Fortune magazine's top 500 Turkish companies list issued Friday revealed energy firm Energy Exchange Istanbul (EXIST) has captured the top spot in terms of net sales, displacing fellow energy giant TÜPRAŞ, which fell to second place.
EXIST's sales totaled TL 105.8 billion ($15.07 billion) in 2020, up 20.3% on a yearly basis, according to a statement issued by the magazine.
TÜPRAŞ, number two on the list, posted sales of TL 63.24 billion in 2020, down 29.4% year-on-year.
Amid the pandemic – which led to lockdowns of most stores except for supermarkets – discount grocery store chain BIM was third, up from sixth place in 2019, with net sales worth TL 55.49 billion, rising 38% year-on-year in 2020.
The average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate in 2020 was 7.02.
Rounding out the top 10 on the list were auto firm Ford ($7 billion), flag carrier Turkish Airlines ($6.6 billion), oil provider Petrol Ofisi ($6.22 billion), jewelry firm Ahlatcı ($5.9 billion), major appliances producer Arçelik ($5.8 billion), and oil provider Opet ($5.21 billion).
Total net sales of the top 500 companies in 2020 reached TL 1.94 trillion, up 6.3% year-on-year, according to the statement.
EXIST's share in the total net sales of the 500 companies was 5.5%, the magazine noted.
It said: "The number of companies with a net sales income of over TL 1 billion which was 323 in 2019 list, increased to 353 in 2020 list.
"The number of companies with net sales revenues of more than TL 10 billion increased from 33 to 37."
Exports
Amid the conditions of the pandemic, the 500 firms' total exports – TL 471 billion – dropped 26.1% on a U.S. dollar basis and 8.7% on a Turkish lira basis.
"While 75.7% of the net sales of Fortune 500 companies in Turkey consisted of domestic sales, the share of exports decreased to 24.3%," it stressed.
The 500 firms made up 32.9% of the country's overall exports of $204.1 billion in 2020.
The flag carrier Turkish Airlines was the largest company on the list in terms of exports, followed by Ford and Arçelik.