Message From Chairman

Dear Shareholders,

It's a year in which we hope the world will recover from the effects of the pandemic. For us, the last period brought problems such as war, global economic stagnation, high inflation, and a currency crisis in Turkey.

The war in Europe between Russia and Ukraine affected the whole world politically and economically. 7.8 million people emigrated from Ukraine. Western countries imposed heavy sanctions on Russia, and numerous foreign companies left the country. The war has raised energy and food prices. Oil rose to $140. All basic food prices, especially wheat, moved upwards.

With the addition of the shutdown policy implemented by China to combat the pandemic, world trade was seriously affected and supply chains disrupted.  These adverse developments brought rising inflation to the world agenda.

The Central Banks of the US, Europe, and the UK applied tight monetary policies by increasing interest rates to control and reduce double-digit inflation. As we approached the end of the year, we observed that inflation in developed economies was brought under control to some extent.

In our country, rising inflation emerged as the most significant economic problem. The policy of lowering interest rates led to a rapid depreciation of the Turkish lira.  Many new regulations were imposed throughout the year due to the measures taken to stop devaluation pressure. Credit protected deposit products shaped by the Treasury and the Central Bank attracted significant market attention. Exchange rate pressures were, to a certain extent, brought under control.  Negative real interest rates led to increased enthusiasm for the stock market, with new investors making profits.

In the political arena, the Russia-Ukraine war showed the entire world the importance of Turkey: The grain corridor created in July being a good example.

While 2022 was shaped by energy, food, and refugee crises, sustainability policies to tackle climate change also came to the fore.

QNB Finansbank prioritizes the importance of a sustainable future in all its banking activities. We raised our CDP rating (Carbon Disclosure Project) from C to A-, three levels higher, with the measures we have taken regarding carbon emissions within the scope of sustainability.

We renewed our syndication loans which matured in May and November and received USD360 million and USD448 million from international banks. Our bank further renewed its syndication in November by 104%, and achieved the highest renewal ratio in the banking sector. With the performance of these transactions based on sustainability performance criteria, QNB Finansbank once again confirmed its determined support of the Turkish economy and sustainable development.

Equality is also particularly critical for a sustainable future. Our bank, the employees of which are 57% women, continues to fulfill its duties in our entire human resources operation. We were ranked in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, one of the most comprehensive global studies that measures the performance of companies committed to gender equality. The inclusion of companies in this index is determined by five fundamental criteria: women's leadership and talent pipeline, pay equity and gender pay parity, the culture of inclusion, policies to combat sexual harassment, and women-friendly brand identity.

In 2022, a year of much uncertainty, our bank and our group companies demonstrated superior performance.

As of December 31, 2022, our total assets increased by 62% compared to the end of 2021 and amounted to TRY 601 billion, 755 million. In the same period, our net loans increased by 72% to TRY 344 billion, 957 million and customer deposits by 80% to TRY 384 billion, 58 million. In 2022, our bank's net profit for the period was TRY 17 billion, 224 million.

I would like to thank all our financiers, customers, and business partners who contributed to this success.

Kind regards,
Ömer A. Aras
Chairperson of the Board
QNB Finansbank A.Ş.