- Clear commitment to sustainability targets confirmed through first green financing
- 2013-2020 corporate bond to be refinanced on attractive terms
- Consistent implementation of sustainability strategy with positive impact on financing costs
Sustainability is an important component of the Wienerberger Group’s strategy. With its smart solutions for the building envelope and infrastructure, the Group effectively contributes towards addressing the global challenges of climate change, scarcity of resources, urbanization and demographic change. One of Wienerberger’s primary goals is to continuously reduce energy consumption in production and to focus even more strongly on the circular economy by reusing secondary raw materials both from our production and from external sources in our own production processes.
Since the foundation of the company 200 years ago, Wienerberger has always assumed responsibility for generations to come. We now want to extend this responsibility to our entire value chain, not only in operational business, but also in corporate financing.
Refinancing for the corporate bond with a volume of € 300 million and an interest rate of 4% maturing in April 2020 is being secured prematurely. € 130 million will be redeemed from the company’s liquidity reserve. The remaining €170 million are being refinanced on highly attractive terms at a rate of interest of less than 1%. The Group’s annual costs of finance will thus be reduced by approx. € 10 million, and the maturity profile will be significantly improved through repayments made over the period from 2022 to 2027.
For the first time, Wienerberger opted for a sustainability-oriented form of finance. The corporate bond is being refinanced through a syndicated bank loan funded via Oesterreichische Kontrollbank. The interest payable on the loan is linked not only to the usual bank covenants, but also to the company’s sustainability rating. An improvement in the Wienerberger Group’s sustainability performance therefore results in lower financing costs.
Through our first green financing we are strengthening our balance sheet and reaffirming our commitment to sustainability. In 2020, we will continue to pursue the implementation of our strategy at full speed, now deriving the added benefit of lower financing costs.
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