Toray Industries Inc., the supplier of carbon fiber for the Boeing 787 and Mercedes-Benz, plans to increase borrowing this fiscal year to help fund expansion.
The world's largest producer of carbon fiber will seek financing of as much as ¥70 billion in the year ending next March from ¥60 billion in the previous period, according to Mitsuharu Mano, the company's general manager of finance. Toray sold ¥20 billion in 10-year bonds Thursday in its first offering of nonconvertible notes in nine years.
Demand for lightweight 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. The maker of products ranging from golf club shafts and bathing suits to water purifiers and airbag textiles plans to expand spending on factories and equipment 24 percent to ¥117 billion this fiscal year.
"Aggressive capital spending is at the center of our current business plan," Mano said in an interview at the company's Tokyo headquarters Tuesday. "We need money to fund expansion of facilities." Toray on Thursday sold ¥20 billion in 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 composites and its mainstay synthetic fiber. It has ¥160.7 billion in bonds and loans outstanding.
