Far Eastern New Century Corporation (Stock code: 1402, hereinafter referred to as “FENC” or “the Company”) launched its green bond and listed on the Taipei Exchange (hereinafter referred to as “TPEx”) on 8 January. Mr. Douglas Tong Hsu, Chairman of FENC, and Mr. Philip Chen, Chairman of TPEx co-hosted the listing ceremony. FENC is the very first non-financial & non-state-owned company to issue a green bond. This green bond can not only finance FENC’s sustainability investing strategy, but also support the government’s new green finance policies and provide investors with innovative products. “It’s a mutually beneficial resolution for investors, issuers and government,” said the FENC management team.
The issuance amount is NT$ 3 billion, 0.95% coupon rate, with a tenure of 5 years and redeemed at the par value on the maturity date. The purpose for the capital raised is to invest in four green projects: recycled PET, new batch polymer, waterless dyeing and green building projects. The aforesaid first three projects are related to the Company’s production business. FENC has continuously diversified its feedstock and upgraded its production processes, especially in recycled PET capacity expansion, production processes upgrading and new facilities adopted to conserve energy, save water, reduce carbon emissions, decrease waste discharge, etc. The FENC management team also indicated their goal to develop a green, closed loop and sustainable supply chain in the future. On the other hand, regarding the land development of Taipei Far Eastern Telecom Park (Tpark), the Company has planned, designed and constructed the Tpark with ecological conservation and eco-friendly technology. Tpark has created a friendly space for people, living things, and the environment. These four projects span polyester and textiles to property businesses, and the expected environmental benefits are diversified and various, including reusing and recycling waste materials, water saving, cleaning or recycling, GHG reduction, optimizing energy efficiency and saving energy, pollution prevention and control, and green building applications.
The green bonds issued by non-financial companies have two distinguishing features: 1) A company should provide funding proposals in green investing, which shall be verified by third party verifiers, and then to apply the green bond issuance to the TPEx; 2) A company should disclose the allocation of fund proceeds, which shall be exclusive use by the projects, and the verifiers shall provide their assessment opinion to the fund allocation annually.
FENC (renamed from Far Eastern Textile) is the major holding company of the Far Eastern Group. With the Company’s founding spirit and core values of “Sincerity, Diligence, Thrift, Prudence and Innovation”, over the past sixty and more years, FENC currently has three major business segments. Despite its leading position in the production business (including petrochemical, polyester and textile businesses), the Company also owns significant land holdings in Taiwan, and a diversified investment portfolio ranging through the cement, retail, shipping, financial services and telecommunications businesses. In addition, FENC is dedicated to building a comprehensive green supply chain in the polyester industry via eco-friendly polices (recycle/ replace/ reduce). Recycle: promoting recycling to build a closed loop economy. Replace: replacing fossil fuels to achieve feedstock diversification. Reduce: reducing the consumption of resources to minimize environmental impact. The Company has focused on R&D in developing innovative green technologies and products. Currently, 25% of the production business revenues is derived from green-related products and various green product certifications have been granted. Looking forward, the management team mentioned the need to constantly promote energy saving and carbon emissions reduction policies, decrease utility consumption gradually and mitigate the impact of climate change for environmental sustainability.
FENC has been awarded accolades globally and domestically for its CSR achievements. Worldwide, we have been selected as a constituent of the MSCI Global Sustainability Series and FTSE4 Good Emerging Index. Locally, we were ranked Top 5% in the TWSE Corporate Governance Evaluation and also included as a constituent of TWSE Corporate Governance 100 Index. In addition, we have been recognized by the “Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Award”, the “Global Views Monthly CSR Annual Survey Award” and the “CommonWealth Magazine Corporate Social Responsibility” in consecutive years.
