Good morning to everyone. This is Luca Borlini, head of Nestlé Investor Relations. Joining me today are Nestlé Chairman, Paul Bulcke, CEO Mark Schneider, incoming CEO Laurent Freixe, and CFO Anna Manz. We will share some introductory remarks before opening the call to questions. As a reminder, this call will cover questions related to the management change only, and is not a trading update. Before we begin, please remember that any comments of this call are subject to the usual disclaimer on forward-looking statements. And with that, I turn to Paul. Thank you, Luca, and welcome to you all. Also thank you for calling in this important moment for us. And yesterday, as you know, we shared some information. The Board of Directors has announced, as you have seen, that Laurent Freixe is taking over on the role of the Nestlé CEO. Mark Schneider has decided to explore new opportunities outside of Nestlé. And first, I would like to thank Mark for his contributions over the past eight years. He has done an excellent job, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors, and thank you, Mark. I know that this change may come as a surprise for many of you, and the board, together with Mark, have assessed the current environment and situation, and have agreed that now is the time for the company for a change, and therefore, I'm truly excited that Laurent has accepted the position of Nestlé CEO. I have known Laurent for a long, long time, and some of you have had opportunity to also interact with him at past investor events, and as you know, Laurent, he is thirty-eight years with our company, he including also sixteen years in general management on the Executive Board. He has been in many places. He has been market head in several countries. He has been also leading several zones. He knows Nestlé inside out. He knows our culture, our values. He has extensive in-market expertise, as well also has profound understanding of markets and the dynamics out there, and what our consumers want. Laurent has earned great respect also, and credibility, both inside the company and outside the company. I think all these things matter, and I think Laurent is the right leader, for this time, and as such, I also wish you, Laurent, every success in this new role. I want to make it short, so, but before I hear also from Laurent, maybe, Mark, please, I want to give you the floor, too, to connect with the people that you know so well. Thank you, Paul. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to connect with you before you get into Q&A with Paul, Laurent, and Anna. I really appreciate the trust and partnership we have had with you, our investors, over the last few years as we built and developed this company. Thank you. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve Nestlé, and leaving is not a decision I've taken lightly. I would like to thank the board and the entire Nestlé community for all we have accomplished during the last eight years. Finally, I wish Laurent and the leadership team every success in taking Nestlé forward. Thank you, Mark. Laurent, share a few of your thoughts and, Yeah. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Mark. Let me start to first express my gratitude to the Nestlé Board of Directors for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading Nestlé. I'm truly honored and fully aware of the responsibility that come with this position. I'm deeply committed to Nestlé, our purpose and values. As the leading global food, beverage, and nutrition company, as you know, we strive to be the best in everything we do. We have an unmatched category and geography mix, a very strong portfolio of iconic brands, and unique competitive advantages in route to market, R&D, and manufacturing. While the food and beverage industry has gone through significant changes in recent years, our top priority, my top priority, is to drive sustainable top line growth and/or through market share gains. It all starts with strengthening trust in Nestlé. We will relentlessly focus on meeting consumers' and customers' needs. We aim to do this in a decisive and disciplined way, through increased investments behind innovation as well as behind our brands. To ensure our success, we will embrace the strategic virtuous circle as our compass, with a focus on productivity, cost management, allowing strategic investments in our key brands and key innovations. We will be laser focused on execution, starting with quality, safety, simplicity, speed, and agility. This is pivotal to our success going forward. We will accelerate our data transformation to be a real-time, intelligent enterprise, end-to-end connected from farm to fork, that is data and AI-powered... and additionally, we will continue our journey towards achieving net zero emissions, while being mindful of natural resources, nature, and biodiversity. We will perform as we transform. I'm looking forward to working closely with Anna, who is with us in this call. Having worked with her during these past few months, I'm very impressed with her depth, and constructive and collaborative approach. She has my full trust and confidence, and we will be a great team. In the coming months, I'm very keen to engage with you, our investors, in an open and transparent way, something I've always valued in the past. I look forward to hearing your feedback and expectations for the company, and of course, to sharing our plans going forward. Thank