Doğan Holding's Corporate Investor Relations Meeting was held with the participation of leading investment institutions of Turkey

Doğan Holding CEO Çağlar Göğüş: “Despite the pandemic, our investment progress is on course"

Doğan Holding’s “Investor Relations Webinar”, held online as part of the pandemic measures, attracted a sizable participation from investors. Doğan Holding CEO Çağlar Göğüş, Doğan Holding CFO Bora Yalınay, and Murat Doğu, Doğan Holding’s Vice President of Capital Markets, Financial Reporting and Budget, Aytemiz Akaryakıt General Manager Erol Varlık, Doğan Enerji General Manager Burak Kuyan, Ditaş General Manager Osman Zeki Sever, Doğan Holding Automotive Group General Manager Kağan Dağtekin, Çelik Halat General Manager Serdar Seylam and Kanal D Romania General Manager Uğur Yeşil was among the names who attended the webinar alongside the executives and representatives of the leading brokers, portfolio management companies and pension funds of Turkey. In the meeting, the financial performance of both the Holding and Holding companies was evaluated.

Commenting on Doğan Holding’s 3Q20 performance at the meeting, Doğan Holding CEO Çağlar Göğüş said that the Holding was able to shield itself to a certain extent, from the adverse effects of Covid-19 through its measures, effective crisis and process management capabilities and cost savings, and that they achieved an overall increase in consolidated net cash and saw an improvement in profit margins, expenses and costs. Emphasizing the fact that Doğan Holding’s investment strategy for this year was still on course despite the challenging economic conditions in Turkey, Çağlar Göğüş also said:

Investment Bank to commence operations in 1Q21

“Doğan Holding’s 2020 vision was geared towards achieving a more prominent private equity fund, which invests in strategically pivotal areas within the framework of the strategy of focus and efficiency we adopted in 2018 and maintained in 2019. At Doğan Holding, we focus on specialty chemicals, automotive supplier industry, packaging and finance industries and the renewable energy industry, which bring in foreign currency income, offer export opportunities, enable us to manage the balance between the domestic and foreign markets and create added value, while making new investments. We also make investments to drive organic growth within our existing businesses. We acquired 70 percent of SESA Ambalaj ve Plastik Sanayi Ticaret AŞ in July as part of our strategy to invest in fast-growing, high value-added industries. Leveraging the Group's experience in e-commerce and banking, we have secured our license to establish an investment bank that will offer high-level investment bank services and funding with a digitally and technologically enabled structure while also focusing on SMEs and devising projects designed around key fintech products. We continue our efforts to obtain an operating permit, expecting to commence operations in 1Q21.”

“Our well-balanced portfolio makes us resilient in the face of crises”

Pointing out to the well-balanced EBITDA and net profit distribution across Doğan Group’s portfolio, Göğüş added: Our energy, renewable energy and industry investments and media investments abroad, technology-related activities, financial services and automotive companies now boast a better asset allocation. Our criteria for a well-balanced portfolio are not being too dependent on single company in terms of sustainable growth, profit and EBITDA, and providing added value through a highly effective management approach. All of these have translated into more resilience for the group when facing crises. In the upcoming period, we will continue to maintain our investment-driven, upward growth trajectory without compromising on our strategic goals."

Doğan Holding CEO Çağlar Göğüş stated that the Holding's gross profit margins increased by more than 2 percentage points in a year of crises that is 2020, with positive growth projections for Aytemiz Petrol, Doğan Enerji, Sesa and Kanal D Romania in 2021. He continued by saying that the share of these four companies in profit was pivotal, but they expected an ambitious growth performance from all their companies with a view to generating value.

Doğan Holding CFO Bora Yalınay underlined the fact that the operating profitability of the Holding increased by 40% year-over-year (y-o-y) from TL 789 million to TL 1,108 million and the EBITDA margin climbed from 5.7% to 8.5%. Stating that the SESA investment was made with a view to expanding into packaging, Yalınay also said that SESA, which exports to 35 countries across Europe and the US and most products of which are recyclable, already achieved a 9% progress towards its growth target.

Murat Doğu, Doğan Holding's Vice President of Capital Markets, Financial Reporting and Budget, mentioned that they paid TL 361.7 mn in dividends in the last two years and that they aimed to be listed in the dividend index next year. He also emphasized that Doğan Holding showed a 45% year-to-date improvement in its performance according to the BIST 30 Index. Doğu stated that they were planning to continue their share buyback program in the coming period.

Here are some of the highlights of Doğan Holding companies:

• Evaluating the developments regarding the petroleum products industry, which is among those affected the most by Covid-19, Aytemiz Akaryakıt General Manager Erol Varlık shared the measures they took. He stated that they had a positive 3rd quarter close thanks to effective dealer network management, cost management, working capital efficiency and stock management measures against price fluctuations.
• Doğan Enerji General Manager Burak Kuyan stressed that they would further their efforts towards expanding the renewable energy portfolio, which boasts the most efficient power plants in Turkey, and continue to focus on clean energy in 2021.
• Serving as the General Manager of Ditaş, which exports to 38 countries, especially Germany, as of 2020, Osman Zeki Sever talked about the current export market, their market goals for 2021 and their demand-driven product development activities in their strong R&D centers. Ditaş, which has been awarded the safe product certificate, has improved its gross profit margin.
• Çelik Halat General Manager Serdar Seylam mentioned the 11 new projects launched in 2020 and the production areas and investment targets they would focus on in 2021. Stating that export was limited for the wires which Çelik Halat produced and which were used by the entire Turkish automotive industry, it was business as usual in domestic sales, Seylam said that they launched high performance rope production, with a 50% capacity increase expected in ropes by the year-end 2022, and that the export of concrete strands to Brazil and South America would commence.
• Doğan Holding Automotive Group General Manager Kağan Dağtekin mentioned that they quickly adapted themselves to the pandemic conditions and initiated practices such as pre-sales with fixed price guarantee, allowing customers to buy cars without leaving home. Pointing to the 40% drop in diesel vehicle sales and the 55% increase in petrol hybrid vehicle sales, Dağtekin stated that they aimed for a 51% growth in distributorship and a 49% growth in retail through new brands and services.
• Kanal D Romania General Manager Uğur Yeşil said that Kanal D Romania managed to secure itself a place in the top 3 channels in Romania in the television segment and that it was the only channel in Romania to record growth over the last 10 years. The channel, which produces its own content, achieved a y-o-y growth of 13%, with its profit margin soaring by 30%.

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