Debt Investors

• The Board reviews the Company’s ongoing liquidity risks annually as part of the planning process and on an ad-hoc basis.
• The Board considers short-term requirements against available sources of funding, taking into account forecast cash flows.
• The Company manages liquidity risk by maintaining access to a number of sources of funding which are sufficient to meet anticipated funding requirements.
• Specifically, the Company uses US commercial paper and/or Euro-commercial paper programmes, committed bank facilities and cash resources to manage short-term liquidity.
• The Company has $4.1bn of revolving committed credit facilities provided by 9 relationship banks. These facilities were undrawn as at 31 December 2020, of which $3.4bn will mature in April 2024.
• In respect of AstraZeneca’s announcement on 12 December 2020 to acquire Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Company has executed a further $17.5bn of committed bank facilities. They were undrawn at 31 December 2020.
• The Company maintains strong access to the capital markets for long-term funding through an established Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme and a SEC registered shelf programme.
• These different funding programmes ensure that the Company has sufficient flexibility when choosing the maturity, currency, interest rate (fixed/floating), and geographical mix of investors.

 

AstraZeneca chooses to hold a significant cash balance to meet operational funding needs. Gross cash and investments position as at 31 December 2020 was $8.0bn

¹  Notional bond values. FX converted at 31 December 2020 spot rates (USD/EUR 0.813; USD/GBP 0.733). Current portion of leases of $192m are included in 2021, whilst non-current Leases of $489m have been excluded from the chart.

Below is a summary of the bonds issued or guaranteed by AstraZeneca PLC as at 31 December 2020, sorted by maturity date.

AstraZeneca PLC aims to maintain a strong, investment grade credit rating. The Company has solicited credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P, which are assigned as:

Key contacts at the respective agencies are:

Moody’s

Analyst: Frederic Duranson

Phone: +44-20-7772-1950

S&P

Analyst: Marketa Horkova

Phone: +44 207 176 3743

The Company operates with a centralised Treasury structure so that key Treasury risks are managed at a Group level.
 

Liquidity Policy

• Prudent level of available cash and unutilised credit facilities
• Group funding centrally managed
   

Investment policy

• Security and liquidity
• Financial counterparty limits
   

Foreign Exchange Policy

• Foreign Exchange exposures managed centrally
• Transactional currency exposures substantially hedged
   

Interest Rate Policy

• Aim to broadly match level of floating rate debt to cash over time
• Significant portion of financial liabilities at fixed interest rates
   

Credit Risk

• Cash managed centrally
• Derivatives positions fully collateralised