BIC - 2019 Universal Registration Document

COMMENTS ON THE YEAR

Operations and consolidated results

IFO AND NORMALIZED IFO BY PRODUCT CATEGORY 2018–2019

Norm. IFO

IFO

2019

2019

2018

2018

(In %)

Stationery

62.8

47.8

(14.1)

(6.7)

Lighters

247.0

232.1

242.5

217.7

Shavers

45.4

56.2

43.7

47.2

Other Products

(2.8)

(4.3)

(13.4)

(5.5)

IFO AND NORMALIZED IFOMARGINS BY PRODUCT CATEGORY 2018-2019

Norm. IFOMargin

IFOMargin

2019

2019

2018

2018

(In %)

Stationery

8.1

6.2

(1.8)

(0.9)

Lighters

36.0

34.2

35.4

32.1

Shavers

10.4

12.1

10.0

10.2

Stationery Stationery Full Year 2019 Net Sales increased by +0.3% as reported and decreased by 3.4% on a comparative basis. We outperformed overall declining markets in Europe, ● growing shares in key countries such as France and the U.K.  (1) . Our added-value products, including BIC ® Gelocity Quick Dry and BIC ® Intensity Medium, felt pen performed well. E-commerce business grew 14% versus the prior year. North America’s performance was impacted by a soft sell out ● during the Back-to-School season. However, we continued to see new products, such as BIC ® Gelocity Ultra and BIC ® BodyMark tattoo marker, perform well. Year to date, BIC outperformed the Gel, Mechanical Pencil, and Correction Segments and continued to grow in e-commerce, reaching 13.0%market share in value (+0.8 points)  (2) . In Latin America, Net Sales declined by approximately 10%. ● Performance at the beginning of the year was negatively impacted by PIMACO (our manufacturer and distributor of adhesive labels) as well as by weak execution in Ecuador during H1. During the 2019 Back-to-School seasons, while we outperformed a declining market in Brazil, we lost 2.5 points in value  (3) in Mexico as a result of the poor performance of Ball Pen and Graphite segments in a highly competitive environment. In the Middle-East and Africa region, the performance was ● driven by a successful change in route-to-market in East Africa, thanks to the transfer of Haco Industries Ltd.’ manufacturing and distribution activities, which led to a double-digit increase in Net Sales in the region. Solid 2019 Back-to-School also drove the performance in South-Africa. In Nigeria, Lucky

Stationery Nigeria Ltd.’s acquisition was finalized on October 23, 2019. In India, Cello Pens Domestic Sales decreased double-digit on ● a comparative basis in a challenging market environment impacted by the high level of superstockists’ inventories, as well as our on-going strategy of portfolio streamlining. However, we continued to see improved performance of our Champion Brands such as Butterflow. Full Year 2019 Stationery Normalized IFO margin for Stationery was 6.2% compared to 8.1% in 2018 due to higher Raw Material costs and unfavorable forex. Lighters Full Year 2019 Lighters Net Sales were down by 1.0% as reported and down 3.7% on a comparative basis. In Europe, a price adjustment was implemented across the ● region. Our first advertising campaign to address consumers directly was launched in France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy to reinforce BIC’s brand image of quality and safety. In North America, Net Sales were heavily impacted by the ● decline of the U.S. pocket lighter market. For the full year, the market was down -8.2% in volume and -5.9% in value (4) , nonetheless we maintained market share in both volume and value. The U.S. Utility market continued to grow, and BIC was up 12.5% in value (4) , outperforming the market, thanks to additional distribution in the Modern Mass channel. Latin America posted mid-single-digit growth driven by Brazil ● with the price increase implementation in June as well as higher volumes in the traditional channel. In Mexico, sales were boosted by distribution gains in the convenience channel.

GfK- YTD December 2019- EU7 – in value. (1) NPD – YTD December 2019 – in value. (2) Nielsen – YTD December 2019 – Modern Channel only – in value. (3) IRI – YTD December 2019 – in value. (4)

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• BIC GROUP - 2019 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •