To assess whether VERBUND AG is suitable to issue hybrid bonds, we need to evaluate its credit profile, cash flow generation, and existing capital structure, as hybrid bonds are typically issued by companies with strong investment-grade characteristics and the ability to service periodic coupon payments. 1. **Size, Stability, and Cash Flows**: VERBUND is a large Austrian utility company. It exhibits massive revenue and profit growth in the 2022-2023 period (Revenue rising from €4.78B to €10.35B; EBITDA from €1.58B to €3.16B). Operating cash flow surged to €2.02B. The stability and scale of its cash flows provide a strong base to service hybrid bond coupons. 2. **Leverage and Solvency**: The company's existing financial leverage is moderate. Net financial debt (Noncurrent + Current financial liabilities = €2.84B + €1.11B = €3.95B) minus cash (€0.41B) stands at roughly €3.54B. With an EBITDA of €3.16B, the Net Debt/EBITDA ratio is approximately 1.1x, which is very low and characteristic of a solid investment-grade utility. Hybrid bonds are typically treated as 50% equity by rating agencies for such stable utilities; issuing them would not overly burden the balance sheet. 3. **Interest Coverage**: The EBITDA easily covers the interest expense (€101.7M) by more than 30x, providing an extremely wide margin of safety for additional debt servicing, including the deferrable coupons of a hybrid bond. 4. **Existing Hybrid-Equity Features**: The balance sheet already shows significant noncontrolling interests (€1.05B) and contributions to building costs/grants (€791M), indicating familiarity with equity-like and subordinated capital structures. Utilities are classic issuers of hybrid bonds because their regulated/stable cash flows can support the long-term subordinated debt, and rating agencies look favorably on them as equity credit, allowing the company to optimize its weighted average cost of capital (WACC) without diluting shareholders. Given the robust financial profile and low leverage, VERBUND is strongly suitable for such an issuance. Strongly Suitable