you. Thank you, Laurent. With that, we move to the Q&A session. We are now opening the lines to questions from financial analysts. As usual, please limit yourself to no more than two questions. And the first question comes from Celine Pannuti at J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead, Celine. Hello, Celine. Yes, hello, good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my question. Maybe I will start with the first point on asking, you know, on the board decision. You said that the change, you know, you assess the current environment, and you decided it was time for a change, and effectively it has been quite an unexpected and sudden change. So, could you tell us exactly what assessment you've made? Obviously, the growth has been a bit weaker than expected in the first six months, and there was a lower expectation for the year. Can you talk about the current trading, and has that had an impact on your decision? That's my first question. My second question may be to Laurent. In terms of what you said, to re-energize growth, I hear you about market share again, but many times you've been talking about strategic investment. Do you think that there will be a need for accelerated A&P in the first year in order to set Nestlé for success in the midterm? Thank you. To answer your question, we did assess clearly. We always permanently assess the situation, and we somehow find the right answer to confront the challenges and realize our opportunities better. It is a little bit what we call back to basics. It is what's gonna make or break and secure our success. It is this real understanding of brands, products, consumers. Our strengths in our company are, and you know them, this also in-market expertise worldwide, every market per se. It is this innovation pipeline that is translated straight into more, I would say, scaled up rollouts. It is this, yeah, it is this R&D and execution, flawless execution. It is this reaction, wherever, and always you have challenges, it's a fast reaction on these challenges and all that. That is what Nestlé is. That is what the strength of Nestlé is, and Mark did a good job and all, but there, in that sense, I feel Laurent has, with his thirty-eight years of in the trenches experience, with his, I would say also sixteen years in the Executive Board as such, being part of shaping and framing this company in the last sixteen years, because that's what general management of Nestlé is. It is a team leadership, then he is totally aligned with the strategy. There's permanent continuum. There's full buy-in into the hands and feet in the street of this company, everywhere in the world. And that is why we feel so he's gonna have from day one and minute one effective traction and leadership. And that is what I think a little bit what we call internally back to basics. That was the call. There was a second question? Yep. And that was more to Laurent. Laurent? Yeah. On, yeah, the second question on marketing- Yeah ... and how you see going forward. Look, as I said, the big focus will be on organic growth, market share gains to drive organic growth. That requires investments in the brands. That requires investment in growth platforms. And the objective, my objective is to create space with the management team to allow for those investments. I've always made the case that innovation, for instance, has to be incremental. Incremental innovation requires incremental funding. And just to highlight what I got in mind there, just think of Nespresso and Nescafé Dolce Gusto in the past. If we would have taken resources from Nescafé to grow Nescafé Dolce Gusto, for instance, we might have done a good job on Nescafé Dolce Gusto, but we would have done a poor job on Nescafé. So we are wise enough, and we want to walk that line going forward to keep supporting Nescafé, one of our best brands, while putting incremental resources behind Nescafé Dolce Gusto. To do this, to achieve this, we will need to be very strong on productivity, cost efficiencies to create the space again, and generate the funds and the resources to invest incrementally behind the brands and the growth platforms. It's through investment behind the brands, through quality and execution, of course, that we will achieve that. Embracing marketing, just, not just, not just a question of numbers, of course, and investments. We want to make sure that we achieve superiority in every step of the value chain, starting with the quality of our products, the good for you strategy, pricing, distribution, and investments behind the brands. All right. Next question is from Jon Cox at Kepler. Please go ahead, Jon. Hello, Jon. Yeah, yeah, good morning, guys. Yeah, a couple of questions for me, really coming back to Laurent, and what you think, and, you know, what happens next. At the moment, the plan is for you guys to be back in that 4-6% growth corridor, next year. First question for you, any reason you think you shouldn't be able to do that? And that includes, is there any sort of thoughts about, you know, divestments of businesses, M&A, you know, that sort of stuff. The second question leads into it, is really on the margin and profitability. You've talked about innovation. You also seem to be saying you can spend more by increasing productivity, and as a result, that Nestlé model of incremental margin gains, will continue. Again, any reason why that won't happen, from next year? And of course, at the