Operator: Thank you for standing by. My name is Kate, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Adecco Group Q4 and Full Year 2025 Results. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Benita Barretto, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Benita Barretto: Good morning. Thank you for joining our conference call today. I'm Benita Barretto, the group's Head of Investor Relations. And with me are the Adecco Group's CEO, Denis Machuel; and CFO, Valentina Ficaio. Before we begin, please take note of the disclaimer on Slide 2. Today's presentation will reference both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results and operating metrics. This conference call will include forward-looking statements, which are based on current assumptions and, as always, present opportunities as well as risks and uncertainties. With that, I will now hand over to Denis.

Denis Machuel: Thank you, Benita, and a warm welcome to all of you who joined the call today. And let me open with the full year highlights on Slide 4. The group has consistently delivered on its ambitions and targets in 2025. In terms of market share, the group gained 245 basis points relative to key competitors with ongoing positive momentum. On a full year basis, the group's revenues were up 1.3% year-on-year, gross profit was stable, and the group delivered an industry-leading 19.2% gross margin, evidence of the benefits of its diversification strategy. The group has managed costs and capacity with discipline. G&A overheads were further reduced by EUR 23 million, bringing our total net savings to nearly EUR 200 million when compared to 2022's baseline. And productivity increased 3% year-on-year. In turn, the group generated EUR 693 million of EBITA and stayed within the EBITA margin corridor on a full year basis at 3%. Cash generation was strong with 102% cash conversion ratio, operating cash flow of EUR 613 million and free cash flow of EUR 483 million. Importantly, the group improved its leverage ratio, ending the year at 2.4x net debt-to-EBITDA, down 0.2x year-on-year and down 0.6x sequentially. Let's turn now to Slide 5. And on the left side, we highlight our consistent outperformance relative to key competitors across the past 3 years. And the chart on the right side shows volumes steadily improved throughout the year with flexible placement and outsourcing volumes in the Adecco GBU rebounding from decline to growth. Management's focus on customer satisfaction, digital innovation and recruiter productivity, integral to our strategy, is driving strong top line and volume momentum ahead of market trends. Let's move to Slide 6, where we set out the progress we are making with the run-and-change agenda, strengthening execution muscle across operations day by day, while investing in digital solutions and new services to drive future growth. There are many points on this slide, so let me highlight only a few. Beginning with the Strengthen Run priorities. The group has made significant progress in 2025. The Adecco North American turnaround gained traction. Full year revenues were up 12% and the EBITA margin expanded 230 basis points year-on-year. In line with the group's digital strategy, Adecco further expanded its Talent Supply Chain approach to 144 large clients, adding 42 in Q4 alone. By centralizing, automating and digitizing processes effectively, the Talent Supply Chain delivered a meaningful 550 basis points year-on-year improvement in fill rates. In Akkodis, restructuring in Germany has locked in EUR 58 million run rate savings. And LHH's Career Transition business continued to successfully expand in the SME segment, increasing the number of companies served by 17%. The group's Change agenda also progressed. Adecco now has 6 recruiter agents live within the Talent Supply Chain structure in the U.K. and in France. The U.K. agents have achieved approximately 15% time savings in recruiting processes, and this is an encouraging start. And we will roll out agents across key markets in 2026 to scale these benefits. And while there is further work to be done in Akkodis Consulting, France's value creation plan improved performance with the unit growing ahead of market and achieved a 7% margin run rate, up 160 basis points year-on-year. And in LHH, targeted investments in Ezra digital coaching platform drove 42% revenue growth and a record pipeline at year-end. Moving to Slide 7. On this slide, we detail the firm progress made in the turnaround of Akkodis Germany. Management took decisive restructuring action in 2025, achieving EUR 58 million in annual cost savings on a run rate basis by year-end. This included reducing the cost of sales by EUR 43 million and SG&A expenses by EUR 15 million, with EUR 8 million saved through real estate consolidation across 26 locations. Last wave of rightsizing effort is in flight, lowering headcount by approximately 600 in total. In addition, select noncore assets were exited, eliminating approximately EUR 3 million of negative EBITA. The program incurred onetime charges of EUR 46 million in 2025 but has already delivered around EUR 15 million of in-year P&L benefit. As a result, Akkodis Germany achieved a healthy 5.4% EBITA margin run rate at year-end. The group expects incremental savings to crystallize in the P&L during 2026, in particular during H1. With the organization being rightsized, management's focus in 2026 will shift to rebuilding the top line, supported by encouraging new client wins across sectors such as aerospace, defense and life sciences. In short, the group has made strong progress in stabilizing Akkodis Germany, positioning it for sustainable profitable growth going forward. Slide 8 sets out the Board of Directors' dividend proposal. We are retaining our attractive shareholder remuneration with a dividend of CHF 1 per share for fiscal year 2025. This represents a 46% payout ratio, in line with our established dividend policy of paying out 40% to 50% of adjusted earnings per share. Shareholders will have the option to receive the dividend either in cash or in newly issued shares. With this proposal, the group provides attractive returns to shareholders, including the option for qualifying shareholders to participate in the group's future growth in a tax-efficient way. The optional scrip dividend aligns with and supports the group's capital allocation priorities, which remain unchanged. It allows shareholders to increase their investment in the Adecco Group while enabling the company to retain cash for growth and prioritize deleveraging. Now let me hand over to Valentina for the Q4 results.

