SHAREHOLDERS' LETTER 51: BIC GROUP'S SHAREHOLDERS' LETTER OF JUNE 2019

Dear Shareholders,

On May 22nd  2019, I held our first AGM as BIC’s Chief Executive Officer and presented our 2018 Results, as well as the progress we’ve made on our “BIC 2022 - Invent the Future” plan.

As I mentioned back in February, 2019 is a important year as we begin our journey to transform BIC into a more agile, integrated, and innovative organization.

Through market expansion, exciting developments in e-commerce, initiatives to drive market leadership in Lighter safety, and our commitment to education and Diversity & Inclusion, we are making progress on our journey.

Together with our teams around the world, and with the support of BIC’s Board of Directors and its Chairman, Pierre Vareille, I am confident that we have the foundations to turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.

Gonzalve Bich, Chief Executive Officer

Maintaining or growing share in soft markets

BIC-2022 Invent the future plan on track

Sales on a comparative basis declined 2.0%

• Normalized IFO margin at 13.1%, down 3.6 points
• Manufacturing costs negatively impacted by lower sales volumes, unfavorable forex and raw material price increase
• Targeted Brand Support investments

BIC 2022-Invent the Future progress

• New Commercial Organization with two new Centers of Expertise “e-Retail and Digital” and “Commercial Strategy & Analytics”
• Net Sales from e-commerce increased 27% versus prior year
• Global Strategic Procurement Organization up and running.

SOCIÉTÉ BIC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SOCIÉTÉ BIC Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 in Clichy under the chairmanship of Pierre Vareille, Chairman of the Board.

The Shareholders’ Meeting approved the payment, from June 5, 2019, of an ordinary dividend amount of 3.45 euros per share, and all the proposed resolutions, among them:

• The financial statements for 2018;
• The authorizations given to the Board of Directors to undertake operations with regards to the shares of the Company (share buyback and cancellation);
• The renewal of Gonzalve Bich and Elizabeth Bastoni as Directors;
• The appointment of Maëlys Castella as new Director succeeding Mario Guevara;
• The appointment of Marie-Aimée Bich-Dufour as new Director succeeding Marie-Henriette Poinsot;
• The compensation elements for 2018 fiscal year of Bruno Bich, Pierre Vareille, Gonzalve Bich, James DiPietro and Marie-Aimée Bich-Dufour;
• The compensation policy for 2019 of the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice-Presidents.
• The Board of Directors, held after the Shareholders’ Meeting, took the following decisions:
• The nomination of Maëlys Castella as a member of the Compensation Committee, and of the Audit Committee;
• The nomination of Marie-Aimée Bich-Dufour as a member of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee.
• Watch the May 22, 2019 AGM Meeting

FROM A PENCIL TO A BOARD!

A new board made of recycled material with a machine 100% developed in our factory in Samer (France).

Originally, BIC bought the core material of the board from a supplier.. but starting now, leftovers from the BIC^® Evolution™pencil will be used, including graphite from the tip, scrap process and old unused pencils. This will enable to save up a substantial amount of raw materials.

Other advantages of this new board : it is more rigid, for the consumer to feel the robustness, and it is also less expensive to produce and environmental-friendly !

Watch the video.

INDIA: CELLO PENS INVOLVED IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION

Cello's School Contact Program -  Cello Write to Win is a Unique Learning Initiative in India aimed at positively impacting the lives of students and teachers in the secondary section (Grade 4 & above) to promote a positive attitude towards learning and education.

In its first year, the BIC Cello “Write to Win” program trained more than 60,000 students across 1,500 schools in India. The program focused on developing students’ handwriting skills, in addition to teaching them cognitive techniques that help enhance their learning and memorizing skills for exam preparations.

NEW INITIATIVE FOR THE BIC FOUNDATION

The BIC Corporate Foundation initiated a partnership with the US-based NGO City Year for the support of the "Whole School, Whole Child" program.

The objective of this program is to strengthen the hard and soft skills of children in under-resourced areas who are at risk of dropping out of school. Young adults volunteered to mentor these children throughout the school work day, organizing workshops to further develop their social-emotional skills, amongst many other activities.