The morning show on Radio Classique with Marc Bourau. The voices of the economy, Stéphane Pedradzi. Your guest this morning is the CEO of Edenred. Good morning, Bertrand Dumazy.
Good morning, Stéphane Pedradzi. Welcome to Radio Classique.
Edenred is the specialist in prepaid vouchers, notably the most famous of them, the meal voucher, which has even become a generic name and which should undergo some adjustments in the coming months. We'll talk about that. And we'll also talk about your results, your quarterly revenue actually published a few minutes ago, up 6.7% for the first quarter revenue, and especially the confirmed objectives for the whole year. First, the trade war with the United States. Donald Trump has suspended some tariffs for 90 days, but he warned that no country would be spared. Are you worried, knowing that you are present in the United States?
Yes, we are present in the United States, but we are a multi-local model of digital services. That means we import nothing, we export nothing, and therefore we are not affected by potential customs barriers. Is there nevertheless an indirect impact that could affect you? I am thinking in particular of the consequences on employment in the United States. Yes, in fact the indirect impact, like all companies, we are subject to global growth, and so if global growth slows due to retaliatory measures in the trade war, we will suffer this global slowdown, which for us can translate in two ways. The first is a rise in unemployment and therefore fewer employees to serve worldwide. But also in our mobility activities, which represent 30% of our revenue, perhaps fewer kilometers traveled since there is less economic activity. So indirectly, it is something we are watching closely. However, we are also sensitive to interest rates and inflation, which can be a negative effect on the economy, but on these two points, it is positive for Edenred.
Exactly, economists warn that tariffs could have an inflationary effect in the United States. For you, that's not necessarily bad news.
So, an inflationary effect in the United States and the rest of the world. Once again, Edenred is present in 45 countries, and so a little inflation means more purchasing power for employees, and that's where the solutions we offer work wonders.
You have just presented your quarterly revenue. 6.7% increase on a like-for-like basis, 724 million euros. You also confirmed your 2025 target for EBITDA growth, that is gross operating profit, of at least 10% on a like-for-like basis. 10%. Yes, that's right. And what was the driver of these results?
So, the driver of these results was driven by two things. The first is our mobility activity, which is growing at double digits. And since Edenred is present throughout the world, in fact the whole world is driving double-digit growth, and we see a slowdown in Europe because our growth in Europe was around 5%. What does that mean? It means that outside Europe, Edenred's activity is growing at double digits. In Europe, a slowdown due to these macroeconomic disruptions, particularly on the great locomotives of the European economy, namely France and Germany.
You have growth drivers, particularly in Latin America.
Yes. So in fact when we look at our growth, it is double-digit everywhere except in Europe. And when we look at our core activities and what we call complementary activities, our complementary activities, which represent 30% of our revenue, are also growing at double digits. So, complementary activity, you may not know, but if Amazon, for example in Europe, has fleets of vehicles that deliver a certain number of packages to your home, these fleets of vehicles are powered by energy, and in particular electric energy, thanks to Edenred solutions.
You are reaching the end of your 2022-2025 strategic plan this year, a period marked by the war in Ukraine, the sharp rise in energy prices, inflation, and now the trade war with the United States. Have you had to revise some targets downward?
So on this strategic plan, there has been no downward revision. I recall that over the last three years, in fact, if you look at the results, we employ 30% more employees. Our revenue has been multiplied by 1.8. Our operating profit has been multiplied by 2, and we serve 10 million additional users worldwide. This means it has been a period of very strong growth that validates this strategy. On the other hand, when I say nothing has been revised downward, except for our operating profit growth in 2025 where we thought we would do 12% and the target set is 10%.
You will present a new strategic plan at the end of the year. There will be a capital markets day at the end of the year. Will you, for example, keep the net zero carbon target by 2050?
