Agence Française de Développement
Industry: GICS Industry: Country: ISIN: Bloomberg Ticker: Financials/Development Banks #N/A France TH098903Q600 223338Z FP Equity StatusPrime
RatingB-poor medium good excellent
Strengths and Weaknesses
+ comprehensive programmes regarding lending to companies/projects with high social benefit
+ sound integration of environmental and social aspects into the lending business
+ code of conduct covering important aspects of business ethics
+ group-wide strategy for addressing climate change and related sector-specific risks
- lack of transparency regarding sector-specific environmental and social guidelines in the company's lending business
- lack of transparency regarding measures to check compliance of key suppliers
Rating History
Company Profile
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is a bilateral development finance institution that works on behalf of the French government. Established in 1941, its mission is to finance development according to France's overseas development assistance policies. AFD uses a wide range of financial instruments to underwrite its activities: grants, subsidies, guarantees, loans, equity shareholdings, co-financing and local bank intermediation.
Industry
Universe Results Key ESG Issues in the Industry
Enviromental and social standards in lending business
Promotion of socially and environmentally
Rating Universe Scouting Universe
A. Social Rating 40.0% B B. Environmental Rating 60.0% C+
A.1. Staff and Suppliers 12.0% C+
staff
freedom of association work-life balance safeguarding of jobs health & safety equal opportunities training and education subcontractors/suppliers
Weight Rating
B.1. Environmental Management 12.0% C+
environmental policy
environmental management system environmental reporting
environmental performance indicators climate change strategy
travel and transport subcontractors/suppliers
Weight Rating
A.2. Society and Product Responsibility 20.0%
society human rights community
stakeholder dialogue
customer and product responsibility
Weight Rating
B.2. Products and Services 43.5%
lending / investment banking business investments
Weight Rating
A.3. Corporate Governance and Business
Ethics 8.0% A corporate governance board independence/effectiveness executive compensation shareholder structure business ethics Weight Rating B.3. Eco-efficiency 4.5% energy use water use GHG emissions total waste recycled waste paper use recycled paper use business travel
Exclusion Criteria Business Areas Violation Risk Industry Producer User/ Retailer No No Info Abortion
6
Alcohol6
Biocides6
Chlororganic Mass Products
6
Embryonic Research
6
Furs6
Gambling6
GMOs6
Military6
Nuclear Power6
Pornography6
Tobacco6
Business Practices Violation RiskIndustry Company Supplier No No Info
Animal Testing
6
Business Malpractice
6
Controversial Env. Practices
6 6
2012: Controversial project finance activities, e.g. Lom Pangar Hydropower Project in Cameroon.Violations of Human Rights
6
2012: Controversial project finance activities, e.g. Lom Pangar Hydropower Project in Cameroon.Additional Company Information Business Data Total Assets (EUR m) Net. Income (EUR m) Number of Employees 2010 17,495.00 103.70 1,993 2011 20,178.00 73.50 2,048
2012 n/a n/a n/a Financial Year ends: 12/2011
Participation in Rating Process
The company actively participated in the rating process and provided additional information and comments on the rating.
Company Contact Mr Jean-Louis Lecouffe
Corporate Responsibility Department 5, rue Roland Barthes
75598 PARIS cedex 12 Fon Fax Email Internet +33 1 53 44 30 46 [email protected] www.afd.fr
oekom research Contact
Analyst: Natalie Tomlinson Goethestraße 28 DE - 80336 Munich Fon +49 89 544184 90 Fax +49 89 544184 99 Email [email protected] Internet www.oekom-research.com Disclaimer
1. oekom research AG uses a scientifically based rating concept to analyse and evaluate the environmental and social performance of companies and countries. In doing so, we adhere to the highest quality standards which are customary in responsibility research worldwide.
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Methodology - Overview
oekom Corporate Rating
Our research process is based on a two-stage model: in a first step the oekom Corporate Scouting process identifies those companies which have the potential to gain oekom Prime Status from the total population of companies in the oekom Universe (approx. 3,000 including securities listed in e.g. MSCI World / Emerging Markets, Stoxx 600 indexes). These are then incorporated into the oekom Rating Universe, where they undergo a comprehensive rating procedure. Companies which do not qualify for a comprehensive rating due to their lack of transparency or performance (based on oekom’s definitions) form the oekom Scouting Universe.
The assessment of the social and environmental performance of a company is generally carried out with the aid of approx. 100 social and environmental criteria, selected specifically for each industry. All criteria are individually weighted, evaluated and aggregated to yield an overall score (Rating).
In order to generate a comprehensive picture of each company, our analysts collect information relevant to the rating both from the company itself and from independent sources. During the rating process, considerable importance is attached to cooperating extensively with the company under evaluation. In general, a variety of feedback loops give companies the opportunity to comment on and add to the provisional findings. If relevant information is not made available by the company, it may result in a poorer rating of the company within the framework of the applied rating method.
The external rating committee provides content with regard to the industry-specific list of criteria and carries out a final plausibility check of the rating results at the end of the rating process.
Exclusion Criteria Obtaining “Prime” status does not necessarily result in an ethically oriented investor investing in a company. This is due to the fact that the investor may have defined additional specific exclusion criteria. Therefore, oekom research carries out a comprehensive negative screening of a great number of ethically controversial business fields and practices for each company.
If relevant cases are identified, they are highlighted by a blue frame. A Risk Industry indicates that the industry is frequently active in controversial business areas or prone to controversial business practices.
An overview of how the individual exclusion criteria are applied in practice can be found at www.oekom-research.com. Industry
Classification
The social and environmental impacts of industries differ. Therefore, subject to its relevance, each industry analysed is classified in a Sustainability Matrix. Depending on this classification, the two components of the oekom Corporate Rating, i.e. the Social Rating and the Environmental Rating, are weighted and the sector-specific minimum requirements for the oekom Prime Status (Prime threshold) are defined (absolute best-in-class approach).
Industry Results Overview of the distribution of all companies’ ratings in the industry from the oekom Universe (Rating Universe companies: shaded blue, Scouting Universe companies: hatched grey). The industry-specific Prime threshold (vertical dotted line) is also shown.
Key ESG Issues Overview of important social and environmental issues that are key to the industry. Rating History Trend in the company's rating.
Rating Scale Companies are rated on a twelve-point scale from A+ to D-: A+: the company shows exceptional performance. D-: the company scarcely shows any commitment.
Overview of the range of scores achieved in the industry by Rating Universe companies (light blue) and Scouting Universe companies (hatched grey). The vertical, dotted line marks the industry-specific Prime threshold.
Sources of Information
A selection of significant sources used for this report is illustrated on the last page. The data for the Bloomberg Ticker, Business Data, Company Name, Country, GICS Industry, ISIN and Sales by Segment was sourced from Bloomberg. Status Companies are categorised as Prime if they achieve/exceed the minimum sustainability performance requirements (Prime threshold) defined by oekom for a specific industry (absolute best-in-class approach) in the oekom Corporate Rating. Prime companies rank among the leaders in that industry. Scouting companies which exhibit the potential to obtain oekom Prime status are added to oekom’s Rating Universe, where they are subjected to the comprehensive rating procedure. Until a final rating is determined, these companies are classified as Not Prime.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Overview of selected strengths and weaknesses of a company with regard to relevant social and environmental criteria. Graphical display of the company’s performance in the various rating sections compared to the highest, lowest and average grade obtained by companies in the industry.
