Sustainability Ratings and Sustainable Finance

 

Positive feedback from sustainability ratings

In 2023, NORMA Group again received independent feedback from rating agencies on its performance in the area of CR. The questions asked of NORMA Group in this context are based on the most important sustainability indicators from the areas of environment, social affairs, and corporate governance. As a rule, NORMA Group is required to be able to substantiate its commitment to sustainability with documents and certificates. The results of the ratings are primarily used by two stakeholder groups: customers and financial market players.

The feedback received by NORMA Group was again positive in 2023. The CR measures received consistently good ratings from the rating agencies.

For NORMA Group, the positive results mean a confirmation of its approach to CR. At the same time, the company is using the feedback to continuously develop its CR strategy and organization.

 

Improved loan terms through progress in sustainability management

For the first time, NORMA Group set up a syndicated loan in 2019 that contained a sustainability component to partially refinance its business activities. In addition, a promissory note with three-, five- and seven-year terms with a corresponding ESG component was successfully placed on the market in summer 2023. The sustainability component links the terms of refinancing to NORMA Group’s CR commitment. By demonstrating a lasting good sustainability performance, NORMA Group gains access to more favorable loan conditions.

The evaluation of the Sustainalytics rating agency serves as the basis for assessing the sustainability performance. It assesses NORMA Group holistically in various sustainability categories such as corporate governance, climate management and human rights. While the rating methodology for the standard Sustainalytics report is evolving, the methodology for the sustainability component of the syndicated loan remains largely unchanged compared to the base year 2019 and thus ensures comparability for the term of the loan.

NORMA Group was in 2023 again able to demonstrate a strong management score. With a risk score of 16.7, NORMA Group belongs to the 50 “ESG TOP-RATED” companies in the industry group and is ranked 19th out of a total of 591 rated companies within the industry group.

With a loan term of up to seven years (until 2026 for the syndicated loan and until 2030 at the latest for the promissory notes), the inclusion of the sustainability component in the refinancing strategy is an important step toward integrating sustainability aspects into NORMA Group’s core business in the long term. Further information on refinancing can be found on NORMA Group’s website WWW.NORMAGROUP.COM.