Page 56 - TURKRptSep20

In April, the company lowered its production expectation for 2020 from 28mn tonnes (tpy) to 24mn tpy and slashed its sales estimate from 29mn tpy to 25mn tpy due to squeezed demand.
Starting from June, after Turkey started reopening parts of its economy closed in COVID-19 lockdowns, demand for Tupras’ products showed some recovery. However, air transport is still at very low levels.
On August 11, S&P Global Platts reported that Turkish diesel demand over the first eight days of August rose by 6.05% y/y to 471mn litres.
The increase was below the 7.5% reported in July and the 8.2% reported in June, but it was still a stark contrast to the fall of 27.7% in May, when travel restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus were still in place.
Gasoline demand over the first eight days of August totalled 100mn litres, up 32.45% y/y, a sharper rise than the 24.5% reported in July and in contrast to the declines of 2.1% in June and 32.4% in May.
Sales of both diesel and gasoline were affected by the Eid holiday which ran officially from July 31 through to Aug. 3.
In Q1, Tupras reported a net loss of TRY2.27bn (€324mn) for the first quarter versus a loss of TRY375mn in the same period a year ago.
In April, Fitch Ratings advised that Tupras has a policy of distributing large dividends, “but in light of the weaker results we do not expect the company to pay dividends in 2020 and 2021”.
In February, Tupras opted not to distribute a dividend from its TRY526mn of 2019 profit, which was down 86% y/y, since it closed the fiscal year with a TRY1.14bn loss in terms of the Tax Procedural Law records.
In March 2019, Tupras paid a TRY12.87 net cash dividend per share, marking a 12.03% dividend yield.
Fitch Ratings also revised its outlook on Tupras to negative from stable, while affirming the company at 'BB-', three notches below investment grade, in line with Turkey’s sovereign rating and parent Koc Holding.
Moody’s Investors Service sees Tupras at B1/Negative, four notches below investment grade, in line with sovereign and parent ratings.
Koc Holding, which is Turkey’s largest conglomerate, controls 51% of Tupras via subsidiaries. The remaining 49% is free-float. Turkey’s privatisation administration has one golden share.
56​ TURKEY Country Report​ September 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com