“One Billion Dollar Investment Coming, Despite The Crisis”

Aziz Torun competed fiercely with giants such as Fiba and Zorlu in the tenders for Star TV, the Highways real estate and Petkim. He won many tenders, such as the Kütahya Sugar Factory and the plot of real estate in Zincirlikuyu, by submitting the highest bid. As a result of these initiatives, the group’s turnover mushroomed from TL 123 million in 2003 to TL 800 million in 2008. Aziz Torun says that Torunlar GYO will invest around US$1 billion by the end of 2012. We spoke with Torunlar Group Board Chairman Aziz Torun about developments in the group in recent years and its plans for the future.

* In which sectors is Torunlar Holding active? Could you talk about your position in these sectors?
Our main sector is foodstuffs. We have 30 percent of the rice sector. We have three paddy plants. We work with the Ülker Group in oil production. We import soya beans and soya cake. We bought the Kütahya Sugar Factory in 2005 as part of the privatisation process. Today it is one of the most important factories in Turkey with a capacity of 48,000 tons.

* What other businesses do you have apart from foodstuffs?
One of our most important sectors is real estate. In 2008, we turned our business in this field over to Torunlar GYO. In the years to come, Torunlar GYO will have one of the largest portfolios of real estate of any company in Turkey.

* How big are the projects you are handling in real estate?
At the moment, we have a portfolio of over US$1 billion at Torunlar GYO. But values change in a crisis. If this crisis had not hit real estate so hard, we were expecting to have a US$2 billion portfolio and to have gone public in 2009.

* What is the value of the total investment you have made as a group over the last 5-6 years?
We can talk about construction production of a million square metres. Our investments in foodstuffs are continuing. In the last five years we have invested, including VAT, a total of TL 726.125 million.

* How much did you grow last year? What is your group’s turnover?
Despite the crisis, in 2008, our group’s turnover grew by 45 percent compared with the previous year to reach TL 800 million.

* The crisis had not been anticipated long in advance, how did it catch you?
We are cautious businesspeople. We maintain a healthy balance between cash and borrowing, so we are continuing here without any problem. From the perspective of housing sales, November-December 2008 was very flat. Sales began to pick up in January. Our ongoing projects are continuing.

* In recent years your name has always been associated with tenders. How many tenders have you participated in over the last five years?
Not so many. We have bid for 10-15 tenders. Of these, we have won the Küthaya Sugar Factory, the Çelik Palas, Netsel Marina and the Zincirlikuyu real estate.

* You bid for the Ilgın, Bor and Ereğli sugar factories. What is the latest situation here?
The tenders have been postponed. We are still interested. We are thinking of participating because foodstuffs is our sector.

* Where will you be in five years’ time?
To say that we shall grow by a certain amount during a crisis economy is not the right approach for a cautious businessperson. But Torunlar GYO plans to invest a total of US$1 billion by the end of 2012.

Nilüfer Gözütok
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