Yıldız Holding Chair Ali Ülker said, "We have reduced the holding’s debt amount to USD 1.7 billion in 2022 from USD 6.5 billion, the debt amount just before the syndicated loan in 2018. 

Stating that they had reduced the holding’s debt amount to USD 1.7 billion from USD 6.5 billion, Yıldız Holding Chair Ali Ülker said that they had plans to invest TRY 2.5 billion in Turkey this year.

Speaking to the journalists at a press conference, Ali Ülker reported that Yıldız Holding maintains its profitable growth thanks to its focus strategy and continues to contribute to the Turkish economy with its solid financial performance and stability. Talking about the strategies they have implemented in the past 10 years, Ülker said that they have become a global player in the market after the acquisition of Godiva; however, their growth strategy has always been centered around the notion to grow in Turkey. 

Stating that they had continued to grow on a global scale with the acquisition of United Biscuits, Ülker reported that they ranked second among global biscuits manufacturers.

Stating that Yıldız Holding has become a global Turkish conglomerate through both its collaborations with foreign companies which are market leaders and strategic acquisitions outside Turkey, Ülker said, 'In other words, we have transformed into a global Turkish giant on which the sun never sets.'

Ülker mentioned the contributions of the Godiva brand to their group and reported that many Godiva branded products are now exported from Istanbul. 

Talking about having a number of production facilities in different geographies, Ülker said that this fact occasionally contributed to the group especially in times of 
regional economic volatility.

'Yıldız Holding offers products and services around the world'

Stating that Yıldız Holding has focused on food and retail, and offers products and services around the world, Ali Ülker said that both a Turkish flag and a flag that bears Yıldız Holding’s logo are situated in the production facilities located in United Kingdom, France, USA, Italy, Nigeria, Egypt, Romania, Saudi Arabia, India, Brunei, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands.

Having its operations centered around Turkey, the holding makes a substantial contribution to Turkey’s economy thanks to its sales revenues and exports, and Ali Ülker reported that they sell their shares in companies which they help grow using their experience to become value-added and profitable businesses and proceeds coming from the share sales of these businesses provide financial resources for their core businesses. 

Ülker pointed out the companies that Yıldız Holding has sold in recent years and said that they have focused on food and retail, their core businesses, transforming into a lean and manageable organization.

Ülker stated that the holding has overall 46 production facilities, 25 of which are located in Turkey and in 9 R&D centers they have, hundreds of products and projects are developed every year. Then these products are launched around the world. Ülker also mentioned R&D activities of Kerevitaş, Besler and Ülker.

'Our sales revenue figure has reached TRY 100 billion'

Yıldız Holding Chair Ali Ülker stated that, currently they have approximately 72 thousand employees all around the world, and 61,884 of them are employed in Turkey. 
Ülker explained that shares of 8 group companies are publicly traded and the operations of these companies are completely transparent and they are audited by independent auditors. The management includes executives from many different countries making it a global team. 

Stating that their sales revenue increased 2.3 times over the past 4 years reaching TRY 100 billion in 2021, Ülker said that 40% of this revenue figure was generated through business activities outside Turkey.

Ülker informed the journalists that their investments in and outside Turkey had reached TRY 2.2 billion last year and said, 'Over the past 5 years, we invested a total of TRY 7 billion in and outside our country. In 2022, the investment budget for our companies located in Turkey is TRY 2.5 billion.' 

'Our debt figure was reduced from USD 6.5 billion to USD 1.7 billion'

Ali Ülker mentioned the public offering processes of Şok and Penta, and recalled that they had sold shares of Med Gıda, Aktül Kağıt, Kellogg, Ak Alev, Sebat, Özen, Della, Nesos, Unmaş, Kümaş, Beverages Group, Propak, Cafe Crown and Pendik Nişasta in addition to the selling of Godiva’s operations in four countries. 

Stating that they have reduced their debt to USD 1.7 billion in 2022 from USD 6.5 billion, the debt amount just before the syndicated loan in 2018, Ülker said that, in order to finance the repayment, they used the amount that was generated through the sales of assets amounting to USD 2.6 billion and a portion of the proceeds that came from the sale of Godiva’s licenses. 

Ülker said, 'Our debt amount, which was USD 6.5 billion just before the syndicated loan, was reduced to USD 1.7 billion' and emphasized that they made early payments in full despite extraordinary conditions during COVID-19. 

Ülker said, 'In other words, regardless of what the circumstances are, we worked really hard and generated a certain amount of profit which we used to repay our debts to Turkish banks before due dates supporting the financial system of our country.'

Export of snacks to more than 100 countries ranging from the USA to China

Yıldız Holding Chair Ülker stated that their export figure reached USD 678 million in 2021 and the total exports over the past 5 years reached USD 3.6 billion corresponding to an average annual export figure of about USD 700 million.

Stating that Turkey was designated as a central hub for their production and export operations, Ali Ülker said that they manufacture Ülker branded products as well as snacks for brands such as Godiva, McVitie's, Flipz and deliver them to consumers all around the world. 

Ülker stated that, despite the challenging conditions of the pandemic in 2021, Ülker Bisküvi had snacks exports amounting to USD 291 million to over 100 countries including USA, United Kingdom, China, Kenya, Australia, Madagascar, the Netherlands and Ghana.

Şok will open its 10 thousandth store this year

While talking about their activities in the retail industry, Ali Ülker stated that they are enthusiastic in online retail business and their collaborations in retail will continue.

