KPN has concluded a €1 billion credit facility with an interest rate linked to their sustainability performance in the years ahead. This financing agreement gives a further boost to the company’s sustainability ambitions. The company has previously announced that it was ratcheting up its sustainability ambitions to net-zero emissions throughout the chain in 2040.
The credit facility interest rate is linked to the company’s performance in relation to three strategic sustainability targets, speeding up the digitisation of the Netherlands by rolling out fibre optics, reducing KPN’s energy consumption, and decreasing CO2 emissions throughout the chain (Scope 3 emissions).
“This is an important financing agreement for KPN that provides financial flexibility and ensures that we retain our solid liquidity position,” Chris Figee, CFO at KPN, said. “Linking our sustainability performance to our financing structure underscores our commitment and is in keeping with the status of KPN as one of the world’s most sustainable telecom companies.”
The new facility has a maturity of five years with two one-year extension options. The credit facility replaces the current facility, which dates from 2016, and will be used mainly as a liquidity reserve.
Sustainability is an integral part of the company’s strategy. For example, the company has been using exclusively green power since 2011, has been climate-neutral since 2015 and aims to be virtually circular by 2025. This means that they will focus even more on reducing the emissions of suppliers and customers when using their products and services.
The telecom sector is known as one of the biggest energy consumers. Nevertheless, KPN manages to make the network of the Netherlands even more sustainable. In the last ten years, energy consumption decreased by 37 per cent, while over the same period the volume of data traffic increased almost 21-fold.