moment, the guidance is for that to happen this year in terms of profitability. Well, Jon, Maybe just as a bit of an add-on, you know, when will you sort of do a big bang announcement with the Capital Markets Day? Is that, is that the plan? Well, Jon, I understand your question, and you understand I'm not going to answer it, in the sense this is not the meaning and the purpose of this call. This is a call about a change of leadership in this company. But I want to always say, only say, normally what you are asking for are results of doing the right things. And what I can say to you, I feel we are doing the right things, putting the right resources, the right leadership behind the right strengths of this company to make them flourish, and flourish again. And I repeat it, that's very important to know. I know this company. I know what has brought us permanent success, which is actually a combination of many things, and that starts with brands, and fuel them, care for them. And as products, and innovate them, renovate them, consumer link and understanding, and winning the hearts and the minds of consumers and as customers. It's in-market capital that's very everywhere, is that. To have very good execution, having the troops aligned and proud and working with motivation, et cetera. I think this leadership is all about that. That is actually an indirect answer to your question. And maybe to complement, Jon, be patient. We'll come back in detail to these questions at the Capital Markets Day. That's the agenda. That's on the agenda. But for now, you cannot, you cannot confirm those targets for next year? That's not the purpose. I don't feel this is totally out of context now, so no, sorry. Thanks, Jon, for your questions. The next question is coming from James Edwardes Jones at RBC. Please go ahead, James. Thank you, Luca. Good morning, everyone. Well, can I try about the current year's guidance? And I think it is extremely relevant, 3%, at least 3% organic sales growth and moderate increase in margins. Can we still expect that for the current year? And coming back to Celine's question a bit more, is it fair to describe this as more a culture-related decision or a performance-related decision? Well, that's a little bit gonna have to answer the same as I answered before. This is not the purpose of... I don't, I don't, I don't do that, and I will not do that now. I understand your question, though, but look- But Paul, don't you see this is going to be absolutely the forefront of people's minds? But you're gonna have contacts with our people in the next weeks to come, and then that should be ventilated there. I'm not gonna speak up for them, but this. Look, what's out there as objectives and things like that, as a company dimension, it's not a change of leadership dimension. I don't think that changes. And if we were changing- Yeah, uh. the guidance at this current time, we would have announced that, which is. Oh, actually, it's a legal thing, too. Yeah, we're not gonna touch anything because legally we should have announced that, so... But I don't see anything there that is relevant to be ventilated now in more specifics. Really, I see it more as actually putting the right results in place to secure. Perfect. Thanks, James. So next question is from Patrik Schwendimann at Zürcher Kantonalbank. Please go ahead, Patrik. Hello, Patrik. Hello, Patrik. Are you there? Patrik. Can you hear me? Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Thank you, Luca. Good morning, Paul. Patrik Schwendimann, Zürcher Kantonalbank. I wish you, Laurent and you, Mark, all the best for the future. Two questions for Laurent. Nestlé used to be an end company with a good organic growth and improvement in the EBIT margin. The environment is, as we all know, not easy. As just a best guess, how long does it take to get back to this growth track record, and what needs to be done, initially? And then second question, as far as I know, you in the last decade, you are a big fan of a focused company. How happy are you with the current portfolio? Thank you. Yes, thank- Laurent, that's for you. Yeah. Thank you, Paul. Thank you. I like this, and it's actually more, it's top line and bottom line and resource efficiency. Thank you, Patrik, and for your kind wishes, and thanks, Paul, for answering the question. Value creation, of course, is front and center of the agenda. I want to make sure that we accelerate the organic growth going forward. It's a specific context at the moment. We are out of a long period of high inflation. Prices have slowed down, but we should not forget that even these small price increases are coming on top of significant price increases in the past. The consumer is relatively soft across the board for many reasons. So I think it's more a kind of adjustment year, and that doesn't preclude what the future will be. But anyway, anyhow, in any case, we want to outperform our industry. We want to gain market shares, and that comes back to investing in our brands, that comes back to investing in our growth platforms. And the focus will be on driving the current portfolio primarily organic growth is of the essence. On the portfolio there might be of course adjustment, but again, top priority is absolutely organic growth, and M&A is there to complement the strategy to strengthen our portfolio where it can be and is not the core of the strategy. Great, Patrick. Thank you, Laurent. Yeah, please, you