Creditor Relations

Finance strategy

Building on the principles and objectives of financial management, and in light of the Group's strong financial position, the Corporate Board updated the finance strategy in January 2022. It takes into account the shareholders’ interests and the lenders’ requirements, focusing on value creation through a transparent and effective allocation of capital. It also aims to maintain financial flexibility and a low cost of capital for the Group with a high degree of continuity and predictability for investors, and to support the Group's ESG roadmap.

One key component of the strategy is a stand-alone target rating between "Baa1" and "A3" and "BBB+" and "A-", respectively. The strategy also sets clear priorities on how available liquidity is allocated. It will first be used to fund business operations, finance organic investments and regular dividend payments. Thereafter, additional dividend payments or share buybacks as well as inorganic growth could be considered.

Finance strategy , Deutsche Post DHL Group

Credit rating

Credit ratings represent an independent and current assessment of a company’s credit standing. In addition to a quantitative analysis of the annual report and appropriate planning data, they also take into account qualitative factors such as industry-specific features and the company’s market position and range of products and services. The following table shows DHL Group's current credit ratings and the underlying factors.

Current ratings of DHL Group

Rating Fitch Ratings
Moody's Investors Service

Long-term

Short-term

Outlook

BBB+
F2
positive

A2
P-1
stable

     

Research

24 August 2023 PDF (700 kB)

28 June 2023 PDF (1.4 MB)

Update    
     
+ Rating factors
  • Company size and geographic diversification
  • Broad portfolio of services and customers
  • Market leadership
  • Balanced business risk profile between the parcel and express segments, which are growing due to online retail, contract logistics business and the cyclical freight forwarding business
  • Solid credit metrics and liquidity
  • Strong business profile and large scale, supported by the company's global leadership positions in express and logistics services, and its large German mail business
  • Support related to its government-related issuer (GRI) status because of the German government's 21% indirect ownership of the company and the importance of the company's services to the German economy
  • Solid financial profile
- Rating factors
  • Structural volume decline in letter mail business
  • Increased capital expenditure and dividends to shareholders
  • Muted economic conditions, which impair volumes
  • Challenges in the company's domestic postal division stemming from the structural decline in the traditional mail business and wage cost inflation
  • Exposure to highly competitive mature markets and volatile market conditions in the logistics business
  • Increasing capital spending, which hampers cash generation
     
Rating definitions PDF (491 KB) PDF (823 KB)
Homepage Rating agency www.fitchratings.com www.moodys.com

Bonds and instruments

The following overview provides you with the most important information about the major bonds issued by our company.

Overview of major bonds

Bond

Interest rate

Volume

Issuer

Carrying amount
2022
Fair value
2022

Documentation

H1 2021
Annual
Report
2021

Straight bonds issued under the debt issuance programme                 
2012/
2024
2.875%
€700 m
DPAG   €699 m
€699 m

ZIP

(2.4 MB)

   
2013/
2023
2.750%
€500 m
DPAG
€500 m
€502 m

ZIP

(2.1 MB)

   
2016/
2026
1.250% €500 m
DPAG
€499 m €427 m

ZIP

(1.7 MB)

   
2017/
2027
1.000 % €500 m
DPAG
€497 m €452 m

ZIP

(2.3 MB)

   
2018/
2028
1.625% €750 m
DPAG
€744 m €690 m

ZIP

(4.22 MB)

   
2020/
2026
0.375% €750 m
DPAG
€747 m €688 m

ZIP

(4 MB)

   
2020/
2029
0.750% €750 m
DPAG
€748 m €649 m

ZIP

(4 MB)

   
2020/
2032
1.000% €750 m
DPAG
€747 m €610 m

ZIP

(4 MB)

   
2023/
2033
3.375% €500 m
DPAG
   

ZIP

(4.9 MB)

   
Paying Agent: Deutsche Bank AG, Taunusanlage 12, 60325 Frankfurt am Main
Bond
Interest rate
Outstanding
Volume

Issuer
Current
conversion ratio

Current
conversion price
Terms and
conditions

Convertible bond
2017/
2025
0.050%
€1,000 m
DPAG  1,837.49781)
€54.42181) PDF (307 KB)
1)
Due to payment of a dividend of €1.85 per no-par value share on May 9, 2023 pursuant to the resolution of the ordinary shareholders’ meeting of Deutsche Post AG on May 4, 2023 the Conversion Ratio is adjusted from 1,818.3021 to 1,837.4978 and the Conversion Price is adjusted from € 54.9964 to € 54.4218 with effect as of May 5, 2023 in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Convertible Bonds and as calculated by Conv-Ex Advisors Limited as Calculation Agent.
Paying Agent: Deutsche Bank AG, Taunusanlage 12, 60325 Frankfurt am Main

Debt Issuance Programme (DIP)

In 2012, we established a Debt Issuance Programme with a volume of up to €8 billion. This offers us the possibility of issuing bonds in customised tranches up to a stipulated total amount and enables us to react flexibly to changing market conditions. For details about the different bonds issued under the programme please refer to the table above.

Issuer Deutsche Post AG
Programme Amount €8,000,000,000
Arranger Deutsche Bank
Dealers: Bank of America
BNP PARIBAS
Commerzbank
Deutsche Bank
HSBC
Morgan Stanley
Prospectus PDF (4.7 MB)

Sustainability-linked Finance Framework (SLF Framework)

To support our commitment towards our sustainability agenda, we have established an SLF Framework which enables us to issue sustainable financial instruments. The Framework follows the Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles of the International Capital Markets Association and provides an overview of our activities and initiatives aimed at achieving our ambitious ESG targets along with an overview of the potential structure of a sustainable financial instrument.

Reporting Hub

In our Reporting Hub you will find all relevant documents, key figures, videos and dates related to the financial and non-financial reporting of DHL Group.

Reporting Hub