Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at December 31st, 2007

Turkish farmers are to receive 300 million EUR from the European Union, as they prepare the country’s agricultural industry for EU access.

The Agricultural and Rural Development Commission of the EU said that the grant should be spent on bringing the state of the industry into line with the requirements of the EU market prior to membership. Turkey is formulating plans to put agencies and bodies in place to receive and distribute the funds, probably towards the end of (more…)

Posted by meb at December 31st, 2007

Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said Sunday that Turkey’s exports to Germany, Britain and Russia increased the most in 2007. “Exports to 23 countries exceeded 1 billion USD, each, in 2007,” said Tuzmen. “During the first 11 months of 2007, our exports to Germany, Britain and Russia increased the most in value. Our exports to Germany (more…)

Posted by meb at December 29th, 2007

Atilla Kurama, the CEO of Yıldız Holding — owner of the Ülker Group, which purchased luxury chocolatier Godiva for $850 million last week — said the recent credit crunch and the appreciation of the Turkish lira against the dollar had worked to his company’s advantage during negotiations for Campbell Soup Company’s sale of Godiva, despite many competitors including food giants Hershey, Mars, Nestle and Lindt and several giant private equity houses that hunt for worldwide brands.   (more…)

Posted by meb at December 28th, 2007

Turkish banks’ total net profit in the 12 months to September jumped 35 percent to 11.8 billion YTL, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency said Thursday in a quarterly report.

The figures show the Turkish banking sector retains its high growth potential. The BDDK said “global capital was still interested in investing in Turkey and rising foreign exchange reserves at the Central Bank reduced Turkey’s vulnerability to financial shocks.”

It also said consumer spending is on an upward trend and domestic demand is showing signs of strength following a mere two percent gross national product growth in the third quarter of 2007.

The banks’ total assets also rose 8.8 percent to 543.5 billion lira in September from 499.5 billion lira at the end of 2006, the report said.

source: The New Anatolian

Posted by meb at December 28th, 2007

Investments in marinas are gathering speed due to the lack of facilities concerning yacht mooring, maintenance, repair and stopover in Turkey, a Turkish shipping official has said.

There are approximately 387,000 yachts in the Mediterranean countries, said Hasan Kaçmaz, vice chairman of the Antalya Branch of the Istanbul, Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions (IMEAK) Chamber of Shipping (DTO). Turkey has over 11,000 yachts, constituting only 4 percent of the Mediterranean yacht capacity, Kaçmaz said. (more…)

Posted by meb at December 28th, 2007

The automotive sector has broken a record in Turkish exports, despite the drop in domestic demand in 2007. Automotive exports reached $20.9 billion as of Dec.25 from the beginning of the year and are expected to be around $21-22 billion by the end of this year. This is the highest export figure in a single sector on record for Turkey. Textiles and apparel take second spot with $15.7 billion in exports, followed by iron and steel with $11.2 billion. According to data from exporter unions, Turkey’s exports hit $104.4 billion between Jan. 1 and Dec. 25, in a 24 percent increase over the same period last year. Automotive exports saw a 38.3 percent jump in the same period. Electronic exports hit $8.9 billion in the Jan. 1- Dec. 25 period, while exports of machinery reached $5.4 billion and metal exports hit $5.1 billion. In the cement industry exports increased to $2.5 billion, and jewelry exports rose to $1.5 billion. Exports of all manufacturing industries combined increased by 26.5 percent to $71.2 billion. In 2006, exports in the automotive sector attained a level of $15.1 billion in the Jan. 1- Dec. 25 period and $15.5 billion for the entire year. Textile and apparel exports witnessed a 15.4 percent increase in the same period. Textile exports reached $13.6 billion in the Jan. 1- Dec. 25, 2006 period and $13.7 billion for the whole year.

source: Today’s Zaman

Posted by meb at December 28th, 2007

Significant growth in cell phone usage has led monthly cell phone sales to exceed 1 million units in Turkey, making Turkey an important market for cell phone producers.
Teleses Chairman Recep Uzelli, speaking to the Anatolia news agency, has said the number of mobile phone subscribers worldwide had exceeded 3.3 billion as of the end of November, out of a world population of approximately 6.6 billion. However Uzelli said the number of subscribers was not equal to the number of users as one person may use more than one mobile operator. He said the case was similar in Turkey, which has a population of around 73 million and 60 million mobile phones, making it an important market.  He said the communications sector grew by 7 percent in 2006 while the growth in mobile phones was 40 percent. Uzelli said mobile phone usage was around 75 percent of possible users in Turkey and that he expects it will reach the saturation level by 2010.

source: Today’s Zaman