Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at August 26th, 2008

Capital Markets Board (SPK) President Turan Erol has said Turkey’s capital markets have channeled $24 billion in financial resources to non-financial sectors since 2004.

These transfers of funds took the form of initial and secondary public offerings, capital increases through cash and dividends additions, private bonds and commercial papers.

In an interview with the Anatolia news agency, Erol said the biggest year for transfers to non-financial sectors was 2007, when $8.76 billion was sent to companies’ coffers from capital markets. “Considering that 2008 has not ended yet and assuming that the current pace will continue until the end of the year, the resources transferred to the non-financial sectors from capital markets will likely surpass 2007,” he predicted. This indicates that Turkey’s capital markets are maintaining their vitality despite a shaky political atmosphere and global economic turbulence, he added. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 16th, 2008

Akbank has successfully obtained a 1 billion euro syndicated loan from a group of 53 banks from 20 countries. The signing ceremony for the syndicated loan, which falls due in one year and was extended at the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) plus 0.75 percent, was held yesterday in İstanbul.

Akbank General Manager Zafer Kurtul, together with Managing Director Bülent Adanır and representatives from the 53 lending banks, attended the ceremony.

Noting the significance of the syndicated loan having been extended amid a troubled financial atmosphere marked by major liquidity problems, Kurtul said the process represented “the highest syndicated loan amount” granted to a developing country since the beginning of 2008. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 15th, 2008

Citigroup is not planning to leave the Turkish market and it would be very surprising for the bank if a global player decides to leave Turkey, Referans daily reported Steve Bideshi, the chief executive of Citigroup as saying on Friday.

It would not be understandable to leave a market like Turkey which is growing and has a good economic atmosphere, Referans quoted Bisdeshi as saying. “People and strategies could be changed if things do not go well. But a market should not be quit.” (more…)

Posted by meb at August 15th, 2008

Halkbank, Turkey’s second largest public bank after Ziraat, achieved a 30 percent jump in net profit in the first half of 2008 over the same period a year ago, for a total YTL 640 million.

Speaking in İstanbul at a press conference to disclose the bank’s recent financial statements, Halkbank General Manager Hüseyin Aydın said the bank achieved 19.7 percent in deposits, far exceeding the sector average of 13.2 percent for the same period. Halkbank also surpassed the rest of the Turkish banking industry in the first half in terms of asset growth over the previous year, he said, noting that Halkbank increased its assets by 14.4 percent against the sector average of 8.2 percent. The bank has YTL 46 billion in assets. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 7th, 2008

Garanti Bank reported second-quarter profit declined after year-earlier results were boosted by the sale of the bank’s two insurance units. Net income dropped by 51 percent from a year earlier to YTL 534.9 million ($463 million). The figure was calculated by subtracting first-quarter profit from the YTL 1.03 billion of first-half net income Garanti announced yesterday.

The sale of insurance units helped boost last year’s second-quarter profit to YTL 1.09 billion. A year ago, the bank gained YTL 782.2 million from “other activities,” which included the sale. Excluding the insurance units’ sale, Garanti’s first-half profit rose 21 percent from the previous year, the bank said. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 7th, 2008

Borusan Holding, operating in steel, luxury cars and logistics, obtained a syndicated loan of $170 million at a consortium, which consists of eight banks; including ABN AMRO Bank, Denizbank, Fortis, Garanti, Finansbank-National Bank of Greece and Société Générale.

Borusan will invest the sum in the energy, logistic and steel sectors. The company plans to invest $100 million into a hot roller mill, in a joint venture with ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker. The rest of the credit will be invested in energy and the Borusan Logistic-owned Gemlik Port in the city of Bursa in the eastern Marmara Sea. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 28th, 2008

CBRT Interest Rates
Borrowing Lending
Overnight 16.75 20.25
Late Liquidity 12.75 23.25

CBRT Exchange Rates
FX Buying FX Selling
Dollar 1.1994 1.2052
Euro 1.8878 1.8969

source: Central Bank of Turkey

Posted by meb at July 26th, 2008

Garanti Bank has begun to offer a new “non resident mortgage” to foreigners looking to purchase property in Turkey. With the new service the bank will enable foreigners to obtain lira or foreign exchange indexed loans with a maximum 240-month maturity. Foreigners will also be able to obtain loans of YTL 500,000 or the equivalent amount in foreign currency.
source: Turkish Daily News