Valentina Ficaio: Thank you, Denis, and a warm welcome from my side. Let's begin with Slide 10 and an overview of the group's strong Q4 results. The group delivered further significant market share gains, leading key competitors by 395 basis points. Revenues reached EUR 6 billion, rising 3.9%, our best quarterly performance this year. Gross profit grew 4% to EUR 1.1 billion with a healthy 19.1% margin, stable on an organic basis. Our disciplined execution drove good operating leverage. We were pleased to see a strong productivity improvement of 11% and to deliver a strong drop down ratio of over 80%. In turn, the group's EBITA was EUR 225 million, up 20%, with a 3.8% margin, up 60 basis points. Let's now discuss the GBU developments, beginning with Adecco on Slide 11. Adecco delivered a strong performance with revenues at EUR 4.8 billion, up 4.9% and improved sequentially. Flexible placement revenues increased by 4%. Outsourcing was very strong, up 14%, and MSP was up 6%. Permanent placement, however, was 6% lower. Adecco's healthy gross margin was driven by firm pricing, client mix and lower permanent placement volumes, and productivity improved 6%. The EBITA margin improved 40 basis points to 4%, mainly reflecting higher volumes and strong operating leverage, supported by G&A savings and agile capacity management. Adecco's drop down ratio this quarter was robust at over 50%. Let's now move to Adecco at the segment level on Slide 12. In Adecco France, revenues were 2% lower, stable sequentially and ahead of the market. Logistics continued to weigh, while autos and manufacturing were strong. The EBITA margin of 4.4%, up 10 basis points, mainly reflects client mix and benefit from SG&A savings plans. Revenues in Adecco EMEA, excluding France, were up 4% and sequentially improved. Most territories achieved good growth and outperformed competitors. Looking at the larger markets. Revenues were up 3% in Italy with solid activity in logistics, financial services and consumer goods. Revenues in Iberia were up 7%. Food and beverage, autos and financial services were strong. In the U.K. and Ireland, revenues declined 1%, a good result in a challenging market. The result was weighed by lower logistics and public sector demand despite strength in IT tech and financial services. Revenues in Germany and Austria were up 2%, well ahead of competitors, with strength in autos, consumer goods and defense. The segment's EBITA margin of 3.9% was 50 basis points higher, mainly reflecting strong operating leverage and good cost mitigation. Turning now to Slide 13. Adecco Americas delivered 21% revenue growth. North America revenues increased 23%, well ahead of the market, mainly due to strong activity from large clients. In sector terms, consumer goods, food and beverage and autos were notably strong. Latin America revenues were up 19%, led by Colombia, Peru and Brazil. By sector, logistics, financial and professional services and retail were strong. The Americas EBITA margin of 3.3% expanded 150 basis points, reflecting client mix and strong operating leverage from higher volumes. Adecco APAC remained strong with revenues up 7%. Revenues rose 6% in Japan, 14% in Asia and 7% in India. Australia and New Zealand returned to growth with revenues up 2%. APAC's EBITA margin of 4.3% mainly reflects the timing of income from FESCO. Let's now focus on Slide 14 and Akkodis' strengthened performance. Akkodis' revenue were 1% lower and sequentially improved. Consulting & Solutions revenue were up 2%, marking a return to growth for this service line. In EMEA, revenues were flat. Germany was 7% lower, driven by autos headwinds. However, revenues in France were up 3% and ahead of the market in aerospace and defense and autos. And the U.K. and Italy performed notably well. North American revenues were up 3%, ahead of market, supported by further modest improvement in tech staffing demand. And Consulting & Solutions grew 46%. Revenues in APAC were 4% lower. Japan's result was heavily influenced by trading day differences. On an adjusted basis, revenues were up 5%. Revenues in Australia were 10% lower in a tough market. Akkodis' EBITA margin of 7% was 90 basis points higher, mainly reflecting benefit from the turnaround in Germany. Let's move to Slide 15. LHH has executed well and delivered highly profitable growth. LHH's revenues were up 2%. In Professional Recruitment Solutions, revenues were 3% lower, taking share in a subdued market. Recruitment Solutions gross profit was flat with the U.S. 3% lower and Rest of World up 4%. Permanent Placement was up 4% and productivity was 8% higher. Career Transition was robust with revenues up 1%. U.S. revenues were 2% lower on a high comparison, while the U.K. and Switzerland were strong, and the pipeline remains healthy. Revenues in Coaching & Skilling rose 27%. Ezra's revenues were very strong, rising 68% while General Assembly's B2B business grew 31%. LHH's EBITA margin was 9.7%, up 510 basis points. The year-on-year development is flatted by the absence of charges recorded in Q4 '24 related to the wind down of General Assembly's B2C activities. On an underlying basis, the margin expanded 230 basis points, reflecting positive mix and volumes and strong operating leverage with productivity up 12%. Let's now turn to Slide 16. Gross margin was healthy at 19.1%, stable year-on-year on an organic basis. The group's gross margin was driven by negative FX impact of 10 basis points; 20 basis points negative impact coming from flexible placement, mainly reflecting client and country mix; 10 basis points negative impact from permanent placement, reflecting lower activity in Adecco; and a 30 basis points positive impact in Outsourcing, Consulting & Other Services, mainly driven by Akkodis Germany. Let's now look at Slide 17 and the group's EBITA bridge. At 3.8%, the EBITA margin excluding one-offs was strong, rising 60 basis points year-on-year. The result was driven by a 10 basis points negative impact from FX, a 30 basis points favorable impact from Akkodis Germany and, furthermore, excluding Akkodis Germany, a stable gross profit contribution at healthy levels, an encouraging 50 basis points positive impact from operating leverage, including G&A savings as well as strong productivity improvement, and a 10 basis points negative impact from the timing of FESCO income. Among key metrics, SG&A expenses excluding one-offs as a percentage of revenues was 15.4%, down 70 basis points, while G&A costs were just 3% of revenues. Productivity, measured as direct contribution per selling FTE, rose 11%. Moving to Slide 18 and the group's cash flow and financing structure. The last 12-month cash conversion ratio was strong at 102%. Full year operating free cash flow was EUR 613 million. Free cash flow was EUR 483 million. Both outcomes are strong given the group's continuous improvement in revenues. In Q4, operating cash flow was EUR 476 million, a modest EUR 15 million decrease from the prior year period. This outcome reflects strong collections and favorable timing of payables, partly mitigated by working capital absorption for growth. We have maintained discipline regarding payment terms and are very pleased to report that the group's DSO improved 0.4 days to 51.8 days, remaining best-in-class. Capital expenditure was EUR 50 million, and free cash flow was EUR 426 million, a modest EUR 20 million decrease from the prior year period. The group also strengthened its balance sheet. Gross debts were reduced by EUR 280 million in 2025, supported by the repayment of CHF 225 million senior bond in Q4. At the end of Q4, net debt was EUR 2.29 billion, EUR 186 million lower. Leverage ratio improved to 2.4x, down 0.2x year-on-year and down 0.6x sequentially. The group is firmly committed to bringing the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio to 1.5x or below by the end of 2027, absent any major macroeconomic or geopolitical disruption. On Slide 19, we provide our near-term outlook. The group has seen continued positive momentum in volumes this quarter to date. For Q1, the group expects gross margin and SG&A expenses, excluding one-offs, to be broadly stable sequentially. As a reminder, the prior year period benefited from the timing of FESCO income. We are rigorously executing the group's strategy and run-and-change priorities, focusing on market share gains while managing costs and capacity with discipline to drive profitable growth. And with that, I hand back to Denis.

