Şişecam Reports First-Half Net Sales

Şişecam, a global player with manufacturing operations spanning 14 countries across four continents and sales to over 150 countries, achieved consolidated net sales of TRY 13 billion in the January-June 2021 period. International sales accounted for 64% of the company's total sales during this period, while total investments in the first half of the year reached TRY 838 million and exports totaled approximately USD 327 million. Görkem Elverici, Chief Executive Officer of Şişecam, stated, "Despite the uncertainty persisting due to the global pandemic, Şişecam delivered strong financial performance in the first half of the year, exceeding the corresponding period of the previous year, and continued to create value for stakeholders through foresighted decisions and value-creating practices for the entire ecosystem. In the coming period, we will pursue our growth journey toward our global targets by continuing our transformation projects, investment plans and strong governance capabilities that will carry Şişecam into the future," he said. Şişecam's consolidated net sales for the January-June 2021 period reached TRY 13 billion, while international sales—comprising exports from Turkey and sales from overseas production—accounted for 64% of consolidated sales. In the first half, Şişecam produced 2.7 million tons of glass, 1.2 million tons of soda and 2.5 million tons of industrial raw materials.

Şişecam, through foresighted decisions and value-creating practices for its entire ecosystem, achieved strong first-half financial performance exceeding the corresponding period of the previous year, which reflected the pre-pandemic period. With the results obtained in the first six months of the year, Şişecam surpassed the corresponding period of 2019, which reflected the pre-pandemic period, thereby demonstrating its strong corporate governance capabilities once again.

In his statement on the January-June 2021 financial results, Şişecam Chief Executive Officer Görkem Elverici noted that Şişecam continued to create sustainable value for its entire ecosystem during the first half of 2021, when extraordinary conditions persisted due to the global pandemic and uncertainty continued, and stated: "As our consolidated net sales reached TRY 13 billion in the first half of the year, we continued to contribute to both the country's economy and the growth of the leading sectors we supply through our products, investments and employment.

With strong corporate governance capabilities and flexible practices, Şişecam achieved its strong targets in the first half of the year, displaying successful financial performance exceeding the corresponding period of the previous year, which reflected the pre-pandemic period, and once again demonstrating its effective corporate governance capabilities.

Şişecam achieved financial success exceeding not only the corresponding period of the previous year—when recovery occurred as a result of normalization processes beginning in April—but also the first-half results of 2019, which reflected the pre-pandemic period. In the coming period, as uncertainty regarding the extent of the global pandemic's impact persists, we will manage our operations using our strong capabilities and reflexes, make necessary updates to our business processes and plans, and continue to create value for all our stakeholders," he said. Görkem Elverici provided the following information regarding Şişecam's transformation projects, which the company has shaped according to future conditions and requirements. Last year, in the company's 85th year, Şişecam unified all its operations under one roof and made one of its most significant strategic decisions: "We successfully completed the merger process, which we considered a critical turning point in line with our long-term strategies and competitive targets in global markets. Immediately thereafter, we began implementing transformation projects at a rapid pace aimed at creating a more integrated, digital, optimized and operationally excellent organizational structure and building the Şişecam of the future. In this context, we made a strategic decision and introduced an important change in our management model. Previously, our company operated with an organizational structure based on business segments, where different business areas such as 'glass containers,' 'household glassware,' and 'chemicals' were managed independently; now we manage the company according to functional principles. As a result of this decision, we now manage our business processes according to functional principles such as 'Sales and Marketing' or 'Production' rather than by business line. I firmly believe that our new organizational structure will enable more effective and agile management of our operations across four continents in different business lines, and will expand the scope of our experience and capabilities, which we have gained with a focus on product groups," he said.

We Successfully Achieved the Results of Our Strategic Decisions and Good Practices

Elverici stated that Şişecam had the opportunity to successfully achieve the results of the transformation projects, digitalization practices and strategic decisions implemented during a period when business practices changed significantly due to the global pandemic, and expressed the following: "The global pandemic, along with the challenges it brought, provided an important opportunity for all institutions to test their decisions and practices and update themselves according to new conditions. During this period, Şişecam had the opportunity to once again test how prepared it was for the unexpected, and how strong its capability for rapid decision-making and adaptation was. The successful projects we delivered in our digitalization journey and the capabilities we developed played a critical role in managing this process. Moreover, our positioning in manufacturing operations spanning four continents and 14 countries enabled us to mitigate the negative effects of supply chain disruptions much more easily. In the coming period, we will continue resolutely to increase the economic value we create and our global competitive strength with investments and projects that will prepare Şişecam for the future," he said. Elverici stated that Şişecam, the founder of the Turkish glass industry, will continue uninterrupted investments that will create sustainable value for all stakeholders and support the growth of the sectors it serves, and continued his statement as follows: "Despite the uncertainty created by the global pandemic in the recent period and extraordinary conditions, we continued our investments without interruption within the scope of our priority to meet our country's glass demand and create value for its economy. In the coming period, we will continue our investments with the same approach, and by making the right moves in appropriate areas, we will continue to create sustainable value for our stakeholders while expanding our company's global footprint. In this context, we announced that we will make our first greenfield glass container facility investment in Europe in Hungary. We aim for this greenfield facility with 330,000 tons capacity to begin production in 2023 and reach full capacity by the end of 2025. Additionally, we plan investments that will increase our float glass production capacity in our country from 2 million tons by 25%. We envision achieving this through both improvement work on our existing lines and investments in two new float lines."