Woolworths Announces Its Partnership With Standard Bank To Launch A Working Capital Facility
Woolworths Announces Its Partnership With Standard Bank To Launch A Working Capital Facility. Retail giant Woolworths has announced that it has partnered with Standard Bank in order to launch a working capital facility with the value of R600 million. Woolworths aims to show that this partnership is testament to Woolworths’ commitment to achieving bold sustainability targets and realising its vision to be one of the world’s most responsible retailers.
“This deal is another example of our ongoing commitment to ensuring sustainability is entrenched into the heart of our business, particularly from a working capital perspective, which drives our daily operational requirements. We have committed to ensuring that all our debt going forward is ESG-linked where possible. Woolworths now has approximately 60% of our debt in line with our sustainability targets. This is our sustainability strategy in action and demonstrates our intent to making a meaningful difference for the greater good of the planet and its people,” Feroz Koor, Group Head of Sustainability at Woolworths said in a statement.
This working capital’s facility structure aligns Woolworths’ financing decisions with its commitment to sustainability by providing reduced interest rates based on performance against a combination of sustainability performance targets. As sustainability-linked funding ties the terms of funding to ESG outcomes, it supports and incentivises responsible corporate behaviour and the creation of shared value. The financing structure is also very strongly aligned to Standard Bank’s own Social, Economic, and Environmental (SEE) impact framework.
“The negotiation process with Woolworths was a true reflection of our partnership and willingness to meet our clients halfway,” Tania Troskie, Global Transactional Banker: Transactional Products and Services at Standard Bank said in a statement. “Going forward, our aim is to replicate similar ESG agreements with other clients now that we have a strong base to work from.”
