Page 42 - TURKRptMar20

Revenues moved up by a modest 2% y/y to TRY19bn in 2019 (up 14% y/y to TRY5.47bn in Q4 alone versus a market expectation of TRY5.59bn) thanks to a 26% y/y rise in domestic sales to TRY5.4bn (up 84% y/y in Q4 alone) despite an 8% y/y decline to TRY13.3bn in exports.
Tofas’ profit margin is higher on domestic sales.
Ebitda was up to TRY665mn in Q4 from TRY641mn a year ago but compared lower than the market expectation for TRY729mn. The Ebitda margin fell to 12.2% in Q4 from 13.4% a year ago.
Tofas forecasts an overall car market in Turkey of 560-600,000 units in 2020 while it plans to produce 240-260,000 vehicles and to export 170-190,000. The domestic sales target is set at 78-84,000 units.
Berna Kurbay of BGC Partners said on February 6 in a note on “Tofas Conference Call Highlights”: “The tone of the call was cautious on volumes for 2020 both in Turkey and abroad, as the guidance statement released earlier indicated. However, the company sounded confident on the viability of the projects on hand, the strong cash generation at Tofas and the will to distribute dividends at the maximum extent possible in 2020.
“Two important developments in 2019 that serve as evidence of the strong tie between [Fiat] and Tofas are 1) The Tipo facelift project with the extension of the life of the product until 2024 – announced in May 2019, and 2) The extension of MCV (Minicargo) contract for three years until the end of 2024 – which was announced just yesterday. We... expect ​the company to distribute TL950mn in dividends (yield: 7.0%)​.”
In March 2019, Tofas distributed TRY880mn from its TRY1.33bn 2018 profit at
42​ TURKEY Country Report​ March 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com