Chief Financial Officer, Gxo Logistic
Search every verified Baris Oran interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2021 interview with Bloomberg UK, Barış Oran, then Chief Financial Officer of Sabancı Holding, discussed the company's performance and outlook. Oran stated that the company had a "solid year in 2020," increasing EBITDA by 23% and net profit by 34%, and that it had committed to retaining all employees. He described the company's debt-to-EBITDA ratio as "down to one and a half times" and said operating cash flow had doubled over the prior two years, adding that the company did not have a "cash shortage." Oran outlined investment priorities including renewables, electric vehicle charging stations, flexible electronics, and the fuel cell industry, as well as broader digitization and IT services such as cybersecurity. He said the company had set a target to "double the new economy's share within the group." Regarding the Turkish economy, Oran noted that "orthodox policies" implemented by the new economic administration had improved business and consumer confidence, and he predicted GDP growth for 2021 would exceed the average estimate of 4%. He also indicated that Sabancı Holding would consider divestitures and further listings of its enterprises "to crystallize value for all of our shareholders."
“We had a really solid year in 2020 where we were able to improve our top line, increase our EBITDA by 23% and increase our bottom line by 34%. Earlier on we made a commitment to our employees that everybody is going to keep their jobs so that we were able to focus on business continuity and keep the economy running.”
“Looking forward into 2021, I still see robust consumer demand although it's normalizing. Demand for our products and services in the European Union, U.S., and especially Asia is increasing rapidly and I think it's going to be a great year as the global economy reboots itself.”
“Currently our debt levels are quite low; our debt to EBITDA level is down to one and a half times. In fact, in the last two years we were able to double our operating cash flow. Therefore, we don't have a cash shortage quite frankly.”
“We would like to invest in a number of growth industries such as renewables, electric vehicle charging stations, and digitizing our retail operations even more so we can serve our customers on the omnichannel side.”
“We are investing more and more into renewables, charging stations, flexible electronics, and the fuel cell industry globally. Overall digitization of the entire group as well as IT services including cybersecurity are areas that would accelerate the growth of the enterprise.”
“We have provided a target to double the new economy's share within the group and we would like to execute on that.”
“Within Sabancı Group, we have over 10 listed enterprises and have created a very solid dialogue with our investor base based on delivering our promises year after year. In the last 10 years, we have listed IPOs or SPOs of five enterprises and we would like to continue doing that to crystallize value for all of our shar...”
“Our energy business, which has done quite well and has a growth pipeline, will be able to pay dividends in a couple of weeks and also reduce its debt profile quite clearly. When the time comes, we'll take a look at those and we would like to crystallize value for our entire shareholders.”
“After fighting with COVID in the earlier part of 2020, there has been a focus on orthodox policies implemented by the new economy administration and it provides better visibility and not only improved business confidence but also improved consumer confidence. Therefore, I think it will be a better investment climate mo...”
“The average estimate for GDP growth for 2021 is 4%, but we personally think it's going to be higher than that. There's going to be a balancing of local consumer versus exports; I think the export type will be much more solid and local consumption will stabilize.”
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