Baris ERKAYA There is only 24 cents left to the top of the dollar. We are talking about the USD/TL peak of 18.40 TL seen on December 20, 2021. Within minutes of President Erdogan’s Currency Protected Deposit (KKM) statement, the dollar rate fell rapidly to 12.61 TL, and to 10.23 TL in the following days, according to some claims, with the sales of public institutions, and according to others, with the intervention of the Central Bank. In the 8 months that have passed since then, the dollar’s rise is almost 78 percent. Since the aforementioned period, companies traded in Borsa Istanbul have announced three separate balance sheets. 2021 year-end, 2022 first quarter and 2022 second quarter balance sheets. We are talking about a very difficult period for companies to manage financially. Because some new measures taken in the meantime, the parts of export revenues that need to be allocated, the linking of new loan uses to some cash foreign exchange positions… How much did this difficult period change the foreign exchange policies of the companies? We analyzed the cash exchange positions of companies traded in Borsa Istanbul.
227 COMPANIES HAVE EXTRA EXCHANGE
According to the data we obtained from Finnet2000, the number of companies with excess net FX position is 227 (226 in the first quarter, 228 at the end of 2021). The number of companies with a short FX position is 167 (175 in the first quarter, 170, as of the end of 2021). The consolidated foreign exchange positions of these companies increased by only 8.55 percent in TL terms in the second quarter. Compared to the end of 2021, the increase is 25 percent. We mentioned the increase in the exchange rate in the same period at the beginning of the summer. In this case, in real terms, companies have significantly reduced their net FX position deficits on a consolidated basis both compared to the end of 2021 and the first quarter of this year. This shows that companies are more prepared against possible exchange rate risks. So, what is the situation when we look at companies?
ASELSAN IS AT THE TOP
Aselsan is the stock market company with the highest net foreign exchange position surplus. While Aselsan’s net foreign exchange surplus was 8.9 billion TL in the first quarter of 2022, it increased to 11.7 billion TL in the second quarter. This equates to close to $644 million at today’s exchange rates. Enka İnşaat, Türk Telekom, Enerjisa, Sabancı Holding, Koç Holding, Şişecam, GSD Holding are the other companies that follow Aselsan in the ranking. Yayla Enerji is the company that has increased its foreign exchange position surplus proportionally the most. Ersan Shopping Services, Oylum Gıda, Europen, Ulusoy Un, Suwen Tekstil, Başkentgaz, Güler Investment Holding, ARD Software and İş GSYO are the companies that achieved the highest percentage increase in foreign exchange surplus. The highest increase in numbers is again in Aselsan. Only in the second quarter, the increase in foreign exchange surplus was 2.8 billion TL. Koç Holding, Türk Telekom, Tekfen, Aksa Energy, Özak GYO, Tüpraş are the other companies that follow.
ATTENTION TO THE CHANGES OF EXCHANGE POSITION!
When we look at the companies whose foreign exchange surplus has decreased the most, the ranking is as follows: Sabancı Holding, Doğan Holding, Şişecam, Doğuş Otomotiv, Enerjisa, Kiler GYO, Aydem Renewable Energy and Kiler Holding. Among the companies that had a FX short position in the first quarter, but turned into a FX surplus in the second quarter, the notable ones are Edip İplik, Arçelik, Reysaş, Yayla Agro Gıda, Klimasan, Reysaş GYO, MLP Sağlık, Yataş, Birleş Mühendislik, PlastkartGalatawind, Teknosa. Among the companies that were in a positive FX position in the first quarter, but went negative in the second quarter, there are examples such as Aksa Akrilik, Koray GYO, Tuğçelik, Esenboğa Energy, Naturel Energy, Alarko Holding, Denge Investment Holding, Kartal Renewable Energy, and Margün Energy.