still have some another short question? Okay. Well, next question is from Victoria Petrova at Bank of America. Vika, please go ahead with your question. Thank you very much, and Laurent, congratulations, and thank you, Mark. I have only one question left. Day one now, what will be the key change in terms of strategic priority, day-to-day operations, and maybe top management changes? You mentioned Anna and your close collaboration. Anything else we should watch out for short term? Yeah, engaging with people and mobilizing the entire organization top to bottom, I see as absolutely critical. You know that we are probably the most global and the most local company at the same time. So it's absolutely critical to energize the front line and invest in the business, raise our game when it comes to quality of execution, and live up to our values and principles. So that will be top priorities on my agenda, and investing in the business, connecting with the consumers and the customers, understanding their needs, and continue the transformation in areas that will be critical for the short, medium, long term, and I'm thinking of technology, digital, for instance, as a clear space for investment and preparing for the future. Yeah, that's right. First thing, rally the troops. Align behind. I think that's a good line. Thank you, Victoria. Thank you very much. And maybe just to follow up, you have a new incoming investor relations head. Is it still on? I didn't hear the question. I'm sorry. It was very, it was- Yeah, can you repeat the question, Victoria? It wasn't clear. Apologies, yes. You had announced a new investor relations head coming in October. Is it still on? Yes. Yes. I see no reason to change that. That was, that was planned and- Luca has a great next role to go to within Nestlé, and we'll manage a very seamless transition, and thankfully, Luca will be around to support us. Absolutely. No, very much so. I mean, Nestlé is my life, yes. But the commitments of the company are held. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah, absolutely. Individual things we have to see, but the company events and the commitments are held. No, that's for sure. Yeah, sure. Thank you, Victoria. Thanks, Vika. Next question is from Warren Ackerman. Please, Warren, please go ahead, Warren. Hello, Warren. Good morning, everybody. Hello, morning, everybody. It's Warren here, from Barclays. I've actually got two for Laurent. The first one, Laurent, just on market share, there's obviously been a lot of talk about that. You want to improve it. What's your assessment of where you are currently on market share? Where are the big kind of deltas, and, you know, related to that, I mean, execution sounds like, you know, it's obviously everything in FMCG, and, you know, where do you think Nestlé are sort of falling down on execution, and what can you do to actually improve your sort of day-to-day, in-market execution? That's the first one. And then the second one is just around the CMD. Can I just confirm the date for the CMD in November? Is that gonna be, just unchanged? Thank you. So on the market shares, hopefully, we are gaining in many of the core areas, but we are not necessarily gaining everywhere and in every geography. I want to make sure that we raise our game, and everywhere that it matters, we are in a winning position. That requires investments, investments behind the brands, in the value proposition, investment in growth platforms and innovation. So I come back to the same. Performance is okay, but I think could be better. So we need to raise our game there, and when it comes to the how, in terms of the execution, I think you know the complexity of Nestlé. You know how big we are, how many categories, how many geographies, how many brands we got, and, you know the work we have done on SKUs, for instance, lately, but we are doing the same type of exercise on the brands, on the innovations, on the growth platforms. Trying to clarify where are the big bets, where are the big priorities, and make sure that those we resource with everything we can and we should to make them thrive and win. Not everything is equal in the portfolio, so we want to make sure that we resource and support the best possible way the core. And, in the same vein or in the same spirit, everything that has to do with simplicity, simplifying processes, simplifying ways of working, increasing the speed and agility of the organization, which is a work which we have started some time ago. But, I mean, there is still some way to go, will be very important and very critical to make sure that the people understand where we are heading, where are the priorities, and go with full energy and full resources behind those. If we can do that, and I'm sure we can do that because we have done it in the past, and we do it in many areas, we will win in the marketplace. There is no doubt in my mind. We have the strengths, we have the scale, we have the capabilities, to make that happen. On the last question, yes, that stands. There's no change. Actually, it's good opportunity to get connected on all fronts with Laurent and you, and so that's gonna be good. No, no, we keep that. That's actually a good coincidence that we have that in front of us, so we're working and starting, and- Yeah ... it's the best way for Laurent to, and the whole team, to connect with you and holistically completely. So that's, that's true. So looking forward to that, I