Dear investors, business partners and employees,
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the whole world over the past two years, demonstrating once again that science, technology and reason should serve as the guiding compass for humanity.
We have now started to see the light at the end of the tunnel with vaccination rollout and we are returning into a new normal.
However, we can by no means claim that we are entirely free of risks, despite all these encouraging developments.
We know that COVID-19 is more than a health crisis. For this reason, limiting our efforts to tackle the pandemic, to medical solutions alone will not give us the results we desire.
What we need, is to foresee risks with a holistic perspective, to implement measures inclusively and transform the new normal into a value chain for all stakeholders.
Today, populist approaches towards the pandemic and the inequalities in terms of access to science and technology, stand as the key factors that threaten the sustainability of our world and the future of humanity.
On the other hand, the world economy once again faces inability to recover, which it has been experiencing since 2008, but this time with stronger headwinds and inflation taking up the leading role. The effects of the expansionary fiscal policies implemented by developed countries in particular, in order to tackle the impact of the pandemic will continue to affect the global economy in the medium to long term.
Of course, all of these encounters have changed the way companies do business and perhaps, most importantly, their success criteria.
A company’s balance sheet was the primary success criteria for shareholders and investors up until 10-15 years ago. Today, the value put forward for nature, humanity, business stakeholders and employees in its entirety constitutes the success criteria for companies in this new world.
It makes me proud to note that Sabancı is among the first groups to have most rapidly embraced this transformation in its values.
Our Purpose, “We unite Turkey and the World for a sustainable life with leading enterprises”, is a projection of the values Sabancı Group embraces in this new world.
Sabancı Group had already initiated its digital transformation and put sustainability in its focus long before the pandemic and had invested significantly in these fields. The main factor underlying the Group’s success today is its ability to foresee the future and to act in accordance with it.
Our Holding and Group companies have clearly demonstrated the priority they have placed on speed, flexibility, adaptability, resilience, digital thinking and global success in their work culture through the successful financial results and the visionary investments they undertook during this challenging period.
We continued to grow in energy business, which is our largest non-bank business, despite increasing impact of drought, while we have unwaveringly pressed ahead with our investments in renewables. In this business, with our future investments, we will continue to maintain our position of being an electricity generator with the largest renewable energy installed capacity in Turkey.
In 2021, we expanded our partnership with Ageas to include pension and life insurance in our financial services strategic business unit.
Our industrial companies, Kordsa and Brisa, demonstrated a strong performance with their high export volumes, fully in line with our strategy. With the strategic vision of its partners, Bridgestone and Sabancı Holding, Brisa initiated the acquisition for 88.89% stake in Arvento Mobile Systems.
Our Group successfully maintained its leadership in building materials in 2021. Buñol white cement plant, acquired in Spain, became operational this year and brought Çimsa to global leadership position in white cement.
On the other hand, we transferred all our shares in PHILSA and PMSA to Philip Morris, our business partner for 30 years, and ended our operations in tobacco business.
In addition to successful business results, contributing positively to humanity and society has always been an indispensable part of Sabancı’s values.
In line with our principle of “sharing what we have obtained from this land with its people”, which we have embraced for nearly 100 years, we are happy to undertake exemplary projects in our country during this period.
I would like to express my pride in Sabancı Volunteers who worked for our future through “Tomorrow is Ours”, a project aiming to support healthcare professionals’ children and siblings during the pandemic, and “Sabancı Republic Day Campaign”, including various environmental activities between 29 October Republic Day and 10 November Atatürk Commemoration Day.
In 2022 and beyond, while strengthening our role as game maker with pioneering and exemplary initiatives, we will continue to lead sustainability in Turkey, in our region and in the world.
In an effort to develop our employees that have brought us so far, with new competencies for the future we will reskill, upskill and experience together.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, business partners, customers and shareholders for their contributions to 2021 achievements.
Güler Sabancı
Chair