Largest firms grows 30 pct in one year

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Oil companies once again dominate the top 10 on the Capital 500 list.

The largest Turkish companies, those that made local Capital magazine’s top 500 list for 2011, collectively grew 30.1 percent in that year.

The Capital 500 list is based on turnover, and is compiled with the support of main sponsor Vodafone. Local fuel companies dominated the top 10 places on the 2011 list, with Tüpraş, Turkey’s private oil refiner, being the champion, with 41.4 billion Turkish Liras of turnover. The smallest firm on the list had more than 146 million liras in turnover.

The combined growth rate of the largest 500 companies in 2011 was the highest figure since 2006. The figure was 18.5 percent in 2010. However, the striking performance in growth was not reflected in profits. The Capital 500 companies recorded an 18-percent increase in total profits in 2010, while the figure was at only 7.9 percent in 2011.

Petrol Ofisi, a fuel distributor, ranked second on the list with 19.5 billion liras of turnover, followed by Opet Petrolcülük, another fuel distributor, with 15 billion liras of turnover. Türk Telekom, a telecommunications and internet operator, was in fourth place with 11.9 billion liras, and national flag carrier Turkish Airlines took fifth place with 11.8 billion liras. Shell & Turcas Petrol, another fuel company, was sixth with 10.7 billion liras.

Other heavyweights in the Turkish private sector making up the top 10 were Ford Otosan, an automotive producer; Philip Morris Sabancı Pazarlama, a tobacco prıducer; Turkcell, a mobile phone operator; and Ereğli Demir Çelik, an iron and steel producer.

The number of new entrants to the Capital 500 list for 2011 was 48. Only 41 companies in the list disclosed losses, while 369 companies recorded double-digit, and 18 firms three-digit, growth. The turnover of seven companies exceeded 10 billion liras.