CMT secures first S$200 million green loan to finance BCA Green Mark certified properties
Singapore, 1 October 2019 – CapitaLand Mall Trust Management Limited (CMTML), the manager of CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), is pleased to announce that HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited, as trustee of CMT, has secured a S$200 million, five-year green loan from OCBC Bank. This marks CMT’s first foray into green financing where all proceeds raised will be used exclusively to finance or refinance properties within its portfolio that have achieved BCA Green Mark certification.
CMTML has established a Green Loan Framework guided by the Green Loan Principles from the Loan Market Association and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association. In support of the BCA’s Green Building Masterplan, CMT is committed to achieving BCA Green Mark certification for all its operational properties by 2020. As at 31 August 2019, 14 of CMT’s 15 properties are certified BCA Green Mark Gold and above.
Mr Tony Tan, CEO of CMTML, said:
“As the largest retail REIT in Singapore, we are committed to delivering long-term value to our stakeholders while driving positive change in the community to serve the needs of shoppers in this and future generations. The green loan attests to CMT’s green initiatives and supports our efforts in creating a more sustainable environment. It allows us to diversify our funding sources, with the flexibility to deploy the proceeds to the majority of CMT’s properties that are already certified green.”
Ms Elaine Lam, Head of Global Corporate Banking, OCBC Bank said: “We are delighted to advise CMT on its first green loan which demonstrates their strong commitment to investing in a low-carbon and sustainable future. In 2019, we have seen an exponential growth in the sustainable finance sector in Singapore, and we are now only entering the early phase of a trend which will persist for years to come. We are very excited by the prospects of the sector.”
CMT is listed in several sustainability indices including the FTSE4Good Developed Index, FTSE4Good ASEAN 5 Index, iEdge ESG Leaders Index, iEdge ESG Transparency Index, STOXX® Global ESG Leaders and Global ESG Governance Leaders. In the 2019 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Real Estate Assessment, CMT emerged as the leader in the Asia ‘Retail – Listed’ category.