Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, has announced it is seeking to raise €500m from a bond issue.

Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, has announced it is seeking to raise €500m from a bond issue, its first foray into the global corporate bond markets in its 89 year history. The Swedish company will begin a roadshow for potential investors on Monday next week.

The proceeds from the bond issue are being raised for general corporate purposes and are aimed at increasing the company’s financial flexibility and diversifying its funding sources.

Earlier this week Volvo Cars announced a robust start to 2016 with revenues for the quarter up 24 per cent year-on-year to SEK41.7bn, generating an operating profit of SEK3.1bn and an operating profit margin of 7.5 per cent.

Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars, said: “Volvo’s global transformation is gathering pace. After a strong first three months of the year, both sales and profitability are expected to increase in FY2016 compared to last year.