Koç has cash to weather global rout

Bloomberg

refid:10433817 ilişkili resim dosyası

Koç has cash of more than $2 billion for acquisitions and to help bolster the capital at its units if needed, Koç Holding Chief Executive Officer Bülent Bulgurlu said in an interview yesterday.

The company on Nov. 21 announced that third quarter net profit rose 22 percent to YTL 813.9 million ($497 million) after it sold insurance units and posted gains from energy and banking businesses. Net income rose to YTL 813.9 million ($497 million) from YTL 669.5 million a year earlier, the company said in an income statement. Sales rose 33 percent to YTL 14.6 billion.

Koç on July 21 sold 43 percent of Koç Allianz Sigorta to Europe’s biggest insurer Allianz SE for 228.2 million euros and a 49 percent stake in life-insurance provider Koç Allianz Hayat & Emeklilik for 125.2 million euros.

Koç would have reported a 50 percent decline in profit without the gain from selling its insurance units because its financial earnings are lower than last year, said Alper Paksoy, an analyst at EFG Istanbul Securities, in a note to investors yesterday.