Borsa Istanbul firms' net profits maintain upward trend, reach TL 17.2B

The net profits of companies traded on the Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) maintained an upward trend, rising to about TL 17.24 billion ($3.7 billion) in the first quarter, while of the 92 companies listed on the BIST 100 index, 65 generated net profits, while 27 closed the first quarter with net losses. The net profits of companies traded on the stock exchange in the first quarter increased by 8 percent compared to the same period last year. Thus, net profits rose from around TL 15.96 billion in the first quarter of 2017 to around TL 17.24 billion in the same period this year.

During this period, eight companies - Garanti Bank, İş Bank, Akbank, Yapı Kredi Bank, Koç Holding, Sabancı Holding, Ereğli Iron and Steel and VakıfBank - reached over TL 1 billion in net profits. Of the companies traded on the stock exchange, 28 exceeded TL 100 million in net profits in the first quarter.

OVER 2/3 OF COMPANIES GENERATE NET PROFIT

Of the 92 companies traded on the BIST 100 index that shared their financial results as part of the balance sheet disclosure period, 65 generated net profits in the first quarter, while the remaining 27 companies announced net losses.

Accordingly, Garanti Bank led the way in the first quarter with a net profit of close toTL 2 billion, followed by Koç Holding with TL 1.8 billion, Akbank with TL 1.7 billion, Yapı Kredi with TL 1.2 billion, and Koç Holding with TL 1.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Sabancı Holding, Ereğli Iron and Steel and Vakıfbank managed to increase their net profits over TL 1 billion in the first quarter, respectively.

The highest net loss in this period was recorded by Turkish Airlines (THY) at TL 314 million. However, THY achieved a recovery of TL 1.1 billion in the net loss of TL 1.4 billion in the first quarter last year.

THY was followed by Migros with TL 238.4 million, Akenerji with TL 144.3 million, and Pegasus with TL 112.9 million in net loss.

In January-March period of this year, Emlak Konut REIT came to the fore in the net profit growth in quantity compared to the same period of the previous year. The company's net profit rose to TL 867.3 million in the same period of 2018 from TL 319.7 million in the first quarter of 2017.

In net profit growth, Emlak Konut REIT was followed by Garanti Bank, which increased net profit from TL 1.5 billion last year to about TL 2 billion this year.

In the meantime, in the first quarter this year, the net profit of 45 companies dropped compared to the same period the previous year. Migros experienced the greatest drop in net profit, with a net profit of TL 238.4 million in the first quarter this year compared to TL 907 million in January-March last year.

In terms of percentage, Metro Holding was first in net profit growth, reaching TL 107.8 million from TL 6.7 million, a 15-fold increase, followed by Kartonsan, with TL 16.7 million in net profit, an increase of 895 percent. In terms of net profits, companies in the top 10 for January-April 2017 also succeeded in making the list on a large scale in the first quarter this year.

İş Bank, Garanti Bank, Akbank, VakıfBank, Halk Bank, Koç Holding, Yapı Kredi Bank, Migros, Ereğli Iron and Steel and Tüpraş had the highest net profit in the first quarter of 2017, while Tüpraş and Migros were replaced by Sabancı Holding and Emlak Konut REIT on the list this year.

Meanwhile, the net profits of companies traded on the BIST reached TL 74.5 billion ($19 billion) last year from around TL 46.76 in 2016, a 58.4 percent upsurge.

While 20 of these companies exceeded TL 1 billion in net profits, the net profit for all was TL 60.925 billion. So, the top 20 companies with the highest net profit accounted for 82.3 percent of total net profits by companies on the BIST 100 index.

Thus, Garanti Bank was the most profitable company with TL 6.34 billion in net profits last year, followed by Akbank with TL 6.39 billion, İş Bankası with TL 5.31 billion and Koç Holding with TL 4.91 billion.