Our strategy aims to maintain rigorous financial discipline, in line with the investment grade profile, in order to limit the exposure to financial risks (interest rate and credit) and obtain the best possible economic conditions in any market context.
The main goals are to further reduce the Loan to Value (to around 40/43%) and prudently refinance the 2023 and 2024 maturities with some advance, while maintaining maximum flexibility in the choice of markets and financial instruments.
Financial solidity and prudent management are part of the IGD Group’s DNA.
In November 2021 we finalized the disposal of a portfolio of hypermarkets and supermarkets “stand alone” which allowed us to bring the Loan to Value ratio below 45% at the end of 2021, substantially achieving the target we set in the previous Strategic Plan. This operation also allowed us to close 2021 with approximately € 160 million of liquidity and therefore to have almost entirely covered the financial maturities of 2022.
With regard to IGD’s ratings, in 2021 the agencies S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings improved the outlook assigned to IGD, taking it from Negative to Stable as evidence of the Group’s solidity, despite the difficulties linked to the pandemic. S&P Global Ratings confirmed the BB+ rating and Fitch Ratings confirmed the rating of BBB-; with this latest confirmation, the economic conditions of the bond loans remain unchanged.
