2018 Annual Report
CEO’S MESSAGE




Our Bank reached a total credit size of approximately half a trillion TL including non-cash credits. We continued to provide effective financial support in a wide range of financial needs of all industries, particularly agriculture, SMEs who have difficulties accessing financial sources and individuals.

Support

ZIRAAT BANK, AS THE LEADER AND MORALE BANK OF TURKEY, TOOK PIONEERING STEPS TO SUPPORT OUR ECONOMY WITH ITS STRATEGY THAT GIVES PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TO TURKISH ECONOMY.

In 2018, we have gone through many processes which impacted fluctuations in the markets such as; positive growth performance of USA, UK’s exit process from European Union, public debt and budget discussions in Italy, trade wars and protective statements, geopolitical and political risks, balance sheet reduction and interest hikes by Fed and capital outflow from the developing countries.

In our country, we experienced a fluctuation in August although its impacts decreased in the following months. This process might be considered as a live stress test and significant progress was made in terms of financial balance and stability with the decisions taken and regulations adopted by the economy management and regulatory-supervisory authorities. During this process, Ziraat Bank, as the leader and morale bank of Turkey, took pioneering steps to support our economy with its strategy that gives particular importance to Turkish economy.

Ziraat Bank’s credit growth has been faster than the industry in 2018, as in recent years. The Bank continued to be the leader bank of the industry in many areas with a balance sheet structure consisting of cash credits of 70% of the total balance sheet size of over half a trillion TL.

70% ZIRAAT BANK’S CREDIT GROWTH HAS BEEN FASTER THAN THE INDUSTRY IN 2018, AS IN RECENT YEARS. THE BANK CONTINUED TO BE THE LEADER BANK OF THE INDUSTRY IN MANY AREAS WITH A BALANCE SHEET STRUCTURE CONSISTING OF CASH CREDITS OF 70% OF THE TOTAL BALANCE SHEET SIZE OF OVER HALF A TRILLION TL.

Our Bank reached a total credit size of approximately half a trillion TL including non-cash credits. We continued to provide effective financial support in a wide range of financial needs of all industries, particularly agriculture, SMEs who have difficulties accessing financial sources and individuals.

With this objective, we adopted many applications like Mortgage Loan with Company Contribution, SME Value Loan that we introduced in previous years, pensioner credit for those who cannot retire due to their Bağkur premium debts and Uniting Consumer Loan for those retail customers having difficulty paying their credit card debts or in need of additional support. We introduced Bankkart that combines the features of a bank card and a credit card which was a first in the industry. With an appropriate and effective structuring strategy we continued our contribution to economic activities.

Going beyond providing financial support in agricultural sector, we initiated Young Farmers Academy contributing significantly to agriculture.

Within the frame of effective management of our credit size, credit quality is also deemed to be significant. Non-performing loan ratio of our Bank is manageable and it is almost half the value of the industry levels.

We continue to accommodate sources maintaining our broad based deposit structure without creating a pressure on interest rates in the deposit market. In addition to deposits, we work on meeting our country’s investment, operational and individual financial needs by non-deposit foreign funding. We renewed our syndication loan of USD 1 billion which was due in 2018 as USD 1.4 billion. We borrowed a loan of USD 600 million from an important bank of China with favorable terms.

As a bank with the widest service network of 1,773 branches and 7,155 ATMs we effectively meet the financial needs of our customers everywhere. Collaborating with five public banks, we initiated free of charge use of joint ATMs and we took a giant step towards more efficient use of the ATM network. We keep on making investments on developing digital banking as well as increasing efficiency.

As Ziraat Finance Group, we strive to diversify our financial services in addition to our objective of reaching our customers anytime from anywhere. We founded Ziraat Venture Capital Investment Trust with an aim to create value for our economy by investing in companies with new technology products, high potential but who are in need of capital contribution and management support. We also expanded our international network. We opened branches in Atyrau-Kazakhstan, Ganja- Azerbaijan, Budva and Bar-Montenegro, Tsereteli- Georgia, Bjeljina-Bosnia, Prizren and Peja- Kosovo. We have a wide service network internationally as we do in Turkey and operate at 100 points in 18 countries. We continue to take remarkable steps in developing our business model and operational infrastructure to ensure our foreign subsidiaries and foreign branches increase their contribution to our balance sheet as well as our efficiency and profitability.

HÜSEYİN AYDIN
Member of the Board of Directors and CEO