NBN Co has successfully priced A$1.75 billion from its latest Australian Medium-Term Notes (AMTN) issuance in the domestic debt capital markets.

The issuance, which is due to settle on 28 August 2024, represents the largest Australian bond issuance executed in a single transaction by the company to date.

The issuance comprises a seven-year benchmark Green Bond, which will raise A$750 million on settlement and a three-year Bond which will raise A$1 billion on settlement.

The bonds are to be issued under NBN Co’s A$10 billion AMTN Programme. Proceeds from the debt issuances will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include repaying nbn’s existing borrowings.

This latest Green Bond follows NBN Co’s A$850 million Green Bond issued in August 2023 and a A$800 million Green Bond issued in April 2022.

Proceeds from the Green Bond issuance will be fully allocated to eligible green projects undertaken as part of the company’s commitment to energy efficiency in line with its updated Sustainability Bond Framework, released in June 2024.

In March 2024, NBN Co successfully raised EUR 1.3 billion (A$2.16 billion equivalent) from its second Euro Green Bonds issuance in the European debt capital markets.

This followed NBN Co’s inaugural European Green Bond issuance of EUR 1.35 billion (A$2.1 billion equivalent) completed in March 2023.

NBN Co is currently the largest Australian corporate issuer in Green Bond format, and following settlement of the latest Green Bond will have approximately A$6.7 billion equivalent of Green Bonds outstanding in the domestic and international markets.

The latest Bonds are the first since NBN Co repaid the remaining balance of the original $19.5 billion Commonwealth Government loan in June 2024. The company has recently released its 2024 Sustainability Bond Report, which outlines NBN Co’s use of proceeds for Green Bonds issued during FY24 and progress on our impact indicators, including energy intensity and emissions intensity.

Fiona Trigona, Executive General Manager, Group Treasurer at NBN Co, said:

“We were very pleased to receive such a positive reaction to our latest offerings, with interest from a number of new investors and a total order book approaching $3 billion.

“Our capital strategy remains focused on funding our network investments and we are making progress year-on-year towards reducing the energy intensity and emissions intensity of our network.

“By reducing the number of copper connections in the network with more energy efficient fibre, we aim to enable long-term reductions in network power demand and improving customer experience.

“NBN Co is on track to enable over 10 million premises – or up to 90 per cent of the Fixed Line network – to access close to Gigabit speeds by the end of 2025^1,2.”

A key priority for the company is reducing overall energy demand. By replacing copper connections in the network with more energy-efficient fibre NBN Co aims to enable long-term reductions in network power demand.

The company has also set near-term science-based emissions reduction targets, which have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and are:

• Reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 95 per cent by FY30 from a FY21 base year.
• Reducing Scope 3 Use of Products GHG emissions by 60 per cent per device by FY30 from a FY21 base year.
• 80 per cent of suppliers by spend covering Purchased Goods and Services, Capital Goods and Downstream transportation and distribution, will have science-based targets by FY27.

NBN Co is committed to setting long-term emissions reduction targets and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 (or sooner). The company expects to submit its long-term emissions reduction targets to the SBTi for validation in the near future.