The Dutch incumbent has concluded a €1bn credit facility, the interest of which is linked to its sustainability performance in the coming years.
The latter is based on three objectives, namely the accelerated digitization of the Netherlands through the roll-out of fiber optics, the reduction of KPN’s energy consumption and the reduction of CO2 emissions throughout the chain (Scope 3 emissions).
Commenting on the development, Chris Figee, CFO of KPN, said: “This is an important financing agreement for KPN that brings financial flexibility and ensures that we maintain our solid liquidity position.
“Linking our sustainability performance to our financing structure underlines our commitment and fits KPN as one of the most sustainable telecom companies in the world.
The new facility has a five-year term with two one-year renewal options. The credit facility replaces the existing facility from 2016 and is mainly used as a liquidity reserve.
KPN notes that sustainability is an integral part of its strategy. For example, it has been running exclusively on green energy since 2011, has been climate neutral since 2015 and aims to be virtually circular by 2025. This means that KPN will continue to focus on reducing emissions from suppliers and customers in the use of their products and services.
Figee added: “Thanks to the digitisation of the network in the Netherlands, we as a society are able to achieve significant energy savings. In 2020, thanks to digital working, KPN customers together saved more than three times the energy needed to run KPN’s network. KPN takes its responsibility as a sustainable and ‘virtuous’ company seriously. With our technology and services, we explore the possibilities of helping other companies and industries to make their activities more sustainable. Think of agriculture, mobility or care. With our digital services, we want to contribute to lower emissions and a better living environment”.
The telecom sector is known as one of the largest consumers of energy. Despite this, KPN says it succeeds year after year in making the network in the Netherlands more sustainable. KPN’s energy consumption decreased by 37% in ten years, while the amount of data traffic increased by almost 21-fold over the same period.
Earlier this year, KPN announced that it would further increase its sustainability ambitions to ‘Net zero’ emissions within the entire chain by 2040.
