Atradius N.V.
| Company name | |
|---|---|
| File:Bijdrijfs Logo.svg | |
| Quick Facts | |
| Type | Public |
| sector | subsector |
| Headquarters (Benelux Organization) | Stad, Land |
| Year of Origin | jaartal |
| Emissions (All Scopes) | XXX Megatons of CO2 (2020) |
| Total Revenue | USD$XXXX billion (2020) |
| Stock Exchange | shares are not traded |
| Key People | Only the executives, Supervisory board in Company Structure |
| Number of Employees | XXX |
| Subsidiaries |
|
Atradius provides trade credit insurance, surety and collections services worldwide through a presence in more than 50 countries around the globe. It is the credit insurance arm of Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO.MC). Credit insurance, bonding and collections products help protect companies throughout the world from payment risks associated with selling products and services on trade credit. In 2019 the company had revenues of EUR 2 billion. The company is rated ‘A (excellent) outlook stable’ by AM Best and ' A2 outlook stable’ by Moody's.
Company Structure
The now international group was renamed Atradius in 2004. In 2008 the group merged with the Spanish credit insurer Crédito y Caución, founded in 1929, and subsequently gained an additional foothold in the Spanish speaking world. Atradius forms part of Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO.MC), one of the leading insurers in Spain and worldwide in credit insurance. Grupo Catalana Occidente holds 36% of Atradius shares directly, and 64% indirectly through its subsidiary Grupo Compania Espanola de Credito y Caucion. This means Atradius-shares are not traded on a stock exchange.
The Atradius Group today is the amalgamation of a number of international trade credit insurers and affiliated organisations from around the world. Although now Spanish owned, the holding company Atradius N.V. and its headquarters remain in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Management Board
| Name | Function | Remuneration x1000 EUR |
|---|---|---|
| David Capdevila | CEO | |
| Andreas Tesch | Market Officer | |
| Christian van Lint | Risk Officer | |
| Claus Gramlich-Eicher | CFO | |
| Marc Henstridge | Insurance Operations |
The total remuneration in 2020 amounted to Euro 3.300.000,--. No details available.
Supervisory Board
| Name | Function | Remuneration x1000 EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Xavier Freixes | Chairman | |
| Francisco Arregui | Vice-Chairman | |
| Désirée van Gorp | Member | |
| Juan Ignacio Guerrero | Member | |
| Carlos Halpern | Member | |
| John Hourican | Member | |
| Bernd H. Meyer | Member | |
| Hugo Serra | Member | |
| José María Sunyer | Member | |
Accountant
What is the companies accountant?
Main Activities
In a few sentences, describe the core activities of the company. In a bit more detail than in the introduction.
Government
To what extent can the government influence company policy? (shareholder, licensing authority, client etc.) Has company received NOW support or royal status?
Paris Agreement untill Today
What has company done or refused to do since the Climate Accord of Paris? Per company, where applicable refer to research on the benefits of fossil companies in the form of subisidies etc.
Atradius
In the Annual reports from 2016 onwards, no reference is made to the Paris Agreeement 2015. However, at least since 2016 Environmental Key Performance Indicators are published, although it is not clear whether the figures refer to Atradius, or Atradius plus the parent company GCO.
2016
The Annual Report 2016 states on p. 46: As a financial services firm, our environmental impact is small compared to many other industries. However, our customers and other stakeholders still expect us to minimise our impact, and as a responsible business whose operations ultimately rely on natural resources, we are constantly looking at opportunities to make efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. To promote greater environmental responsibility, initiatives have been introduced in respect of energy use, recycling and waste disposal, transportation and procurement. We are a member of the United Nations Global Compact. The Global Compact’s 10 principles resonate highly with our values. The Global Compact focuses on four core areas, to which we respond in different ways. To learn more about our commitment to the UNGC’s 10 principles, please see our Communication on Progress Report.
2020
The Annual report 2020 states on p. 52: The title of the Corporate Social Responsibility chapter in our annual report has been changed to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Sustainability to reflect the renewed ambition, as well as its wider scope and involvement. In 2020, we also established the Group Sustainability Committee to guide and support our ambitions on a senior level. The Sustainability Committee has consulting and decision-making duties in relation to the development of sustainability and embedding it in the group’s strategy. The Sustainability Master Plan goals are amongst others:
- Offer a common working framework in the sustainability area for the entities that are part of Grupo Catalana Occidente, including Atradius.
