Message from the CEO

Dear Stakeholders,

Unfortunately, the expectations of relief and recovery from the pandemic crisis which broke out in 2020 and disrupted the balance of the world, remained unmet in 2022. On top of that, inflationary pressure and developments such as the Russia-Ukraine war left the global economy facing deepening problems.

In October 2021, out of 146 countries, 20 recorded inflation rates above 10%. In 2022, this rate rose alarmingly: in October 2022, 68 of 146 countries recorded inflation rates above 10%, and 15 countries recorded inflation above 30%. All these negativities reflected on stock markets with a domino effect, with leading stock markets enduring losses between 9 and 15% in 2022. Today, countries around the world, from the US to Europe, from developed to developing countries, are looking for ways to cope with inflation and food, energy, natural gas, and raw material problems. We can even say that during 2022, unlike in previous years, humanity fought for its survival. As exhibited by the many environmental disasters we suffered including enormous forest fires in many countries of the world, drought, flash floods, and declining fresh water resources, as well as the food and energy crisis caused by regional wars, conflicts, and the pandemic.

The Turkish economy also endured a difficult year in 2022 due to negative global and local conditions. However, our country showed promising developments in the fields of employment, growth, tourism, and public budgets despite all the negative conditions. According to TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) data, the Turkish economy recorded a growth rate of 7.6% in the second quarter of 2022 and 3.9% in the third quarter. The IMF's World Economic Outlook report released in October 2022 stated that Turkey had maintained its position as the 20th largest economy in the world in 2021 and 2022.

All of which means the economy will continue to follow a rising trend in the coming period. Doğan Holding has managed to put forward a strong performance and continued to grow profitably over the last 5 years despite the difficult, turbulent conditions caused by the global economic slowdown. The dynamic model we developed in 2018 has acted as a private equity fund, successfully investing in strategic areas. With this new way of doing business, which we call the "Doğan Investment Model", we have continued to perform successful mergers, acquisitions, and exit/sales operations.

Our strategic moves this past year have resulted in strong financial performances every quarter. In 2022, we increased our net profit for the period by 113%, TL 6.0 billion, thanks to increased operating profits and revenues from our investment activities.

We achieved our highest growth in the Renewable Energy, Industry&Trade, and Automotive fields. Our consolidated turnover in 2022 increased by 173%, reaching TL 45 billion 872 million. Our EBITDA increased by 151% to a TL 4 billion 61 million. Net profit for the period increased by 126% to a TL 6 billion 926 million. Our Value Creation Plans and the Doğan Investment Strategy, implemented in 2019, continue to produce positive results.

Our 2022 Operations

We purchased the Muğla WPP, incorporating it into Galata Wind, our company that produces 100% clean, renewable wind and solar energy, reflecting our Holding's vision for the future. The completed project will add an additional 9 MW to our existing capacity. Beyond that, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated USD 45 million to support Galata Wind’s capacity increase in renewable energy, which along with its other planned investments, will help the company realize its projections to save 80,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year by generating approximately 150,000 MWh more renewable electricity annually. In addition, Sustainalytics, the world's leading ESG rating organization, rated Galata Wind A.Ş. as "Low Risk" with a score of 19.9 in its ESG risk report.

We are going to increase power at the Taşpınar WPP, whose 14 wind turbines operate as part of Galata Wind, by adding 2 new mechanical and electric power turbines. When these additional turbines start to operate in the first quarter of 2023, they will contribute an additional 20% to annual production, and they will help reduce carbon emissions by about 20,000 tons per year.

Our Doğan Trend Otomotiv company, which operates under the roof of Doğan Holding, achieved remarkable momentum in the sector with its investments in the automotive and mobility sectors, continuing to make great progress in the motorcycle market and to invest in mobility. Doğan Trend Otomotiv reached a joint production agreement with KYMCO, a Taiwanese company, signing an agreement with them to produce motorcycles in Turkey, thereby developing our cooperation beyond distributorship.

Operating in seven different sectors, Doğan Holding is a value-focused, leading holding whose perspective seeks sustainable investment. We continued to grow with new, promising, high- potential investments that will benefit both the Group and our country, focusing on value-added fields. We consider investments in technology to be critical opportunities for Turkey, we recognize that the digitalization of industry and communication is very important for our country, and we aspire to be a leader in this area. Based on this vision and goal, Doğan Holding Leading Venture Capital Investment Partners made another new investment by acquiring 40% of the shares of Karel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., a leading technology producer and expert in electronics and communication in our country. Simultaneously with Doğan Holding's investment in Karel, Karel also became a 75% partner in Daiichi, which specializes in automotive electronics. This partnership strengthens our position in mobility and digital technologies, which are transformation and growth areas in the world economy.

Doğan Holding continues to transform our portfolio structure with several projects, including topics such as simplification, digitalization, and focus. In this context, our company accepted an offer made for Çelik Halat in October, and transferred 75% of our 69.83% in shares of Çelik Halat ve Tel San. to Artaş İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. and the remaining 25% to Betatrans Lojistik İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., completing the sale of Turkey’s leading steel rope and wire manufacturer that had operated as part of Doğan Group since 1997, on November 29, 2022.

In addition, we sold the Milpa property of 2.93 million square meters in Pendik, Istanbul to Artaş Group for 99 million 893 thousand and 84 USD excluding VAT. This transaction has been evaluated as one of the largest sales in the sector in recent times.

