Norofert prepares for a sustainable future and becomes the first ESG-rated AeRO company

Bucharest, June 7, 2022 – Norofert SA (BVB Symbol: NRF), the leading producer of organic inputs and player with experience in the agricultural market, becomes the first company listed on the AeRO market operated by the Bucharest Stock Exchange to launch a sustainability and impact report on environment, accompanied by an ESG rating. The company’s main strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the production of inputs for organic farming, which do not use gas for synthesis, but organic raw materials. Thus, compared to the inputs from conventional agriculture, the ecological inputs offer from the start an advantage for the reduction of greenhouse gases, but above all it contributes to an optimal biodiversity in the soil. Also, the farm of the company from Zimnicea of 1,000 ha, operated in ecological regime, is an important asset for the reduction of the carbon footprint.

With a clear goal of developing the organic farming market, in a profitable and sustainable way compared to the soil and its natural resources, the company decided to take a strategic step and achieve an independent ESG report and rating. Thus, Norofert appealed for evaluation to Sustainalytics, Morningstar, one of the leading independent ESG research, rating and analysis firms in the world, from which the company received an ESG score of 35.8 for the first year of reporting and rating. Norofert occupies, by this qualification, the 17th position out of 56 companies in the agro-chemical sub-industry analyzed globally. The full report can be consulted at this link: https://norofert.ro/investors/sustainability/.

“Norofert has set a new standard for non-financial reporting among companies listed on the AeRO segment of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, by voluntarily generating an ESG analysis and obtaining a rating from Sustainalytics. The result is a good one and practically tells us where we are, but also what are the concrete steps we need to follow in our process of sustainable growth. At the same time, the report brings a greater degree of transparency and clarity to our business model. We aim to become a company with a positive impact on the industry, with the goal of climate neutrality in operations, according to ESG requirements “, said Alex Cristescu, Member of the Board of Directors, Norofert Group.

The ESG criteria for evaluating companies by Sustainalytics were largely created for large and mature companies. The ESG assessment looked at the impact of corporate governance, carbon levels in operations, emissions and waste, resource use, human capital, community relations, business ethics, environmental and social impact of products and services, product governance, occupational health and safety.

Most companies in the Sustainalytics database have a market valuation of over € 1 billion, some reaching tens of billions, with environmentally and socially oriented programs, active in some cases for decades, with large budgets and assured corporate governance. by industry leaders with decades of experience. The sub-industry in which Norofert operates has a very high degree of risk, respectively 59.3. Only 10 of the 56 companies have an average ESG rating, ie a rating below 30. At the same time, Norofert is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are on the 2030 Agenda, and can also have a positive influence on some of them.

The shares of Norofert Group are listed on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange starting with March 3, 2020 and are traded under the symbol NRF. The company has a market capitalization of over 142 million lei, and starting with October 11, 2021, NRF shares are included in the BET-AeRO index developed by BVB for this market.

About Norofert SA

Norofert SA is the main producer of organic inputs and an experienced player on the Romanian agricultural market. Norofert operates on three main lines of business: production of inputs for organic farming, organic farming and grain trading. Norofert’s philosophy is to be with partner farmers throughout the crop cycle, from providing ecological inputs, to monitoring crops, to taking grain from the farmer’s crops to be exported to final processors, with whom contracts are concluded. default trading. On March 3, 2020, the company’s shares were traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange under the symbol “NRF”, and on June 5, 2020, Norofert’s bonds debuted under the symbol “NRF25” on BVB’s SMT-Bonds market. www.norofert.ro