- Establish a work agenda to continue to promote sustainability for the period 2020-2023 and define responsibilities.
A few examples of ESG Sustainability initiatives that Atradius has undertaken are; creation of a ‘Group HR Policy’ and a ‘Group Human Rights Policy’, the Corporate Social Responsibility Tribe to increase awareness within the organisation through engagement and webinars, and an investigation of whether there is a need/demand from our customers for a ‘sustainable’ product. Comment: the last part sounds passive.
2021
The Annual Report 2021, page 48, describes their environmental responsibility as follows: As a worldwide operating company, we are aware of our responsibility to do business in a way that is ethically and environmentally sound. Environmental, Social and Governance topics are more important than ever, as the urgency of taking care of our planet for future generations and ourselves has further grown. We take up our responsibility as a global organisation. We work together with our stakeholders, with a goal of maximising the sustainable social value and minimising the negative impacts on social and environmental matters arising from our activities. Environmental, Social and Governance Sustainability is embedded in our culture and a key driver in our day-to-day operations. It is our objective to do this jointly with our customers in a transparent and ethical manner, allowing both parties to grow sustainably. We place particular emphasis on the identification of risks and opportunities related to ESG parameters and criteria and embed them in our underwriting strategy. We are persistently improving and promoting the development of sustainable products and services that contribute to protection of the environment. We expect the same approach by our suppliers, which is hard-coded in our procurement policy. Within the Atradius culture, a key building block is the encouragement of efficient and responsible use of resources, as well as behaviour supporting its responsible use.
And on page 49: To connect with the international ESG standards in our commitments and ambitions, we have subscribed to the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) on human rights, labour conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. Every year we provide an update on the progress we have made. We provide transparency about our ESG-commitments via various channels. In 2021, we subscribed the Atradius Group to the Dutch government’s biannual Transparency Benchmark study of the 200 largest companies in the Netherlands. Atradius was awarded 9th place for clarity in ESG-reporting. We also had the quality of our sustainability management system measured by EcoVadis (Business Sustainability Rating Agent, Barcelona). Our policies, actions and results were assessed on 21 sustainability criteria, ranging from environment, labour and human rights, to ethics and sustainable procurement. The resulting scorecard puts Atradius in the upper half of all rated companies.
Our ambitions for the future
The ESG Sustainability Policy of Atradius is closely aligned with the ESG Sustainability Plan of GCO, our parent company. Key areas to be mentioned are our efforts in dealing with climate change and sustainability, human rights and diversity. All relevant units in Atradius and GCO are brought together to contribute to our ESG ambitions, providing a scope and ambition that has been generated in the form of a three-year Master Plan (2020-2023). The progress we have made, especially around our ESG programs, practices and policies, has been recognised by Sustainalytics, a Global leader in ESG research with almost 30 years of experience around sustainability, which has in December 2021 significantly improved GCO’s ESG rating. Grupo Catalana Occidente S.A. is now 12th out of 300 insurance companies evaluated.
Grupo Catalana Occidente
The Sustainability Master Plan is the main tool through which Grupo Catalana Occidente develops and implements its sustainability strategy. A new Sustainability Master Plan for the 2021-2023 period has been updated on the basis of a materiality study carried out in 2020.
Grupo Catalana Occidente supports the Paris Agreement and is working to be an active part of the climate change solution. To do this, it focuses its strategy on gradually reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2021, the Group has joined the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), which aims to achieve neutral greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and thus contribute to limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in the year 2100. To achieve this commitment, Grupo Catalana Occidente will establish gradual, science-based intermediate targets that will allow it to contribute to climate neutrality and balance scientific ambition, risk profiles and the world economy’s decarbonisation trends as well as possible. It will also report annually on the progress achieved in relation to the targets adopted.[1]
Conclusion
Although there are no SMART objectives in the annual report, and no reference is made to the Paris 2015 climate agreement, Atradius has itself assessed externally in the field of sustainability. Furthermore, Atradius cooperates with the sustainability policy of the parent company GCO. The Master Plan (2020-2023) of GCO can probably be considered as a climate plan. The Master Plan refers to the Paris-2015 agreement and sets a goal to be carbonneutral by 2050, in order to obtain the max. + 1,5 degree objective. In 2021, the GCO-group for the first time tried to establish their scope-3 pollution.
