Financing
According to the publication dated September 5, 2023, Vonovia’s credit rating as awarded by the agency Standard & Poor’s is unchanged at BBB+ with a stable outlook for the long-term issuer credit rating and A-2 for the short-term issuer credit rating. At the same time, the credit rating for the issued and unsecured bonds is BBB+.
In an announcement dated February 1, 2024, the rating agency Moody’s confirmed Vonovia’s rating of Baa1 with a stable outlook.
Vonovia received an A- investment grade rating from the rating agency Scope, although the outlook was changed from stable to negative in a publication dated June 29, 2023.
Vonovia SE has launched an EMTN (European medium-term notes) program. This program, which was originally launched via Vonovia Finance B.V., allows funds to be raised quickly at any time, without any major administrative effort, using bond issues. The prospectus for the € 40 billion program, which was published on March 24, 2023, is to be updated annually and approved by the financial supervisory authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (CSSF).
As of the reporting date of December 31, 2023, Vonovia had placed a total bond volume of € 22.8 billion, € 22.7 billion of which relates to the EMTN program. Deutsche Wohnen bonds worth a further € 1.8 billion were also assumed.
In January 2023, Vonovia implemented an open market repurchase to buy back bonds maturing in 2028, 2029 and 2033; an amount of € 53.6 million was bought back early within this context. A bond in the amount of € 403.4 million was repaid as planned in April 2023.
Deutsche Wohnen repaid secured financing in the amount of € 281.8 million as scheduled in March 2023.
Vonovia repaid promissory note loans of € 120.0 million as scheduled in March 2023.
In March 2023, Vonovia took out secured financing with Berlin Hyp in the amount of € 550.0 million with a maturity of ten years. The financing was disbursed in April 2023.
On April 2023, Vonovia took out unsecured financing with Caixabank in the amount of € 150.0 million with a maturity of five years. The financing was disbursed in April 2023.
June 2023 saw Vonovia repay a secured financing arrangement in the amount of € 75.9 million on the final maturity date.
Vonovia also reached an agreement on secured financing of € 125.0 million with NordLB in June 2023, with disbursement in August 2023.
In June 2023, Vonovia concluded a secured financing agreement with a volume of € 130.0 million with UniCredit. A disbursement was made in the third quarter of 2023.
Another agreement on secured financing of € 175.0 million was reached with Berliner Sparkasse in July 2023, and was disbursed in the same month.
In July and September 2023, two bonds in the amount of € 391.6 million and € 351.9 million, respectively, were repaid as planned.
As part of its ongoing efforts to be proactive in managing its financial liabilities, Vonovia successfully completed a cash offer for a number of bonds. Out of the total nominal value offered by the bond investors amounting to approximately € 1.25 billion, Vonovia accepted the buyback of a nominal value of € 1.0 billion for a total value of € 892.0 million in July 2023. This corresponds to a discount of around 11%.
In September 2023, Vonovia took out an unsecured loan with UniCredit, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Société Générale in the amount of € 600.0 million with a maturity of two years.
The first installment of € 450.0 million from the unsecured loan taken out in 2022 with the European Investment Bank (EIB), in a total amount of € 600.0 million, was disbursed in September 2023.
Vonovia applied for an extension of the Revolving Facility (RCF) in the amount of € 3,000.0 million by two years until 2026, and the application was approved by the bank in September 2023.
In December 2023, the U.S. dollar corporate bond worth € 185.0 million was repaid as planned.
In December 2023, another secured financing arrangement worth € 462.0 million was repaid early.
In December 2023, another bond worth € 876.4 million was repaid as planned.
In December 2023, Vonovia SE concluded a ten-year secured financing arrangement with BayernLB for € 110.0 million, which was disbursed in the same month.
A secured financing agreement with Ärzteversorgung Westfalen Lippe for an amount of € 120.0 million with a term of 15 years was signed in December 2023 and disbursed in the same month.
Also in December 2023, a secured financing agreement with NordLB for an amount of € 50.0 million with a term of ten years was signed and again disbursed in the same month.
A secured financing agreement for € 150.0 million was signed with Ergo in December 2023, and will be disbursed over the coming year.
The debt maturity profile of Vonovia’s financing was as follows as of December 31, 2023:
The key debt ratios are as follows as of the reporting date (calculated based on the definitions used in the financing documentation):
LTV (loan to value)
in € million | Dec. 31, 2022*** | Dec. 31, 2023 | Change in % | |||
Non-derivative financial liabilities | 45,059.7 | 42,933.0 | -4.7 | |||
Foreign exchange rate effects | -50.0 | – | -100.0 | |||
Cash and cash equivalents* | -1,302.4 | -1,737.1 | 33.4 | |||
Net debt | 43,707.3 | 41,195.9 | -5.7 | |||
Sales receivables | -387.2 | -895.2 | >100 | |||
Adjusted net debt | 43,320.1 | 40,300.7 | -7.0 | |||
Fair value of the real estate portfolio | 94,694.5 | 83,927.7 | -11.4 | |||
Loans to companies holding immovable property and land | 809.8 | 814.3 | 0.6 | |||
Shares in other real estate companies | 547.4 | 479.5 | -12.4 | |||
Adjusted fair value of the real estate portfolio | 96,051.7 | 85,221.5 | -11.3 | |||
LTV | 45.1% | 47.3% | 2.2 pp | |||
Net debt** | 43,690.9 | 42,758.4 | -2.1 | |||
Adjusted EBITDA total | 2,763.3 | 2,583.8 | -6.5 | |||
Net debt/EBITDA multiple | 15.8x | 16.5x | 0.7x | |||
- * Incl. term deposits not classified as cash equivalents.
- ** Average over five quarters.
- *** Previous year’s values (2022) as reported.
In connection with the issue of unsecured bonds and financing, as well as structured secured financing, Vonovia has undertaken to comply with the following standard market covenants:
Compliance with standard market convenats
in € million | Threshold | Dec. 31, 2022 | Dec. 31, 2023 | Change in % | ||||
Total financial debt/ | 45,059.7 | 42,933.0 | -4.7 | |||||
Total assets | 101,389.6 | 91,995.9 | -9.3 | |||||
LTV | < 60.0% | 44.4% | 46.7% | 2.2 pp | ||||
Secured debt/ | 12,583.0 | 12,930.1 | 2.8 | |||||
Total assets | 101,389.6 | 91,995.9 | -9.3 | |||||
Secured LTV | < 45.0% | 12.4% | 14.1% | 1.6 pp | ||||
LTM Adjusted EBITDA*/ | 2,763.1 | 2,583.8 | -6.5 | |||||
LTM Net Cash Interest | 502.6 | 650.7 | 29.5 | |||||
ICR | > 1.8x | 5.5x | 4.0x | -1.5x | ||||
Unencumbered assets/ | 51,051.1 | 47,296.5 | -7.4 | |||||
Unsecured debt | 32,476.7 | 30,002.9 | -7.6 | |||||
Unencumbered assets | > 125.0% | 157.2% | 157.6% | 0.4 pp | ||||
- * As reported in 2022.
The existing structured and secured financing arrangements also require adherence to certain standard market covenants. Any failure to meet the agreed financial covenants could have a negative effect on the liquidity status.
The financial covenants (calculation based on the definitions in the financing documentation) have been fulfilled as of the reporting date.