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Iran, Turkey woes show through in PSA Group, Renault results. French carmakers PSA Group (Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS), and Renault Group, have posted H1 losses y/y following a downturn in cars sales across the board globally, aggravated by their departure from Iran in the face of the US sanctions threat and Turkey’s economic turmoil. Weak demand across Eurasia hit profit margins, with China, Turkey and several other regions showing the worst losses. Overall sales for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (of which Iran is part of) show a large decrease. Renault’s Turkish and Argentinian vehicle production rates dropped 44.8% and 50.2%, respectively, in H1.
9.2.3 Transport corporate news
● Turkish Airlines
US-based BlackRock has increased its stake in Turkish Airlines to 5.06%
from 4.96%, the global investment giant said on July 16 in a stock exchange filing. Shareholders that have a higher than 5% stake in a Borsa Istanbul-listed company are obliged to inform the public disclosure platform (KAP) as regards their transactions in company shares, according to local regulations. Turkish Airlines has lately switched its main hub to Turkey’s new mega airport, Istanbul Airport, which is located by the Black Sea outside of the business capital. Previously, the flagship carrier largely operated out of Istanbul Ataturk Airport. The new airport has experienced substantial teething problems and delays but officials have plans to build it up to the point where it can claim the status of largest airport in the world.
On June 25, BlackRock said it had increased its stake in Turkish gold miner Koza Altin to 5.01% from 4.94%.
In February 2018, it was the top buyer in largest Turkish electricity distributor Enerjisa Enerji’s initial public offering (IPO).
BlackRock also has stakes in state-controlled Halkbank and Emlak REIT.
It is the biggest single holder of Turkish government bonds.
The number of passengers Turkish Airlines carried increased 3.2% on an annual basis to 6.6mn in June. In the first half of the year, the carriers served 35.1mn passenger down from 35.74mn a year earlier. As of end May, Turkish Airlines has a total of 338 aircraft in its fleet and flies to 311 domestic and international destinations.
67 TURKEY Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com