suppose, you know? Yeah. Okay, so Warren, thank you for your questions. Thanks, Warren. Next question is from Bruno Monteyne at Bernstein. Please go ahead, Bruno. Hello, Bruno. Hi, good morning, Paul and Laurent. My first question is for Paul, the second one for Laurent, please. Now, Paul, in your comments on the reasons for Mark's departure, I think I can sort of hear things about slow execution in markets, back to basics, leadership, and all of that. Now, if I go back two years, everybody would have argued that Nestlé was the best at execution. It was massively admired, and everybody wished they could be as good as Nestlé. So something changed in the last two years, and so my question to you is, like, at what point did the board feel that that amazing execution we all admired two years ago wasn't there anymore? And why did the change have to be so abrupt? Why at this speed? Because, you know, if you want to shift the kind of style of leadership, you can do it in a planned kind of way. So doing it so abrupt risks to spook investors in there. So why did... When did the timing start, and why so abrupt? And for you, Laurent, sort of listening to what you say, you're talking about winning in all places with all brands, and it seems all very sensible and great, but you also mentioned that requires investments in the business. So am I hearing a slight shift in priorities that if you have to trade off margin development versus market share, that you'd be willing to prioritize more the market share developments rather than the margin development compared to your predecessor, Mark? Thank you. Right. Sharp questions, like always, Bruno. And the first of all, in my question that you have there, you have two things. First of all, what changes all of a sudden? But I must say, different situations, different answer, different resources, different qualities that are needed. I must say, nowadays, I see that and we are suffering a bit of not really privileging our basic strengths, which is basically marketing driven, fueling our brands, investing in them, rolling out innovation, connecting and reconnecting, and changing and knowing the preference of the changing consumer. It is pricing and doing the price dynamics in the markets and not just pricing per se, understanding the different levels of, I would say also, geopolitical differences in the world and acting to that. That is all what I feel is what we should really privilege now. We call it a bit internally forward to basics, and that doesn't take away what has been done in portfolio management. We have always done portfolio management. They've got an acceleration, a very good and very well done, and that I've said with Mark. We have done and taken up many things that had to be put in order and gotten some priority. We have done that, and now is the time for this permanent execution in the markets, mobilizing our people, aligning them behind specific actions, with discipline and right direction, all in the framing of the nutrition, health, and wellness strategy, and fuel that further, and we are doing that. It's not that we turn a page, there is continuum, but there is emphasis that has shifted towards, I would say, in a nutshell, towards in-market execution and marketing, as the classical dimension of marketing and fueling brands, et cetera. That's where we felt, hey, we're moving into that. And there you have different, maybe qualities needed to do that. And one of the qualities that you need is somebody who really connects with the base and goes out there, motivates and rallies the troops into their dynamics. That is what it is all about, and that is not something you wake up in the morning. You need that. That rolls into it. The whole market situation is such that we feel and privilege that now. And that's where we are. Now, it is abrupt. You know that? When you get there, you get it. It amalgamates, it coagulates into "Hey, that's where we are," and from both sides, Mark and the board. And then we say, "Look, it's the time." And once you are there, once you get that, get to that point, there is no meaning in dragging that on, hiding it, but it's also a market-sensitive thing. You have to get it out when you get there. So and that's how, from both sides, we said, "Look, let's do it this way," and that's it. Having also the huge advantage of having somebody that is action ready now, and with all the things we are just privileging to that we need, that's where that abrupt comes in, and I understand it. From the outside, you say, "Ooh, something happened." No, it's only that fading and getting to a point, and then once you're there, we move fast. And that is, that move fast is only in the outside world perceived as such. Now, on these investments, et cetera, Laurent, I give- Yeah. Give that to you. Yeah. Thanks, Paul, and thanks for the question, Bruno. It's very, very essential, and I know that market shares are also close to our consideration. I don't see contradiction. I understand the question. I come back to that. I don't see any contradiction between gaining market shares and supporting the margins. On the reverse, we all know the correlation between the higher the market share, generally, the higher the margins. A market leader will tend to be quite profitable, especially if the market leader has a big gap [Foreign language] number two. Number two will struggle. Number three will have it very, very difficult when it comes to