Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at December 3rd, 2008

Honda Motor Co. will halt its plan to increase production capacity in Turkey and delay plant construction in India by at least one year amid slowing demand, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday citing Nikkei English News.

Honda’s 1.3 billion yen ($13.9 million) project in Turkey, which would boost annual capacity to make Civic and other compact cars by 26 percent to 63,000 units, will be frozen until the market recovers, an unidentified senior official told Nikkei. The automaker initially planned to complete the expansion by mid-2009, according to Nikkei. (more…)

Posted by meb at December 1st, 2008

The Turkish automotive industry is expecting to see a contraction in sales of 10-15 percent this year compared to 2007, but is confident that this tightening of the market will not happen if banks loosen their grip on extending vehicle loans and make the conditions for loan arrangements easier.

The chairman of the Automobile Distributors Association (ODD), İbrahim Aybar, said things would get worse in the automotive sector unless a solution to the effects of the global financial crisis is found shortly. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 29th, 2008

Turkish automotive market sales are expected to shrink 20 percent next year in response to the global financial crisis and economic slowdown, the head of a Turkish automotive association said on Friday.

Turkey’s car industry, which has grown dramatically since a 2001 financial crisis, has not been spared the dramatic global downturn and easing access to credit is crucial in keeping the wheels of industry turning, said Ibrahim Aybar, chairman of the Turkish Automotive Distributors’ Association.

“The issue is how we can keep the domestic market alive. The first thing will be easing credit facilities and secondly some supportive actions,” Aybar said on the sidelines of an automotive conference in Istanbul. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 26th, 2008

Automotive exports, which have long been the engine driving Turkey’s export boom, are now being threatened by the increasingly negative effects of the ongoing global financial crisis.

Industry exports have entered a period of negative growth after enjoying a long period of continuous growth. Auto exports decreased by a record high of 42 percent during the period between Nov. 1 and Nov. 23 compared to the same period a year previous. According to Uludağ Exporters’ Union (UİB) data, the stagnation seen in European markets in the second half of this year is starting to appear in Turkey, causing export growth to shudder to a halt.

At the beginning of the year, things were far brighter than now. Turkey’s auto exports increased by 79 percent in January compared to the same month in 2007, amounting to $2.2 billion, with healthy export numbers staying above the $2 billion mark until August. Steady growth ceased after the summer, with the emerging global financial crisis on the horizon. Figures for August and beyond have been characterized by fluctuating and unpredictable demand. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 24th, 2008

The Bosnian government yesterday approved the sale of a 49 percent stake in B&H Airlines to Turkish Airlines (THY).
THY Chairman Candan Karlıtekin said yesterday they are still continuing talks with their Bosnian counterparts to finalize the sale, adding that a deal with B&H Airlines on the transfer of shares will be signed soon.

Previously, Karlıtekin had said they expected to get a voice in the European aviation market with the B&H Airlines agreement. He noted again yesterday that they will have an airline company in Europe, stressing that, although B&H Airlines is a small company, this step was nevertheless important for bringing THY closer to its goal of having an effective presence in the global market. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 15th, 2008

Turkish Airlines’ (THY) net profit rose 244 percent to 668 million lira ($415.4 million) in the first nine months of the year, and it said it had positive expectations for the year as a whole.

Sales in the same period jumped 24 percent to 4.416 billion lira as the partly state-owned airline continued to expand to new destinations and added flights.

“Although the fall in fuel prices recently has been encouraging for the airline sector, the fact that this fall was a consequence of expected stagnation resulting from the global financial crisis is a negative factor,” THY said in a statement on Friday.

“However, the Turkish airline sector will continue to grow. Because of the successful performance during this period, our company’s expectation for 2008 is positive,” it said.

THY said fuel costs made up 36 percent of operating costs during the nine-month period, up from 27 percent a year earlier.

The flag carrier has embarked on an ambitious expansion program to become one of Europe’s leading airlines, with plans to buy up to 105 wide-bodied and single-aisle aircraft from Boeing and Airbus over the next few years. The airline is also seeking acquisitions in the region. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 12th, 2008

Turkish automotive output shrank more than 20 percent in October, industry data showed on Tuesday, as the vital export sector felt the impact of the abrupt downturn in European vehicle demand.

Turkey’s Automotive Industry Association (OSD) said vehicle production tumbled 20.5 percent year-on-year to 80,301 units during the month, while exports slid 27.5 percent to 54,928.

Car production fell 24.2 percent during the same period to 45,057 units, with car exports dropping 32.5 percent, it said.

The Turkish automotive sector has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, which continued in the first half of 2008, but it has since turned negative. In September output dipped 0.8 percent. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 11th, 2008

The number of airline passengers in Turkey rose above 109 million in the first nine months of 2008, an increase of 6.4 percent over the same period last year, the State Airports Management General Directorate (DHMİ) announced yesterday.

Nearly 59 million people traveled by air in September, a 5.8 percent increase over the same month of 2007. Customers showed more interest in air travel due to the cutthroat competition in the domestic aviation market. Also, the total number of flights increased by 2.7 percent in September of this year over the same month in 2007. In the first nine months of 2008, Antalya Airport saw 29 million passengers, while İstanbul Atatürk Airport followed with 24 million. Adnan Menderes Airport in İzmir came in third, welcoming 8 million passengers, while Esenboğa Airport in Ankara hosted 7.6 million in the same period. (more…)