We also invested in the digital insurance sector, which we see as one of the future’s most important sectors. Established as part of Doğan Holding on September 29, 2021 with the slogan, "All The Best For You!", Hepiyi Sigorta received its license from SEDDK (Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency) to operate in all non-life insurance branches on April 27, 2022, making an ambitious and powerful entrance into the sector. Despite its recent establishment, Hepiyi Sigorta is one of Turkey's new, dynamic, and powerful insurance companies, and its services are making a difference in the sector.

Starting operations in 2021 with the goal of creating "new generation investment banking", the Doğan Investment Bank launched a 100% digital SME Lending Platform for Turkey. The KobiKrediD Platform allows SMEs that need financing for their business to quickly and easily apply for loans over digital channels without losing time by visiting a branch. Funding support for developing the KobiKrediD Platform and building the automatic lending decision infrastructure was provided within the scope of the agreement between Doğan Investment Bank and the Development Facility of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE DF), the first support provided by the EFSE DF to an investment bank. The renowned fashion brand, DeFacto was the first company to work with the KobiKrediD Platform, taking advantage of the solutions the KobiKrediD Platform can offer to its wide supplier network of SME-scale companies and enable them to quickly access financing through digital channels, so they can maintain their businesses with no disruptions to their cash flow. The Doğan Investment Bank will continue to ensure that SMEs, which are the driving-force of the economy, can develop, increase their competitiveness, and gain more power.

Aytemiz, our 100% domestic fuel oil brand, became the first fuel oil company to enter the Metaverse, following its cooperation with Digivega. Continuing to innovate in the sector by investing in technology and the future, our company opened a station in Decentraland, the most popular universe in the Metaverse, offering various advantages to its visitors, and adding a new dimension to its cooperation with Digivega, which offers various digital services.

Despite the difficulties and challenges the global economy poses, our holding will maintain its 2022 success and growth momentum in 2023 and will continue to work with all its strength to add value to the world and to our country. We will implement our Doğan Investment Model resolutely, realize our investments in promising fields that integrate the world with the digital medium, and take firm steps forward into the future.

They say "an organization is only as good as its employees", so we both invested in our employees and created new employment opportunities. As put forward in 2021, our "Doğanda" employer brand efforts continued without a break in the fields of career, talent, development, life, and innovation. We had launched the "Development in Doğan" program to help our colleagues, and we organized classes on many topics, such as the Mini MBA, the Leadership School, and the Senior Management Academy, specifically designed in cooperation with Sabancı University to assist in the career journeys and development of our mid-level and senior manager colleagues.

We consider the 'holistic well-being' of our colleagues to be very important, so we organized many events throughout the year as part of our "Life at Doğan" program. The leaders of our companies held online meetings as part of our CEOLIVE events throughout the year to listen to their colleagues.

To both discover new talents and to give the talented young people of our country with opportunities, all our group companies re-implemented the "Discover Doğan Internship Program" for the first time after a long break. Demand was high for the program with 2,677 people applying, but in the end, 22 young talents who met our criteria earned internship opportunities at Doğan Holding and group companies.

Doğan will continue to support our colleagues’ development, to offer young people opportunities, to stand with them on their career journeys, and to create new employment opportunities in 2023.

The Doğan Group has converted earnings in Turkey into investments for Turkey for over 60 years, and we will continue to add value to our country. We will focus on making positive impacts through all our investments, taking strength from our roots and values. We see sustainability as one of the most powerful global trends shaping rapid economic change, and we are working to take our place in this newly established world as a group that constantly renews itself and develops, adapting to all global changes. We will step into the future by following the firm commitments we have made to our international stakeholders, blending the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which we have placed at the center of our strategy, with the "Doğan Impact Plan" which is based on our over 60-years of experience and values.

We have put the "Doğan Impact Plan" into effect with the understanding that we have committed ourselves to making responsible investments in three main value areas: "investing in the world", "investing in an inclusive society", and "investing in the future". We will not be involved with any business that does not meet our sustainability criteria.

As part of the international commitments described in the "Doğan Impact Plan", whose slogan is "Better is Possible", we will increase the proportion of ESG-focused funds in our investor share by 2025. One of our goals is to become a carbon neutral organization by 2030. For this purpose, we invest in many sustainable technology areas, such as renewable energy installation, supplying green electricity, electric cars, and electric charging stations. In addition, by 2030, we aim to reclaim all of the water we use, back to nature. We are focusing on the transformations that will minimize the environmental impact of our buildings and offices and making the investments necessary to achieve this. We consider gender equality to be very important, and we are determined to establish a more equal work life by 2030 and, as a priority, to increase the ratio of female board members and female executives throughout the Group to at least 40%. Our sustainability journey is progressing rapidly towards the many goals set throughout the Group, such as achieving zero waste, increasing the recycling rate of our main production input materials, increasing R&D investments in sustainability and our turnover rates from sustainable products, auditing our suppliers in terms of ESG, and increasing employee engagement.

We will also start to evaluate the sustainability performances of our group companies. The Doğan Group, as a corporate entity who has values and who is responsible to the world and the country, will always continue to be a global actor on the radar of investors with the values it has created, taking part in the super league of sustainability.

In conclusion, as our Republic enters into its second century, we will make value-oriented, responsible investments that protect the principles entrusted to us by Atatürk, and work non-stop for a better future. I would like to express my gratitude to all our stakeholders and colleagues who supported the activities of Doğan Holding in 2022.

Kindest regards,

Çağlar GÖĞÜŞ
Chief Executive Officer