PPC gets €500 mln from bond

Greeks and foreigners alike snapped up the “green” bond Public Power Corporation offered on Wednesday, its second issue this year, through which the utility raised 500 million euros, against an original target for €350 million.

The seven-year paper was six-and-a-half times oversubscribed, with bids topping €2.3 billion, leading to a rise in the amount drawn by over 42%.

The book, that opened late on Monday, closed on Wednesday afternoon with the final rate at 3.375%, significantly below the original guidance for 3.75%.

Revenues from the issue of the sustainability-linked bond will be used for the repayment of existing loans, including one that matures in October 2023, as well as for the payment of the issue’s expenses, coming to €5 million.

Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas told a conference in Athens on Wednesday that the PPC bond will allow the corporation “to refinance older and more expensive borrowing and therefore improve its financial results.”

The sustainability clause is linked to the reduction target for carbon emissions that the utility has pledged to achieve by 2023.