Financial Results since 2015
This tabel is meant to indicate that the companies have plenty of money to make their company more sustainable. Clearly distinguish between Dutch data and international data.
| Year | Revenue | Profit | Dividend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1753.8 Billion EUR | 178.200.000 | 71.210.000 |
| 2016 | 1805.6 Billion EUR | 211.800.000 | 76.748.000 |
| 2017 | 1861.9 Billion EUR | 186.200.000 | 83.869.000 |
| 2018 | 1920.2 Billion EUR | 202.700.000 | 91.782.000 |
| 2019 | 2037.9 Billion EUR | 227.708.000 | 102.859.000 |
| 2020 | 1993.7 Billion EUR | 44.167.000 | 90.991.000 |
| 2021 | 2186.5 Billion EUR | 240.249.000 | XXX EUR |
Scandals and Controversies
Current Emissions
Description of the emissions per scope. Critical analysis of (missing) information based on GHG protocol (probably most relevant for scope 3). Describe possible reduction trends.
| Item | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity usage kWh | 9.911.723 | 6.911.448 | 7.576.044 |
| Gas usage m^3 | 401.971 | 281.909 | 302.454 |
| Employee air travel km | 15.050.653 | 2.321.249 | 815.182 |
| Employee rail travel km | 2.648.104 | 711.238 | 450.240 |
| Company lease car travel | 9.168.351 | 6.331.731 | 5.662.071 |
| Tonnes CO2 of energy+travel | 13.868 | 6.642 | 6.927 |
| Waste (tonnes) | 693,7 | 560,4 | 814 |
Source: [2] All items show a significant improvement. This could be largely related to the COVID-situation. In 2021 there was an increase in the use of energy and a large increase in waste.
| Scope 1 | Scope 2 | Scope 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 135 tonnes of CO2 (2020) | 2477 tonnes of CO2 (2020) | unknown tonnes of CO2 (2020) |
| 119 tonnes (2021) | 1994 tonnes (2021) | 1433 tonnes (2021) |
In 2021, the scope-3 emissions were partly calculated. The numbers are totals for the GCO-group, not just for Atradius.[3]
Climate Policy and Plans
Description of the climate plans and policy of the company, with special focus on the goals for 2030 and 2050. Make sure to include the baseyear for their targets. Do the goals take the entire company and all scopes into account?
Citation from the Annual Report 2020:
In 2020, we also established the Group Sustainability Committee to guide and support our ambitions on a senior level. The Sustainability Committee has consulting and decision-making duties in relation to the development of sustainability and embedding it in the group’s strategy. The Sustainability Master Plan goals are:
- Offer a common working framework in the sustainability area for the entities that are part of Grupo Catalana Occidente, including Atradius.
- Establish a work agenda to continue to promote sustainability for the period 2020-2023 and define responsibilities.
A few examples of ESG Sustainability initiatives that Atradius has undertaken are:
- creation of a ‘Group HR Policy’ and a ‘Group Human Rights Policy’,
- the Corporate Social Responsibility Tribe to increase awareness within the organisation through engagement and webinars,
- an investigation of whether there is a need/demand from our customers for a ‘sustainable’ product.
Due Diligence
Keep the broader context in mind. Is the company integer when it comes to deforestation, palm oil, biodiversity, human rights etc etc? Be critical in the sources used here.
Conclusion
Recap of the position and influence of the company. Are the climate plans of the company enough to be in line with goals of the Paris Agreement? Is the company doing enough? Are the companies targets realistic?
Atradius cooperates with the sustainability policy of the parent company GCO. The Master Plan (2020-2023) of GCO can probably be considered as a climate plan. The Master Plan refers to the Paris-2015 agreement and sets a goal to be carbonneutral by 2050, in order to obtain the max. + 1,5 degree objective. In 2021, the GCO-group for the first time tried to establish their scope-3 pollution.
References
- ↑ Sustainability Report 2021 pp. 41-46
- ↑ Annual Report 2020 page 54
- ↑ Sustainability Report 2021 p. 43