Denis Machuel: Thank you, Valentina. And let me conclude with Slide 20 and key takeaways. We launched the agility advantage value creation path and run-and-change agenda at our November Capital Markets Day. We are successfully executing against group strategy and driving momentum. During 2025, the group delivered on its full year margin commitment, captured market share and return to revenue growth. And we are encouraged to see continued positive momentum in volumes to date this quarter. Moreover, as we successfully advanced our strategic priorities, the group's financials are improving, underpinning an improvement in the year-end net debt-to-EBITDA ratio, which was down 0.2x year-on-year and 0.6x sequentially. We remain firmly committed to achieving a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio at or below 1.5x by year-end 2027. With this said, thank you for your attention, and let's open the lines for Q&A.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Andy Grobler with BNP Paribas.

Andrew Grobler: Just a couple from me, if I may. Firstly, just on free cash. It was very strong in Q4 led by payables. Could you just talk through what you did to drive that and whether any of that is going to reverse into early 2026? And then secondly, just a slightly broader one around client behavior. Are you seeing any change in client behavior in terms of their desire for flexibility, in terms of the interactions they're having with you? Or do they remain broadly pretty cautious in those end markets?

Denis Machuel: Thank you, Andy. And Valentina is going to answer the first part, and I'm going to answer your second question.

