check the section dedicated to the General
Meeting on Edenred’s website
(https://www.edenred.com/en/investors-shareholders/about-agm).
▬▬
Edenred is a leading services
and payments platform and the everyday companion for people at
work, connecting 50 million employees and 2 million partner
merchants in 46 countries via more than 850,000 corporate
clients.
Edenred offers specific-purpose payment
solutions for food (meal vouchers), fleet and mobility (fuel cards,
commuter vouchers), incentives (gift vouchers, employee engagement
platforms) and corporate payments (virtual cards). These solutions
enhance employee well-being and purchasing power, improve
companies’ attractiveness and efficiency, and vitalize the
employment market and the local economy.
Edenred’s 10,000 employees are committed to
making the world of work a connected ecosystem that is safer, more
efficient and more user-friendly every day.
In 2019, thanks to its global technology assets,
the Group managed €31 billion in business volume, primarily carried
out via mobile applications, online platforms and cards.
Edenred is listed on the Euronext Paris stock
exchange and included in the following indices: CAC Next 20,
FTSE4Good, DJSI Europe and MSCI Europe.
For more information: www.edenred.com
The logos and other trademarks mentioned and
featured in this press release are registered trademarks of
Edenred S.A., its subsidiaries or third parties. They may not
be used for commercial purposes without prior written consent from
their owners.
Edenred is celebrating its tenth anniversary in
2020.
▬▬
CONTACTS
Communications Department Marie-Laurence
Bouchon+33 (0)1 86 67 20 08marie-laurence.bouchon@edenred.com
Media Relations Matthieu
Santalucia+33 (0)1 86 67 22 63matthieu.santalucia@edenred.com |
Investor
Relations Solène Zammito+33 (0)1 86 67 23
13solene.zammito@edenred.com Loïc Da Silva+33 (0)1 86
67 20 67loic.dasilva@edenred.com
|
1 Shareholders will have the option to receive the dividend 100%
in cash or 100% in shares, with a 10% discount.
- 2020 04 07 - Edenred AGM and dividend
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