FM Business and the Tribune present the 1819 with Edv Chevrillon.
You are in the 18 19 inhabited, first guest is Bertrand Dumazy. He is the CEO of Edenred. Good evening Bertrand Dumazy.
Thank you for being with us. You have found your smile again because you published your results, as they say. They are rather good numbers, even a bit above expectations. We'll come back to that. But above all, you made a comeback in your stock price because we know the year was a bit hard. You left the CAC 40, you'll tell us if your hope is to return soon to the CAC 40. I would like to ask you about the evolution of your group, but perhaps first because you are a very good witness, a barometer of the business climate. There have been very bad figures in France, notably the PMI index which shows that activity is at its lowest in 14 months. Do you feel it? Because we'll remind those who don't know, it's obviously meal vouchers but it's many employee benefits. So in fact, when a company hires someone, it calls on you, and when it fires someone, it also calls on you. So what do you observe from where you are?
First of all, where are we? We are present in 45 countries on all continents of the world. So this observation is very fine by geography, and we serve 60 million employees in the world as the leader, as you said, of employee benefits. So in fact, we see in each of our clients who are employers the evolution of their employees. And it is true that everywhere in the world, but more particularly in Europe, and this is the first trend, the unemployment rate is increasing. So we see in our portfolios on a historical cohort fewer employees to serve. So we have an increasing unemployment rate, particularly in Europe. The second thing we observe is a great nervousness regarding purchasing power. That is to say that inflation, the toothpaste has come out of the tube. You are not unaware that since the end of Covid, food inflation is around 25% and we predict 5% more with the conflict in the Middle East. And so we face employers and employees who are very concerned about the evolution of purchasing power. And since our job is to give food purchasing power, we see it and we observe it every day. However, there are differences by geographic area. It is particularly strong in Europe. Less so in the United States and Latin America. In the United States, we must recognize that they have had a train of inflation for a few years, so nothing new under the sun. And in Latin America, these are countries that have lived with a lot of inflation for a very long time. So in fact, it is a bit of normal life on the continent of North and South America. It is new and it has returned to Europe. And in Asia, on the other hand, inflation is well under control.
Yes, well under control. And if we look, if we make a more detailed focus on Europe, obviously because we are in France, what do you observe on France?
Well, France, we observe perhaps a bit more acutely. First, we see the unfortunate rise in the unemployment rate since we see it in the number of employees we serve, in fact, portfolios that are shrinking, and that affects first interns, fixed-term contracts, temporary work. So the large temporary work agencies are all clients of Edenred, and in fact they employ fewer people today than they did a year ago. And the second thing is that all polls show, and we see it in the populations concerned, the first concern of the French is the cost of living and being able to live properly, with the first subject being food purchasing power.
Yes, we'll come back to the reform of meal vouchers because now they are materialized, we no longer say ticket restaurant, we say restaurant, it's your brand.
Yes, it's your brand. But now, for us, it's meal vouchers. We'll see because there is the possibility of using them on Sundays. Is it a good idea or not? First, you need to know that 20% of French people today can use their meal voucher on Sundays. Why? Because the meal voucher is actually the equivalent of the cafeteria for those who don't have one. And when you work on Sundays, the employer gives access to meal vouchers on Sundays as if I went to work, I had a cafeteria. So already, 20% of French workers can use it on Sundays on a derogation. Is it a good idea to expand? In any case, it was one of the proposals. Yes, I think it's a good idea to modernize, but we must still keep in mind, and it's very important, the social purpose of the meal voucher: it's food purchasing power at work, and it's the employer who finances this food purchasing power for at least 60%. So if we denature its use too much, at some point the employer might say, 'I'm here to pay for your food at work, not outside of work for your family.' Yes. So on Sundays, why not? And we must be very careful not to denature it because if we denature the food purchasing power at work, it's a social benefit that could disappear. So yes to modernization, no to denaturation of the social purpose.
So in summary, you are against? In summary, let's call a cat a cat.
Well, that was me. But if it were me, I think the current system is sufficient.
Yes. There you go. [laughter]
So you are against. Bertrand Dumazy, we'll come back anyway because it's interesting to see especially with your stock has regained color, it badly needed it. You revealed your revenue for the first quarter. So it's 730 million, right? It's a bit more than expected. What made it progress in this context, the bad international context, from February 28? What made it progress?