Recalling that Şok had 1,200 stores when they took over the company, Ülker said, 'This year marks our tenth anniversary of our takeover and the number of Şok stores will exceed 10,000 this year. It looks like we are going to celebrate the opening of 10 thousandth store in autumn of 2022. Şok is one of our leading companies in terms of the number of employees. We employ 42 thousand people and our goal is to employ 50 thousand people.'

Ülker stated that they have made a significant contribution to the fight against inflation through Şok Marketler, keeping the increase in prices over the past two years 5 to 7 points lower than the rate of inflation in the relevant category and added, 'We ensure that our customers are able to access quality products at prices below the market average in our nearly 10,000 stores located in 81 provinces.' 
Referring to the fact that online retailing is an ever-growing trend across the world, Ülker reported that they have developed CepteŞOK application delivering online orders to consumers with electric vehicles. 

Noting that the number of daily orders has already reached 10,000, Ülker reported that online sales, which have newly started, constitute 1.5 percent of total sales.
 
Ülker's sales revenue reached TRY 5.9 billion in the first quarter

Yıldız Holding Chair Ülker recalled that by combining the purchasing power and product portfolio of Şok and Bizim Toptan, they have built a business model that resembles to a cooperative and the resulting retail brand Seç Marketler offers local tradesmen the opportunity to access national brands and to include regional and local products in their stores, and the number of Seç Marketler stores exceeded 1,900.

Ülker informed the journalists about Bizim Toptan reporting that the number of stores of Bizim Toptan reached 173 and mentioned the benefits of having stores in the retail industry. 

Noting that Ülker’s sales revenue rose to TRY 5.9 billion in the first quarter, Ülker said, 'Last year, Ülker’s domestic operations grew by 27.4 percent, while exports and international operations grew by 31.5 percent. Over the past two years, over 150 new products were launched in Turkey. The share of the new product sales in the domestic sales was 14 percent and share of exports of new products in total exports was 10 percent.'

'We seek the opportunities to make an acquisition'

Ali Ülker told more about their upcoming investments and said:

'We currently have an appetite for acquisition. We seek the opportunities in and outside Turkey. The idea of making an acquisition is really exciting, but we are enthusiastic about organic growth, as well. We are evaluating Turkish companies for a potential acquisition. Additionally, we are looking at various geographies which have the potential to offer us opportunities to get stronger and make a breakthrough.'
Ülker noted that they were focused on Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan for a while and exploited the opportunities in these countries, adding that they continue to grow in the USA and emerging countries offer more opportunities.

'Investing in People strategy is at the heart of our business'

Yıldız Holding Chair Ülker covered many topics including how critical innovation is for them, digitalization, how closely they follow technology trends such as IoT and Industry 4.0, digital projects that they have implemented and the value of technology. He talked about the projects that they anticipated to implement through Yıldız Tech.

Ülker told about their support for start-ups, merger of Kerevitaş and Besler, their investments in agriculture and incentives provided to farmers within the framework of Şok Marketler's project 'Good Agriculture from Field to Table' and SuperFresh's project 'Zero Food Waste from Soil to Plate'.

Ülker informed the journalists on the group’s corporate governance principles and global values providing details about their efforts on these topics. 

Emphasizing the fact that they prioritize investing in people who are at the center of the organization, Ülker covered a number of topics associated with this approach including the training programs for employees, equality of opportunity that they offer, inclusion, Women’s Platform, Job Talent Program, the satellite model and remote working opportunities they offer. 

Ülker mentioned the international agreements they signed with the UN and said that they continue to support many non-governmental organizations and institutions.

'Discount markets did not raise their sales prices'

When asked about the criticism against discount market chains with regards to the increase in the prices of their products, Ali Ülker replied:

'(Comments made on how much money they make) For instance, imagine for a moment that Şok’s sales revenue target is TRY 40 billion. If it generates a profit of TRY 1 billion, then the profit margin is 2.5 percent and if it generates TRY 2 billion of profit, then the profit margin becomes 5 percent. They have to make these profit margins. And why is that? If you are going to open new stores and employ new people, then you have to bear its investment cost. And a new store does not necessarily make any money from day one. People are very well aware of the fact that the average increase in prices of discount markets that have three-letter names is 7-8 points lower than the rate of inflation. The fact that the prices in these discount markets are more or less the same does not stem from lack of competition and there is not an undisclosed agreement between these discount markets. It happens because the players in the market aim to sell at the lowest price in the market. I can claim that our prices are the most affordable ones in the market.'

Ülker commented on the price hikes and said:

'None of the markets raised their prices. I am quite certain about that. They do not generate extra profit. For instance, we used to buy a product at TRY 90 and sell at TRY 100. Now we buy at TRY 100 and sell at TRY 110. The profit amount remains the same. We used to make a profit margin of 11 percent beforehand and now it is 10 percent.  Over the years, our gross profit has come down gradually as the productivity boosted. The production costs of manufacturers rise and they come and talk to us saying “I need to raise my sales price”. Up to a certain extent, there is room for you to convince the manufacturers not to raise their prices. However, after the breakeven point, your suppliers need to raise their prices in order to survive in the market. The markets did not raise their prices, on the contrary, they compromised their profit margins. For the time being, the margins are well below the rate of inflation. 
Mehmet Tütüncü, Yıldız Holding Vice Chair and CEO, was also present at the press conference.