ESG Commitment Lotte Rental Achieves Top Rating in MSCI Evaluation

The World's First Ground Passenger Transport

Lotte Rental has achieved the highest rating for the first time in the global ground passenger transportation industry in the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) evaluation by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).

On the 8th, Lotte Rental announced that it received an AAA rating in MSCI's 2024 ESG evaluation. MSCI evaluates the ESG management status of over 8,500 listed companies worldwide every year and classifies them into seven grades (AAA-AA-A-BBB-BB-B-CCC).

Only 15% of the companies evaluated worldwide received the AAA rating in this assessment. In South Korea, only six listed companies, including SK, KB Financial Group, and Woori Financial Group, received this rating. Lotte Rental has been listed on the Korea Exchange since August 2021 and has been evaluated by MSCI's ESG assessment since 2022. It received an AA rating in 2022 and 2023, and this year it rose to the highest rating, AAA.

Lotte Rental explained that its scores improved across all evaluation areas, including environment, social, and governance. The area with the most significant score increase was the "social" category. Corporate culture practices such as various telecommuting and sabbatical leave systems, flexible dress codes and working hours, and the operation of both named and anonymous online chat rooms and direct communication channels with the CEO were highly rated. They also conducted a human rights impact assessment to identify potential human rights risks related to corporate activities, achieving a comprehensive fulfillment rate of 96.7%.

Lotte Rental expects that the rise in its MSCI ESG rating will have a positive impact on its credit rating evaluation as well. This is because not only domestic institutional investors but also domestic and international credit rating agencies significantly reflect ESG ratings, especially governance factors, in their credit rating methodologies, and consider them important evaluation factors when investing in bonds and stocks.

Choi Jin-hwan, CEO of Lotte Rental, stated, "We will continue to lead ESG management in the industry across environment, social, and governance areas, and especially strive to enhance shareholder value under transparent and sound governance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.