Bloomberg reported on July 11 that Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) plans to increase borrowing this fiscal year to help fund expansion of carbon fiber manufacture.
Toray, the world’s largest producer of carbon fiber, will seek financing of as much as ¥70 billion ($879 million) in the year ending March 2013, from ¥60 billion in the previous period, according to Mitsuharu Mano, the company’s general manager at the finance department. Toray sold ¥20 billion of 10-year bonds on July 11 in its first offering of non-convertible notes in nine years.
Bloomberg says Demand for light-weight materials for cars and airplanes will boost Toray’s annual sales to ¥2 trillion in about three years, up 16 percent from the forecast for the current period, the company said in May.
“Aggressive capital spending is at the center of our current business plan,” Mano said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We need money to fund expansion of facilities.”
According to the report, Toray on July 11 sold ¥20 billion of 0.925 percent 10-year notes, according to a statement from SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. This was the first time the company tapped the market for a straight bond since a ¥10 billion offering of 1.61 percent 10-year securities in September 2003, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Toray in April began a three-year ¥350 billion capital spending plan aimed at boosting sales of carbon fiber and its mainstay synthetic fiber.
Click here to view original Bloomberg report.
