Energy giant becomes Turkey's biggest in 2013

Energy giant, TUPRAS, has become the biggest company in 2013 as Turkey's top 500 companies was announced on Tuesday by Istanbul Chamber of Industry.
TUPRAS kept its top seat since 2005 with its 40 billion Turkish liras (near US$19 billion) of production sales in 2013, well ahead of Ford Automotive Industries who came in second and Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) who came third.
The top 10 Turkish companies consist of three energy, three automotive and three iron and steel companies, while one white goods company was placed among them.
TUPRAS outshone the top five in the list with its production sales which amounted to almost a total of the five companies sales together, while also becoming Turkey's biggest exporter.
Employment in the top 500 companies also rose in 2013 by 4.2 percent and the total salaries paid to workers went up by 13 percent, which is higher than the inflation rate of 7.4 percent last year.
More than a quarter - 129 of the largest companies last year declared the greatest number of losses in the last decade, with the exception of 2008, due to the financial crisis that hit European markets - Turkey's largest export partner.
The Istanbul Chamber of Industry's reports that the share of the manufacturing industry in national income has dropped steadily in the last decade, despite the hike in Turkey's growth rates in the same period. Erdal Bahcivan, head of the chamber of Industry, surmised that despite the opportunities that have arisen due to the success in the economy, industrial production did not avail of this gain.
"Turkey's growth model should be altered from a consumption-based to a production-based model for sustainable growth," said Bahcivan, describing the consumption model as "unhealthy".
The country grew by 4 percent in the last year while production in the manufacturing industry went up by 3.8 and the same pattern was seen in 2012 with a 2.1 percent growth rate, when industry expanded with 1.7 percent.
The top 500 companies' financing expenses doubled in 2013 compared to the previous year, while their sales grew by more than 7 percent and reached 455 billion Turkish liras ($US213 billion).  Companies increased their profits as well by nearly 25 percent in the last year at more than 70 billion liras.
Bahcivan stressed the significance of maintaining financial stability as minor turbulence can influence financial conditions of companies negatively, when taking into consideration how last year's fluctuation in interest rates and in currency effected large corporate loans, which surpassed their equities since the 2008 financial crisis.