KOÇ HOLDING CEO LEVENT ÇAKIROĞLU:
“THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC CONTINUED IN 2021 WHILE GLOBAL UNCERTAINTIES IN ECONOMY, POLITICS AND SOCIETY PREVAILED. IN SUCH A CHALLENGING YEAR, AT KOÇ GROUP, WE HAVE ACHIEVED SUCCESSFUL RESULTS THANKS TO THE COMMITMENT OF OUR COLLEAGUES, OUR AGILE MANAGEMENT APPROACH, SOLID BALANCE SHEET, DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO STRUCTURE, STRONG DEALER NETWORK, EXTENSIVE SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS AND DIGITAL COMPETENCIES. WE CONTINUED TO IMPLEMENT PIONEERING PRACTICES TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE COMPETENCIES OF OUR COLLEAGUES AND TO SUPPORT THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH GLOBAL-SCALE PROGRAMS. EMPOWERED BY OUR STRONG BELIEF IN OUR COUNTRY, WE PURSUED OUR INVESTMENTS. WE HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT ACQUISITIONS BOTH IN TURKEY AND ABROAD. OUR GROUP ALSO TOOK STRATEGIC STEPS TOWARDS THE NEW ECONOMY BUSINESSES. I AM PROUD TO SHARE THAT OUR COMBINED INVESTMENTS IN THE LAST 5 YEARS REACHED 53 BILLION TL WITH 17.3 BILLION TL INVESTMENTS IN 2021. I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS SINCERE THANKS TO OUR COLLEAGUES, DEALERS, SUPPLIERS AND CUSTOMERS WHO PREFER OUR BRANDS AS THEY ARE THE MAIN DRIVERS OF THIS SUCCESS. AT KOÇ GROUP, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK TO CREATE VALUE WITH OUR PEOPLE-CENTRIC APPROACH THAT PUTS THE WORLD AND SOCIETY FIRST.”
In 2021, Koç Holding generated a consolidated revenue of 346.7 billion TL and made a combined investment of 17.3 billion TL. Commenting on the financial results of 2021, Koç Holding CEO Levent Çakıroğlu said, “We left behind another year marked by global uncertainties in economy, politics and society. Despite the vaccines that scientists made extraordinary efforts to successfully deliver at an unprecedented speed, the effects of the pandemic continued. In such a challenging year, at Koç Group, we have achieved successful results thanks to the commitment of our colleagues, our agile management approach, solid balance sheet, diversified portfolio structure, strong dealer network, extensive supply chain and digital competencies. Empowered by our strong belief in our country, we pursued our investments. I am proud to share that our combined investments in the last five years reached 53 billion TL with 17.3 billion TL investments in 2021. I would like to express sincere thanks to our colleagues, dealers, suppliers and customers who prefer our brands as they are the main drivers of this success. At Koç Group, we will continue to work and create value with our people-centric approach that puts the world and society first.”
Levent Çakıroğlu: “This acquisition is a testament to our trust in Yapı Kredi, the banking industry and our country's potential in the long run.”
Noting that they recalibrated their strategic planning processes in 2021 with a particular focus on the potential opportunities providing high returns for the companies, Levent Çakıroğlu said: “We made a deal to purchase an additional 18% stake in Yapı Kredi from UniCredit for 3.5 billion TL. Yapı Kredi differentiates itself with its outstanding performance, sound capital structure, long years of experience and know-how. This acquisition is a testament to our trust in Yapı Kredi, banking industry and our country's potential in the long run.”
Levent Çakıroğlu: “We made significant acquisitions in 2021.”
Stating that the Group companies further cemented their leadership positions in their respective industries and that they continued to make strategic investments in line with their global growth vision, Levent Çakıroğlu said: “Arçelik has closed a deal to acquire 60% of Hitachi's home appliances business outside Japan. Our new company, which has revenues of approximately $1 billion, boasts 12 subsidiaries and three production facilities in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. We believe that this region will become increasingly more important from a strategic point of view with the cooperation agreements signed recently. Moreover, Arçelik strengthened its export-oriented local production capacity by acquiring Whirlpool's company in Turkey. We took a strategic step toward renewable energy, which is one of our key focus areas, to accelerate our transition to a low-carbon economy. Entek purchased the Süloğlu Wind Power Plant with an installed capacity of 60 MW, thus making the very first addition of a wind power plant to our portfolio. The importance of renewable energy will increase even more in the upcoming period. We are determined to continue investing in this field both in Turkey and on a global scale.”
Levent Çakıroğlu: “We are committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts.”
Levent Çakıroğlu said: “At Koç Group, we are committed to doing our part for a more habitable world by leveraging our potential to have an impact on a very wide ecosystem. We are determined to continue our environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts. As the climate crisis has turned into an existential crisis that requires global cooperation for a solution, we consider the ‘Carbon Transformation Program’, which we launched to address this crisis, as a key part of our Group-wide cultural transformation. Tüpraş, one of our group companies, has taken an important step in this area and announced its 'Strategic Transformation Plan', to achieve their target to be carbon neutral by 2050 and to assume a leadership role for the energy of the future. At Koç Holding, we joined the companies that support the 'Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures - TCFD', which brings together the world's leading organizations for a shared purpose, in line with our goal to be carbon neutral in 2050. Our Group companies Arçelik, Ford Otosan, Tüpraş and Yapı Kredi are also among the supporters of TCFD. Arçelik, which puts sustainability at the heart of its business, achieved the highest score among 20 companies in the Household Durables category of the S&P Global Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which evaluates the sustainability performance of the world's leading companies, once again in 2021. We are proud to see that three of the seven companies that qualify from Turkey to be listed in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index are Koç Group companies. While Tüpraş made its debut in the index, Ford Otosan increased its score and Yapı Kredi was listed with a performance above averages.”
Levent Çakıroğlu: “We strive to adopt an approach that always focuses on people without compromising on our values of equality, inclusion, development and modernity.”
Underlining the fact that the number of employees at Koç Group, which had been 97,000 before the pandemic, has increased to over 110,000, Levent Çakıroğlu said, “We continued to implement pioneering practices to further strengthen the competencies of our colleagues and to support their professional development with global-scale programs.” Çakıroğlu added: “In this regard, we adopt a meticulous approach that is guided by our late founder Vehbi Koç’s words: 'Our most valuable asset is our human resource'. It is our top priority to improve the lives and experiences of our colleagues and their families. In addition, we are working hard to hire the most suitable and qualified talent for our Group, to provide our colleagues with development opportunities and to help them become the leaders of the future. Putting egalitarian practices at the center, we create more dynamic, flexible and agile work environments. I believe that these achievements are important not only for us, but also for social and economic development. Driven by this belief, we strive to adopt an approach that always focuses on people without compromising on our values of equality, inclusion, development and modernity. This approach paves the way for success both in Turkey and on a global scale. And we are proud to be included in the ‘World's Best Employers' list announced by Forbes, one of the leading business and financial publications, for the fifth consecutive time this year, and to be among the top 200 companies by climbing 124 places in the list. Furthermore, 20 of the 24 companies that qualified to receive the 'Best Workplace in Turkey' award are Koç Group companies.”