VKF_FRAE_2018_uyg11

VakıfBank Annual Report 2018 25 During these turbulent times, the Turkish banking sector remained the driving engine of the national economy. Total assets of the industry climbed to TL 3,867 billion in 2018. The sector provided financing to the real sector and households amounting to TL 3,175 billion in the form of cash and non- cash loans. Despite foreign exchange rate volatility, Turkey’s banking sector maintained its strength thanks to its solid capital structure and healthy balance sheet. The sector-wide capital adequacy ratio was up from 16.85% in 2017 to 17.27% as of year-end 2018. VakıfBank achieved its performance targets set out under the Bank’s strategy of Profitable, Efficient and High Quality Growth in 2018. During this reporting period, we continued to be the strength on the side of every customer segment – from individual households to the real sector. While the banking sector recorded 18.7% growth in total assets for the year, VakıfBank posted 22.46% growth in total assets to TL 331,356 million, well above the sector average. We formulated the most suitable solutions to meet customers’ financial needs. Even as cash loans sector-wide increased 14.13%, we boosted our cash loans by 21.14% to TL 221,607 million. In line with our vision of being the “Leading Bank of Strong Turkey,” we once again ranked among the banks providing the most support to the Turkish economy. While the banking sector expanded its commercial loan portfolio by 18.10% year-on-year as of December 2018, VakıfBank boosted its commercial lending by 26.09% to TL 170,195 million, significantly outperforming the sector. We opened 35 new commercial branches in order to meet the financial needs of our commercial customers more quickly and efficiently. During the year, we did not simply meet the financial needs of our commercial customer base: We also expanded our service and product range. VakıfBank was the first bank to achieve integration with the Electronic Letter of Guarantee project, whose systems infrastructure was designed by the Credit Registry Office, allowing online transmission of letters of guarantee. VakıfBank continued to support SMEs at full throttle, even in this volatile period. We extended cost-effective loans to SMEs from funds we had obtained from European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank and French Development Agency. We boosted SME loans by 22.91% year-on-year to TL 59.412 million as of the end of 2018. The amount of CGF-backed loans extended by the Bank surged to more than TL 26 billion. As a result, VakıfBank became one of the banks issuing the most CGF-backed loans in the industry. In addition, we increased individual loans by 7.21% year-over-year, continuing our support to Turkey’s households. We added new products to our wide range of services that offer particular solutions to meet customer expectations and needs. During the year, we introduced the “My Rent is Safe” offering, a first in Turkey, which guarantees rent payments for homeowners and gives tenants peace of mind in their payments. We also The foreign funds which VakıfBank secured in 2018 confirmed the international financial community’s confidence in Turkey and Our Bank. Capital Adequacy Ratio (%) 16.99 15.52 2018 2017