Valentina Ficaio: Andy, on free cash flow, it was a very strong performance. You've seen that we landed on EUR 483 million and the conversion ratio was very strong, above 100%. And it's particularly strong, this performance, if we consider that we've done it on the back of a year and, most importantly, a Q4 where we were growing. And you know that our business absorbs working capital when we grow at this level. If I try to unpack a bit what are the most important components, fundamentally, it all goes down to very strong working capital management. We've been very diligent on collections. And you've seen how our DSO continues to be very strong. We are down year-on-year. It's not easy to keep going down on year-on-year in this market. So we're very pleased with that. And in terms of AP, yes, we did have some favorable timing on payments, but we've also done quite a lot of job in terms of carving out overbalancing, negotiating payment terms. And you really start to see how the impact of that comes through also in our AP management. So overall, we are very pleased and we continue to be laser-focused on working capital. When you think about 2026, I would -- I really think about free cash flow generation this year to -- the behavior to be similar. Just as a reminder, seasonally, our H1 is an outflow versus an H2 that is an inflow. So that's the way that I would model it. But again, laser focused on working capital because that's the key of our strong free cash flow performance this quarter.

Denis Machuel: And as far as what our clients are telling us, we see pretty good momentum, particularly on flex. I must say, Adecco is firing on almost all cylinders. We have soft results in France and the U.K., but apart from that -- even though in France, we are ahead of the market. But apart from that, we're really, really strong. And we see momentum, we see demand for flexible workers across the board, across geographies. It's says something also a little bit about, of course, the uncertainty that we live in. But the economy is pretty good. So there's demand. There's work to be done. And we are surfing on that. We're surfing on that through, of course, our sales dynamism we serve because we have very strong delivery engine. And that makes me very confident. There's one sign, which is interesting, is we see a little bit of a pickup in permanent recruitment in LHH. It's 4%. It's not big yet and we start from your volumes, but it's a little bit positive. But overall, I'm very, very optimistic on the momentum that we have. We have a great momentum as well in outsourcing, you've seen double-digit growth. I think the market is there to support our development.

Andrew Grobler: Can I just ask one quick follow-up? Just on LHH and in RS in particular. You noted that perm was growing, but gross profit was down in that segment. So that suggests that your kind of gross margin in your contract temp businesses is lower. Could you just talk through what's going on in that segment, please?

Denis Machuel: Well, actually, you've got to look at LHH as in 2 dimensions. There is perm and flex on one side and there is the U.S. and outside of the U.S. In the U.S., we are minus 3%. In the rest of the world, we are plus 4% overall. So that says something about the geographic differences. But overall, I mean, let's be clear. We are -- the whole industry is operating at pretty low historical level. But we are -- what we do is we are outperforming the market, which matters to me.

Valentina Ficaio: And I would also add that as you look overall at the performance, you see also how LHH has really worked on productivity to offset also some of these elements. And LHH productivity was up 12% in Q4 and their sales FTE was down 4%. So you see how they are acting also on what Denis just mentioned.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of James Rowland Clark with Barclays.

James Clark: My first is just on the answer you just gave about good momentum. Just to be clear, I understand you've taken a lot of market share in the last few quarters. Is that momentum comment about you specifically taking share? Or do you think that's more market-based? If you could help sort of parse those two elements, that would be great. Secondly, on EBIT margins in 2026, I think consensus has got 30 to 40 bps of margin growth. Are you comfortable with that? And could you help us bridge that improvement across organic gross margin, which looks to be under pressure going into this year but also then offset by SG&A? So I'd love just to get your sense on the moving parts to achieve that margin, if you're comfortable with it. And then finally, on leverage, you're guiding to down to 2.5x by the end of '27. So you've got to lose 0.5x a year between now and then. Do you see that as a linear progression or faster in '26 and '27 or vice versa? And if so, why?

Denis Machuel: Thank you, James. And I'm sure Valentina will be super happy to take the EBITA and leverage questions, and I'm going to talk about the momentum. Two things here. As much as I believe that the way we operate, the way we've put in place a very strong sales dynamic, which is -- which we adjust as per market conditions, as per the industry we are facing, et cetera, as per the geographies, and we have also put a very strong delivery engine that helps us gain share from our own merits and that makes me very confident for the future, I also believe that it's overall the market conditions that are also improving. And we have been through some difficult quarters in, I would say, end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. And we see an overall better traction on the markets. And on that, we are well positioned because we've done all the hard work to strengthen the muscle in sales, strengthen the muscle in delivery. So it's -- I would say it's a bit of both that help us grow as we do. Vale, now on EBITA?

