Table:
|  | OPENING | NON‑CASH | NET CASH | CLOSING |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | BALANCE | MOVEMENTS | MOVEMENTS | BALANCE |
| 2019 | $M | $M | $M | $M |
| Current, unsecured |  |  |  |  |
| Short-term money market loans | 16 | 2 | 21 | 39 |
| Bank loans | 88 | 5 | 142 | 235 |
| Securities | 500 | – | (500) | – |
| Total current borrowings | 604 | 7 | (337) | 274 |
| Non‑current, unsecured |  |  |  |  |
| Bank loans | 540 | 36 | 102 | 678 |
| Securities | 1,668 | 110 | 400 | 2,178 |
| Unamortised borrowing costs | (9) | 5 | – | (4) |
| Finance leases | – | 6 | (3) | 3 |
| Total non‑current borrowings | 2,199 | 157 | 499 | 2,855 |
| Total | 2,803 | 164 | 162 | 3,129 |
Paragraphs:
This section provides a summary of the capital management activity of the Group during the period, including the Group’s borrowings. The Group manages its liquidity requirements with a range of short-term money market loans, bank loans, and flexible debt instruments with varying maturities.
The Group manages its capital structure with the objective of enhancing long-term shareholder value through funding its business at an optimised weighted average cost of capital.
The Group returns capital to shareholders when consistent with its long-term capital structure objectives and where it will enhance shareholder value. In May 2019, the Group returned $1.7 billion of capital to shareholders through an off-market share buy-back. This resulted in the purchase of 58.7 million shares which were subsequently cancelled. The share buy-back complements dividends of $1.4 billion paid to shareholders this reporting period through the 2018 final and special dividends, and the 2019 interim dividend, with a total of $3.1 billion returned to shareholders, excluding franking credits.
The Group remains committed to solid investment grade credit ratings and a number of actions can be undertaken to support the credit profile including the sale of non-core assets, further working capital initiatives, and adjusting growth capital expenditure and the property leasing profile. The Group’s credit ratings (1) are BBB (stable outlook) according to S&P and Baa2 (stable outlook) according to Moody’s.
In March 2019, the $500 million domestic Medium Term Notes matured. It was refinanced in April 2019 with $400 million of Medium Term Notes issued to meet the Group’s new Green Bond Framework (Green Bonds). The Green Bonds have been issued for a five-year tenor, maturing in April 2024.
In November 2019, $320 million of undrawn syndicated bank loan facilities are due to mature. The Group intends to refinance this facility at maturity.
(1) These credit ratings have been issued by a credit rating agency which holds an Australian Financial Services Licence with an authorisation to issue credit ratings to wholesale clients only and are for the benefit of the Group’s debt providers.
Question:
How does the Group manage its liquidity requirements?
Answer: The Group manages its liquidity requirements with a range of short-term money market loans, bank loans, and flexible debt instruments with varying maturities.