Aselsan, the world's 48th largest defense company (Defense News Top 100 Defense List 2020) with its sales and production network spanning over 12 countries in 3 continents, completed 2020 with record results. The company's consolidated net sales increased by 24% compared to the previous year and exceeded 16 Billion TL. The company's Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) increased by 38% to its all-time high of 4 Billion TL. The EBITDA margin exceeded expectations and reached its highest level in the history of the company with 24.4%.

$1 Billion Export Backlog Threshold Exceeded

Aselsan’s acceleration in exports continued in 2020, when the mobility between countries stopped completely due to the pandemic. In 2020, the company signed contracts with 6 new countries for a total amount of US$ 446 Million and contributed to the export volume of our country. With the contribution of new orders received from abroad, the export backlog reached its historical peak by exceeding the US $1 Billion threshold. The total backlog is US $9.5 Billion.

The Pandemic did not Affect Acceleration

Aselsan Chairman, President & CEO Prof. Dr. Haluk GÖRGÜN said the following in his evaluation of the 2020 year-end financial results: "Being aware of the responsibility we bear for our country, in 2020, when the negative effects of the pandemic were felt in every field, our motto was "Aselsan does not stop, cannot stop! " and we did not stop our activities for a single day. We implemented an effective decision mechanism within Aselsan when the first effects of the pandemic began to appear. While observing the needs and expectations of our government on the one hand, we also tried to take all kinds of precautions for the health of our employees. In 2020 Aselsan continued its activities in the field of technology and R&D with R&D expenditures of 3.3 Billion TL. We mobilized all our financial and operational resources to ensure that more than 4 thousand suppliers, who provide products and services to Aselsan, are not adversely affected by the pandemic. Our high revenue and profitability figures by the end of 2020 are the result of the management strategies that we have implemented with the awareness of being a family.

Aselsan Is Growing Rapidly, Globally

The year 2020 has been a very productive year for Aselsan resulting in the highest collections of export receivables, with the most export orders received, and the number of export countries also increased to 70. As part of its ambitious strategy the company opened offices and branches in 3 countries last year. With these breakthroughs, the total number of offices and branches at home and abroad reached 28.  An estimated 1,500 new employees joined Aselsan in 2020 as well.   

Cash Management Approach Covering the Whole Ecosystem Adopted 

Prof. Dr. Haluk GÖRGÜN stated that in 2020 they worked with an understanding that prioritized the financial needs of not only Aselsan and its affiliates, but also more than 4 thousand suppliers. Prof. Dr. GÖRGÜN said that they had reduced the liquidity pressure caused by the pandemic in the ecosystem by paying out more than 12 Billion TL to their business partners last year. The share of local companies in Aselsan's total procurement increased to 73% in 2020. 9 out of every 10 orders placed were forwarded to SMEs. While Aselsan completed the year with a record level of cash collection, the company closed the year with a net cash position thanks to the successful working capital management throughout the year. The Company’s cash level by the year end stood at 4 Billion TL.

Aselsan Chairman, President and CEO Prof. Dr. Haluk GÖRGÜN concluded his statements with the following words. “From defense electronics to health, from communication systems to financial Technologies, from energy and transportation systems to space technologies; we proudly observe the benefits that our products and services bring our nation in every field that we operate. In a period when pandemic conditions were getting worse, our ventilators are an example of one of these products we offered to our nation for use.  Aselsan, in cooperation with the members of the consortium, produced more than 20,000 ventilators in a very short time and provided very important support to our health community in the fight against COVID-19. Our ventilators were made available to our friend and brother countries under the coordination of the Turkish Government.

As Aselsan, our goal is to reduce our country's dependence on imports by producing high-standard technological products and services in all areas we operate. With experience spanning more than 45 years, with high engineering skills and financial strength, Aselsan is capable of achieving these goals. We will continue to work diligently to carry Aselsan, which is of crucial importance to the Turkish nation and entrusted to us, beyond these successful results. I would like to thank all of our stakeholders, especially our employees, for their trust in us and for always being with us, and I hope that our success will continue to increase. "