Valentina Ficaio: And I'll build on the comments that Denis just mentioned about momentum just to give you some more flavor on guidance for Q1 EBITA. So I think that what you mentioned, James, is reasonable. And the way that I think about our Q1 EBITA is the continued positive volumes behavior gives us confidence in terms of revenue outlook. And gross margin is broadly stable sequentially. If you think also about the comparison year-on-year is we have a 20 basis point headwind coming from FX. You may remember that last year in Q1 '25, this represented a tailwind. So that gives you a flavor why also year-on-year Q1 gross margin is actually broadly stable. And in terms of SG&A, our normal seasonality from Q4 to Q1 usually see SG&A going up by EUR 10 million, EUR 15 million. So the fact that we're guiding for broadly stable tells you about the cost discipline that we continue to enforce. And you saw that we've mentioned the FESCO income because we assume FESCO to continue to contribute positively on a full year basis. But the timing last year, it can vary. And last year, it happened in Q1. On a full year EBITA, we don't guide overall, but I think this gives you a bit the moving pieces that you need to model in terms of getting there, and the assumption that you mentioned are quite reasonable. Moving to leverage. I think it's -- the free cash flow generation, the performance that we had -- the trajectory of the performance that we had throughout 2025 delivered good delevering, 0.2 year-on-year and sequentially, 0.6. The path to 1.5 is clear. We don't guide specifically on '26 and '27. But clearly, the levers that we have in our hands, and we are already pulling are modest growth. You've seen how growth has dropped through in operating leverage over the past quarters. We expect that to continue throughout the next quarters. And then we have additional benefits coming from Akkodis Germany, but also other elements like the turnaround in North America, like the improvement in France that will continue to help us get there, as we've shown you in the last -- in recent quarters.

Operator: Your next question comes from Suhasini Varanasi with Goldman Sachs.

Suhasini Varanasi: Just one question for me, please. I just wanted to clarify the exit rate and momentum that you saw year-to-date because I think your slide on -- Slide 5 seems to suggest at least on the GBU, Adecco GBU front, the momentum is continuing to improve in year-to-date. Just at that GBU level and at the group level, can you please clarify how the exit rate has looked compared to the 3.94% growth that you reported last quarter?

Valentina Ficaio: Suhasini, I'll take this one. Just to give you a sense, the exit rate was very much aligned with the quarter leverage, so at group level. So I hope that's helpful to give you a sense.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Simon LeChipre with Jefferies.

Simon LeChipre: First question. Looking at your Q4 results and if we exclude Akkodis, so gross margin was down 30 bps on an organic basis and SG&A was probably flat organically. And in prior quarters, it seems you were able to offset the gross margin pressure through cost savings. So does that mean it is no longer the case? And I mean, how should we think about the future quarters in terms of the relation between margin performance and SG&A? Secondly, in terms of your Q1 gross margin guidance, so stable sequentially. So I would assume the seasonal effect from Q4 to Q1 is negative. It seems you're also talking about like FX negative impact being a bit stronger. So how would you offset these 2 factors to get to a stable gross margin sequentially? And last thing on AI. We see more and more evidences of how AI can make the business more efficient. So I would assume this suggests some deflationary effect on top line. So how do you think about the net bottom line impact in the future? Like do you think your SG&A would continue to reduce? And would that be enough to offset this potential deflationary trend on the top line?

Denis Machuel: I'll take the AI piece and Valentina will be very happy to take the gross margin question and the FX.

Valentina Ficaio: So starting with your 2 questions on gross margin, Simon. I think when you think about the performance that we had in Q4 at 19.1%, it's a very healthy level. It's industry-leading. And it reflects a number of components. It's not just Akkodis, right? There's firm pricing and client mix, and there's GBUs mix that contribute positively to the gross margin buildup. Yes, Akkodis Germany is a component of it, but it's not the only one. And then there's clear added value in the gross margin that comes from the service lines that have higher gross margin profile, like outsourcing, like Ezra. You've heard us mentioning a number of service lines that have grown double digit in Q4, and will continue to do that. So there are a number of levers that we can continue to work on, Akkodis Germany is one of them, to work on our gross margin and keep it at this stable levels. When you look at -- and by the way, permanent placement continues to be subdued clearly. When permanent placement picks up, it is a further lever that we can capture because we will capture permanent placement growth when it comes, and that's another further lever we can pull. When you think about Q1, let me just take a moment to walk you through the elements. You've called out FX. It's correct. As I was mentioning before, actually it was a tailwind in Q1 last year. So you do have a 20 basis points gap when you look at it from a Q-on-Q perspective. And then we again have several pieces because there's modest impact coming from perm and flex, but there's also a modest positive impact coming from the other service lines. So that is why we continue to say it's really broadly stable even on a year-on-year basis. Because if you take out the FX, we are continuing to see how the benefits of the other service lines of Akkodis that we are implementing is affecting the modest client mix that we have in flex and perm.

Simon LeChipre: Sorry, may I have just a quick follow-up on GM and also on SG&A. So it was minus 1% organically year-on-year in Q4, so I think mainly driven by Akkodis. So does that mean like the Adecco GBU, as you know, is now trending kind of flattish year-on-year?