margins. And if you look at the equation, market shares drive the top line, top line drive the margins, so that's the way I see it. Now, I understand the question in the sense that, I'm making the case that we need to invest more, behind the business, behind the brands, behind innovation. Absolutely, if you want to gain share and drive organic growth, then your question is: Where does it come from? And, and the answer, and I come back to the model I want to follow, is this strategic virtuous circle of value creation, and it starts with a big emphasis on productivity and cost efficiency to generate the margins to invest in the business incrementally. That's the idea. I want to create the space. I want to generate, efficiency and resources to invest, in the business. That's exactly what we will do. All right. Yeah. A few questions left. It's slightly- Yeah. Yeah, let's give some- Yeah, we take, They'll be very short answers. Absolutely. We will take two more questions, one from Sarah and the other one from David, and then we will close the event. Sarah, please, Sarah Simon- Sarah, yeah. Advance. Please go ahead. Hello, Sarah. Yes, good morning. I'll keep it to one then. So Laurent, you were talking about productivity to feed the reinvestment in marketing. Now, there's obviously been rumors, several times in the last year of a big restructuring at Nestlé. Mark has always said, "That's not the Nestlé way. You know, we don't do it like that." Do you still remain of that view? I'm just wondering where you think you're going to achieve the productivity if there isn't to be a sort of large cost-cutting program. Thanks. Yeah, there, there is the what, and there is the how. So determination to be cost productive, cost efficient is there. But it's clear that whatever we do, we will do it the Nestlé way. So that absolutely stands. And we're not in a situation that we need drama. So it's just that continuous excellence that we drive through. We have that now for many years. We just have to fuel it, put it in center place again, maybe, but I don't see any drama. But we're gonna work, and there's gonna be permanent, adjusting and restructuring. I think that's the way we do it normally. Sarah, thank you for your question. Then, the last question, you know, because it's from David. Yeah, David Hayes at Jefferies. Please go ahead, David. Thanks. Good morning, all. Just one thing from me as well, I guess. Just in terms of the process for the new appointment, was there a process at all that was able to take place? And were there others considered or approached for the role? Just trying to understand how you got to Laurent as the right person for the role at this point. Look, this is the most important job a board has, is to have the right leadership, the right structure, the right strategic direction, but the right leadership is one of them, and it's in my eyes, one of the most important ones. This is a permanent process in our executive board is to know: Hey, how are we, how are we led? And et cetera, and then judging, and that's my job, too. I'm very close to the day-to-day operations of the company, just because of interest and all that, to have permanent feedback, adjusting, tweaking, reporting. We have also the independent director that takes the board, and without me, there, there's checks and balances in all these things because these are not individual decisions. This is a full board assessing, seeing, discussing, also with Mark, because there's permanent feedback mutually. And that's how it goes. We're permanently also having antennas out, what's out there, who is out there, and things like that, and not only for CEO, for all kinds of jobs we have. And the Board is permanently involved in this process, be it for the Executive Board, be it for, and especially for the CEO. And it's in that sense, and not something that all of a sudden, we woke up, we had an Executive Board, we get to a discussion and we get to that conclusion. This has been somewhere not maturing into that decision, but we have been observing, discussing, assessing. Then once you get to "Hey, let's do the mutually," let's get to this point, then decisions are made, and that's a very formal process then of seeing alternatives, but the alternatives didn't come up when we first "Hey, we should..." No, we always have the eye on possible. We have emergency replacement, we have organized replacement projections. We are putting people in the right places to expose them to make them ready. This is a very, I would say, not complex, but very holistic, complete process that we have permanently in place, and actually, we pride ourselves to do it in a, in a way that is felt by the full board and also as, hey, this is really due process, and they feel, and very, very much involved in the decisions, each of them and collegially as a board. Great. We have now come to an end of our session today. We look forward to engaging with you in the upcoming roadshow, together with Anna. So we thank you again, and we wish you a pleasant day. Stay safe and healthy. Well, thank you for your interest, and thank you for your questions. And, look, we are always there for you, whatever you may have, and I think there's quite a few things set up already for the future. So, and, Laurent, it's for you now. Thank you, and thank you to all. Looking forward to meeting you, very soon. All right. Thank you very much, all, and good Friday. Nice weekend. Bye-bye.