Etihad Airways has been honoured with the 2016 Treasury of the Year award by Treasury Management International (TMI) for a string of achievements over the past 12 months. The annual TMI Corporate Recognition Awards, held in London, reflect achievements in treasury and finance policy, practice and innovation.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline’s treasury department was once again recognised for excellence in capital raising and to drive efficiency across the business.
Etihad Airways was commended for securing landmark funding agreements from the international financial community that raised over US$2.7 billion in the debt capital markets, as well as evolving its treasury systems infrastructure and streamlining processes to improve productivity.
In 2016, Etihad Airways drove the issuance of a second Etihad Airways Partners bond transaction of US$500m, together with a debut US$1.5 billion five-year Sukuk issuance, the largest ever non-sovereign Sukuk.
James Hogan, Etihad Aviation Group President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “As we continue to look at ways to enhance cost efficiencies, drive more benefits and improve global leverage for the business, our Group Chief Financial Officer James Rigney and his treasury team led by Ricky Thirion have developed a stronger framework of innovative transactions and processes for the business to remain more competitive.
“We have evolved from a small airline in 2003 to a world-leading aviation and tourism group today, meaning our treasury needs and challenges have grown significantly with scale and complexity,” he said.
Voting for the award was by a TMI-led independent judging panel, based on articles and case studies of the airline’s treasury activities.