Valentina Ficaio: No. We continue to see the same performance. We call out Akkodis when we mentioned that because we want to call out the nice progress that we've done in the restructuring and the fact that most of it, it is coming through SG&A but it's broad-based. And you've seen it also in our productivity numbers. They're up in all of the GBUs, not just in Akkodis. And in our G&A over sales, that is just 3%, and that is not just Akkodis. It's broad-based.

Denis Machuel: Let me take now the AI impact. And I think there is a top line impact, positive impact and also an impact in productivity that's going to help our profitability overall. On the top line, I believe that AI is really an opportunity for us. Remind you, we are in a fragmented market. So the more optimized we are in how we deliver our service through AI, the better we can gain share. And I'll give you two examples. We've embedded generative AI into our Career Studio in LHH. And when people use Career Studio with AI powered, they find a job 32 days earlier than the ones who don't. This is creating value for our clients. This has helped us penetrate bigger, faster our clients. So this has a positive impact on the top line. If I look at the way we deliver with our AI agents in the U.K. on our recruitment, we have fill rates that have improved 550 basis points, okay? So this is an impact. We have improved our time to submit by 24% quarter-on-quarter. This helps us be more efficient, deliver more. So -- but a positive impact on the top line. In doing so, we have operating leverage, as Valentina was saying. And in terms of how we optimize our cost, of course, we will progressively embed AI into our processes. We embed AI in our middle and back office, and this is going to create also efficiencies. So I believe that AI will have a positive impact both on the way we capture market share and in the way we improve our profitability.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Remi Grenu with Morgan Stanley.

Remi Grenu: Denis, Valentina, just one question remaining on my side. Focusing a little bit on North America and the very high growth there. I mean, the acceleration came in Q1 and Q2 last year, if I remember correctly. So can you help us unpack a little bit the performance there, if it's been driven by a few contracts and if we then should expect some kind of annualization of these benefits in Q1 and Q2 this year? Just trying to understand a little bit from the 20% organic growth you're currently growing out in that country, what we should expect in terms of potential normalization over the next few quarters?

Denis Machuel: Yes. Thank you, Remi. Yes, if I go back to history, Q1, we were minus 1% year-on-year. Q2, we are plus 10%. Q3, we are plus 21%. And Q4, we are plus 23%. So of course, this is -- we're very pleased. This shows that all the efforts that we've put in the turnaround plan in the U.S. is delivering. We have productivity improve by 10% and we have a very strong dynamic on the large accounts. We also are positive in the SMEs, but that's the point where we need to focus our efforts because the growth in our large accounts is a bit higher than the growth on small and medium companies. So to your point, yes, I mean, we -- let's be clear, we started from a low base, okay? So we are -- I mean, this double-digit growth rates are encouraging. But as we anniversary some of the wins of the large clients, we will go more towards more market trends to sort of a bit of a normalization. Still our focus and our efforts will be to gain share, to be ahead of the market. And I'm quite positive that we can achieve that, but probably not to the extent that we've had this year. We have good traction in customer goods, in retail, in autos, in food and beverages. So I mean, there's traction in the market. The economy in the U.S. is still pretty good. So we will serve on that. We are much stronger than we were 2 years ago. And yes, you can expect growth, probably not with such a differential with the market.

Remi Grenu: Understood. And just maybe building up a little bit on the question from Simon on the operating cost guidance for Q1. I mean, I'm a little bit surprised by the comment on stability. So can you help us a little bit quantify the building blocks to get there? I mean, discussing with some of your competitors, it feels like that they are forecasting some wage inflation around 2% or a little bit more than that. The higher volume of activity, the 4% organic growth and positive momentum probably would mean under a normal cycle that you need to invest a little bit more in resources. So yes, so can you help us a little bit on that stability of operating costs? And I'm just trying to understand as well if to what extent you think that stability comments and these cost efficiencies are already driven by AI initiatives, or if it's just about Adecco removing some of the inefficiencies in the cost base that you had there and had to address?

Denis Machuel: Let me start by a little bit of how we strategize that growth. And you heard me say in the past that what we try is to be very, very granular in the way we inject the resources that are linked to the dynamic of the market. And if I talk markets, it's by country. It's even by region in a country. It's by industry in a particular region, a particular country. So really adjust with the -- through this empowerment that we've put in place years ago, that's what we -- we let people adjust very precisely to the market conditions. Yes, we will need to invest in some places, but we are also cautious in some others. And that's how we operate. And definitely, we will -- we have improved our cost inefficiencies. We've really readjusted our SPs. We have adjusted our G&A. So I think we are continuously optimizing the resources, and I think AI will nicely help us on that. Now on the building blocks for Q1.

