Dear Shareholders and Customers,
2009 was a year when both Turkey and the whole world deeply felt the effects of the financial crisis. Together we witnessed a period when many financial institutions faced bankruptcy. Loose monetary policies applied by central banks yielded fruits and financial markets started to recover in many countries. Now what we consider as “the worst” is over and recovery process is going on. Although Turkey has faced some difficulties especially in terms of growth, compared to others it is still one of the countries least affected by the global financial crisis. In this sense, the year 2010 promises great hopes for Turkish and world economy.
As a Bank we reached very successful results and in the framework of our “financial supermarket” approach built on the grounds of a vision beyond being just a bank; we continued to offer products and services that satisfy the evolving expectations of our customers. With its “customer oriented banking approach”, DenizBank is “everywhere” in various banking segments like Agricultural Banking, SME Banking, Commercial Banking and Corporate Banking and forges advances rapidly to become the lovebank of Turkey.
We continued adding new success stories in our logbook in 2009, the year of financial turmoil. Our success stories made our shareholders content and enabled us to realize our projections. The success we attained to be able to render the best service to you dear customers is our source of encouragement. The latest results we disclosed are the proof that DenizBank made right steps and is confident about the future. Our Bank’s results in the first 9 months of the year 2009 indicate that our performed above sector average. In this period, our Bank’s consolidated net profit was realized as TL 430 million, with a 60% y-o-y growth.
DenizBank’s consolidated assets reached TL 26 billion 6 million, with a growth of 7% compared to end of last year and 18% on a y-o-y basis. Compared to year-end results, non-consolidated assets grew by 9% and reached TL 21 billion, 28 million. Our consolidated equity reached TL 2 billion 815 million with a growth of 24% on a y-o-y basis and of 23% compared to year-end results, which is above the 18% sector average, so the strong equity base is protected. With a growth of 16.30% on consolidated basis and 18.67% on non-consolidated basis, our Bank’s capital adequacy ratio realization is high above the minimum regulatory requirement.
Our Bank continues agricultural breakthroughs. Thanks to its investments in agricultural sector and opportunities it presented to producers, DenizBank has secured its leading position in agricultural credits among private banks. At the end of the first 9 months of 2009, total amount of agricultural credits grew by 17% compared to 2008 year-end results and reached TL 1 billion 305 million; besides the number of producer cards exceeded 250 thousand. Number of “Green Drop” concept branches, which are exclusive agricultural banking branches, reached 27, while the number of DenizBank branches reached 462, 12 of which are foreign branches.
Our Bank attained brilliant success also in terms of deposits. Outperforming the sector by far in the first 9 months of 2009, DenizBank grew customer deposits, its main source of funding, by 23% both on consolidated and non-consolidated basis and reached TL 14 billion 514 million and TL 11 billion 664 million respectively. Besides, thanks to its financial supermarket approach and expanded network, considering customers’ risk approach and portfolio size, DenizBank continued to offer different investment tools to customers who want to make good use of their savings.
DenizBank’s specific solutions are one of the most important components of the success we attained during the crisis. In this process, there is no doubt that funding became much more important. Especially in public finance and agriculture & retail segment credits we launched solutions specific to DenizBank. The support we provided for national economy the main indicators of which ameliorated in the second quarter is reflected on our credit volume. Our loan to deposit ratio was realized as 124% and the fact that we became one of the banks lending the most in the first 9 months of 2009 is an important criterion for our successful performance that was above the sector average.
At this point I would like to underline our strengths and differences. “SME Card” is one of our strengths. With SME Card we continue to support enterprises with time and cost management. As of end-September 2009, number of SME Cards published neared 56 thousand and Producer Card number exceeded 250 thousand; when other commercial cards are also included in the calculation, DenizBank became the leader in commercial banking cards sector with a market share of 45%. Public finance is another strength of us. DenizBank is the first bank to define public finance as a separate business line in Turkey and, with its staff specialized in public finance, serves 132 institutions throughout Turkey, which are municipalities (10 of which are metropolitan municipalities) and satellites of municipalities. In the first 9 months of 2009 DenizBank Public Finance provided financing support to 61 credit customers with a total volume of TL 742 million, of which TL 620 million cash and TL 122 non-cash, with a growth of 44% compared to 2008 year-end”.
While attaining financial success in one hand DenizBank continues to support cultural and artistic activities on the other hand. With this aim, DenizKültür, established in 2004 as one of the 15 subsidiaries of DenizBank Financial Services Group, supports cultural life by launching new projects in cultural and art life. DenizKültür itself can be considered as a social responsibility project launched by DenizBank Financial Services Group.
Produced by Nebil Özgentürk, the documentary titled “Turkey’s Diary”, a publication of DenizKültür, treats milestones of 85 year old republic history and is on sale throughout Turkey by Alfa publication group. The documentary sheds light on significant political, economic and cultural events in Turkish history and is the first of its kind in Turkey. Regarding music, on 9 October 2009 we held a signature ceremony and entered our 5th year in cooperation with İDSO (Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra), one of Turkey’s well-established symphonic music institutions. 2nd volume of Audio Literature-Stories Serial, which compiles elite examples of Turkish literature, is again published by DenizKültür. As DenizBank, we will continue to support culture and art in 2010.
It is for sure that international experience of our main shareholder, Dexia empowers us in these processes. Making significant innovations and attaining great success under Dexia umbrella again in the first 9 months of 2009, DenizBank contributed to Dexia’s € 808 million IFRS-reported net profit by 24% after acquisition cost deducted and proved to be trustworthiness. We will grow DenizBank further thanks to our service quality and customer satisfaction level. This year again, we will carry on our efforts in the framework of our vision of being one of the 5 biggest banks in Turkey and the foremost financial institution in our region by ensuring sustainable and profitable growth. Aiming at being a bank satisfying its employees’, customers’ and shareholders’ at maximum levels in terms of its standing and reputation in the sector and its corporate qualifications; DenizBank takes confident steps towards future with its shareholders and customers. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all stakeholders who carried us to open seas with their support and trust.
Hakan ATEŞ
President and CEO