Triodos to raise €90m for ethical lending

Triodos Bank has announced plans to issue €90 million of new shares.

Money raised from the shares will be used to provide loans to sustainable projects.

Set up in 1980, Netherlands-based Triodos provides loans to environmentally-friendly projects such as wind farms and organic agriculture.

Since the credit crunch, the company has seen an upsurge in interest in its sustainable approach to banking.

Customer numbers at the bank have increased by almost a fifth (18%) since January this year.

“If nothing else, the financial crisis has taught us that it pays to choose sustainable”, said chief executive Peter Blom.

Blom added that the money raised from the share issue will allow the bank to increase its lending.

“New capital will enable us to lend to even more to sustainable projects and companies”, he said.

“Our growth is faster than foreseen; we continue to thrive despite the financial crisis, and have no shortfall of capital.

“This year we have grown faster than ever before, with more than an 18% increase in our customer numbers since January 2009.”

Triodos has 12,000 shareholders, around half of whom are individual investors.

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