Valentina Ficaio: And just to give additional color, Remi. On the operating cost sequentially stable. It's all about cost discipline, right? The continuous focus on productivity and G&A gets us there. If you look for a second at Q4, I think it's also very helpful to see how we have performed. Productivity was up broad-based, plus 11 at group level. But if you look at each GBU, Adecco was plus 6, LHH was up 12 and Akkodis, even with Germany soft, capped 90% utilization rate approximately. So -- but if you look at our employee -- group employees, they are actually slightly down. So that tells you how we are combining very well growth with good cost discipline and good productivity. And that gives you a sense of why we guide for this to continue to be stable as we continue building on these 2 clear levers that has been key to the operating leverage that you've seen in our results.

Denis Machuel: And just to complement on AI. Yes, we see a 30 bps improvement when we serve the clients by -- through AI initiatives. But it's not at the scale that I want to see. We said that we would cover 60% of our revenues by agentic AI over time by the end of 2026. I mean, it's progressing. We yet have to fully scale. So more to come. We'll keep you updated on the progress. I remain prudent in the impact of AI because there is no magic in AI. It's hard work. You need to scale it. I think we have all the levers and the foundations, but let's see how it goes. But the trend is positive.

Remi Grenu: Okay. And the last question is on the SME, which you referred to, Denis, I think, in one of your previous answers, saying that you need to address this segment better. Is the issue market related? Is just the momentum between the 2 markets, if you see separate them between SME and large enterprise, is still very, I mean, diverging a lot in terms of volume of activity? Or is there any initiative at Adecco's level which you need to implement to be better at serving this cohort of client? Because it has implication, obviously, for gross margin and profitability, I guess.

Denis Machuel: Yes. Well, actually, we've really doubled down in the past couple of years in how we serve the large clients and enhance Talent Supply Chain and enhance all that. We still have a pretty good dynamic in SMEs. But this is a place where we accelerate our efforts because we know, to your point, that it's very accretive to our margin. So I think we are in a good place in how we roll out all our technology into our Talent Supply Chain, and we are also rolling out progressively the technology through our branches. I believe that the strength of branch network is that proximity, that deep understanding of the local ecosystems. And that's one of the top priorities for 2026 is to inject as much energy and technology into the SME segment as we have done in the large accounts.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Simon Van Oppen with Kepler Cheuvreux.

Simon Van Oppen: I have a question on margins. We see margins in all divisions strengthening in Q4, most significantly in Akkodis and LHH, especially on an underlying basis. Can you unpack a little bit the main drivers for the strengthening of your margins by division? And what do you expect in terms of margin for each division in 2026? And in extension to that, should we expect more one-offs in 2026? And if so, roughly by how much by division?

Denis Machuel: Valentina?

Valentina Ficaio: Thank you, Simon. So let me explain a bit around each GBU and how they evolved in terms of margin, and then we can also quickly touch on formal one-offs guidance. I think what is the common denominator among the 3 GBUs improvement is volumes up, operating leverage drop through. That is clearly -- and if I take for a moment Akkodis out, it's a clear denominator, right? And then if I take one GBU apart, you have Adecco that grew materially, right? You've seen how in Q4, it's up almost 5% with pockets that are even double digits. And clearly, the Adecco story is a story around strong operating leverage but also diversification with service lines like outsourcing that grew double digits, to give you a sense. And it always comes on the back of good cost discipline, healthy operating leverage and the improvement in margins. In LHH, you've seen us mention that there's an element of the improvement year-on-year that is because we had headwinds last year. So it is a 500 basis point improvement, but in fact, underlying is half of it, 250, which is still a very significant improvement. And it's mainly coming from CT continuing to performing very well, but also the contribution of other lines like Ezra and like the B2B business in GA that have grown double digits, and they come with very healthy high gross margins. And then finally in Akkodis, clearly, the main driver of the improvement in performance is Akkodis Germany and the fact that we are progressing well in the turnaround. In terms of one-off costs, the guidance that we're giving you is down from EUR 60 million this year to EUR 40 million next year. The EUR 60 million clearly this year is mainly coming from the Akkodis Germany turnaround. And so we're basically guiding next year to be lower in one-offs, mainly because Akkodis Germany is basically completed.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Gian-Marco Werro with ZKB.

Gian Werro: Two questions from my side. The first one is on the gross profit margin in flexible placement. I would appreciate if you can dive there a little bit deeper into this development of 20 basis point decline year-over-year. Can you maybe elaborate, please, on the gross margin dynamics in the temporary staffing, especially in your key markets like France, Germany and also the U.S., please, just to grab a little bit there the dynamics, how is it evolving, still increasing, stable or declining? And then second question is on AI also. Denis, I appreciate your optimistic tone about the opportunities lying here. But very frankly speaking, don't you also see also, of course, some headwinds here of jobs that become redundant, like many operations of warehouses, IT, white collar back-office work that, in my view, is certainly also affecting your top line negatively. I would appreciate if you can just talk briefly about the dynamics that you observe in the industry.

Denis Machuel: So I'm going to start by answering your questions on AI, Gian-Marco, and then Valentina will talk about the gross margin. Fundamentally, we don't see any impact of AI at this stage. We know that as all technology evolutions that are happening, some jobs are going to be impacted, some destroyed, but so many are going to be created. That's what history tells us, okay? And for the moment, if you look at the numbers coming from Career Transition, okay, which is the world leader in outplacement, 1.4% of the people are telling us that they've been laid off due to AI. That's it, okay? And 12% say, yes, there was a bit of AI coming in. So to date, there's no massive impact, no impact of AI. And let's be clear, and I'm not the only one to say that, a lot of companies are doing layoff plans pretending that is coming from AI because it makes them look good, okay? But fundamentally, this is not the case, okay? So now nobody knows within 3 or 5 years what's the relationship between the jobs destroyed and the jobs created, okay? If you look back 10 years ago, nobody was talking about cloud architects, nobody was talking about content moderation. And these jobs have been created because of the digital world, et cetera. So this is going to come as well with AI, okay? So I believe that because of this, I'd say, massive reshuffling of the labor market, this is a massive opportunity for us to upskill, reskill, move people around, accompanying people in their agility. That's what we are here for. And AI is not new. It has been now around for more than a couple of years. And look at our numbers, okay? So we are trending nicely in this world of AI. We are reshaping the future of work in this AI era, And we are well placed to accompany our clients on their agility that is necessary with AI. So that makes me very confident. Now on the gross margin.

Valentina Ficaio: So the year-on-year development you were asking about, Gian-Marco on flex. First of all, it's a modest impact. Overall, the flex gross margin remains quite healthy. We are happy with pricing. It stays firm. We have a positive spread bill-to-pay rate. And so the modest impact that you see is fundamentally client and country mix. And just to build on the question that you were asking about, what about countries, France, U.S.? It is really all about how do we grow, right? So sometimes in some countries, but also in some industry, we may see one client segment growing faster than the other. It's the case right now, as Denis was mentioning, in France and North America. But what is really important is that, as that happens, we also operate on cost base, right? Because these are also clients that come with a lower cost to serve. So the most important thing when we think about margin, yes, it's the gross margin, but it's also the mix that we have between SMEs and large and the drop-through on the overall margin.

Gian Werro: Okay. But no specific comments you want to make here on the 3 countries I mentioned, about the development of the gross margin? If it's stable or you mentioned that most probably...

Denis Machuel: The trends in these 3 countries are aligned with the overall trend of the GBUs, yes.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Karine Elias with Barclays.

Karine Elias: I just had a quick one on the hybrid. I believe on your third quarter conference call, you mentioned your intention to refinance at the time the hybrid. Just wondering whether that's still the case.

Valentina Ficaio: Thank you, Karine. Yes, so the refinancing, you're correct. We are refinancing the hybrid. We are in progress of doing that. We are constantly in the market to understand when is the right moment to execute. But you should expect that to be happening.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Andy Grobler with BNP Paribas.

Andrew Grobler: Just one follow-up, if I may. Just on the dividend. You moved to the option of the scrip. What drove that decision? And to what extent is that part of the plan for getting to 1.5x leverage by the end of next year?

Denis Machuel: Thanks, Andy. So let me put the overall perspective. The group has a very clear framework on capital allocation and a clear dividend policy. Every year, of course, depending upon the results, the annual performance, the Board evaluates all options within that framework and within dividend policy to provide what the Board believes as the best outcome for shareholders. And this year, the decision has been made to propose the choice between the payment in shares or payment in cash, which we believe is the right balance between our deleveraging priority on one side and also retaining cash for growth. So we also felt that this is an optionality that is financially attractive for our shareholders, for qualifying shareholders on the tax side. So I think it's a pretty good decision for shareholders. Now on the...

Valentina Ficaio: On the leverage.

Denis Machuel: The leverage, yes.

Valentina Ficaio: As Denis mentioned, the scrip is an option, completely independent from the path that we've discussed to reach our 1.5. That path is based on performance, growth, operating leverage, the turnarounds that we're doing. The scrip is an option and it's independent from that.

Operator: I will now turn the call back over to Denis Machuel, CEO, for closing remarks.

Denis Machuel: Thank you very much, everyone. We really appreciate your presence today. So just to wrap up, I think our 2025 results make me very confident for the future. I must tell you that our teams are energized and they are focused on delivering performance. So yes, we still have a lot to do. But the momentum that we've created and which continues at the beginning of 2026, as we said, puts us in a very good place, in a very good place to deliver profitable growth moving forward and to delever. With that, thanks a lot for having been with us today, and speak to you next time. Have a great day. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.