Dear stakeholders,

We are a new member of the Ziraat Finance Group.
As Turkey’s first state-owned participation bank, we are excited and proud to have entered the service race.

We are the newest member of the Ziraat Finance Group that operates under the leadership of Ziraat Bank.

We have set out to put Ziraat’s signature on the participation banking segment, which has entered a period of sustainable development and growth in our country, as it has all over the world.

We have started to deploy our 152-year banking tradition and heritage that we share as a member of Ziraat Finance Group in the most effective and correct manner to offer our products and services that are fully compliant with the principles of participation banking to our target audience throughout Turkey.

Our main target is to become a leading and reputable participation bank.
It is our main target to offer our customers the optimum solutions and value suggestions from the most suitable channel by understanding our customers’ needs and expectations.

While acting with an awareness of the principles of participation banking, ethical values and our social responsibility, we are focused on operating with sustainable profitability and efficiency to world class standards.

Another indispensable element of our mission is to continuously raise our customers’ satisfaction by offering the best service experience to them at all our distribution channels and to be a participation bank which facilitates financial access on a society scale.

Ziraat Participation aims to be a participation bank which is universal, respectable, a leader and which gives impetus to participation banking not only in Turkey but also in its region, in a manner befitting the leader identity of the Group that it is a member of, constantly creating value and offering more by sharing.

As long as we carry out our activities in accordance with this great responsibility, we will generate an increasing amount of lasting value for our stakeholders and will raise the share of participation banking in the Turkish banking industry to a much higher level.

The gains in our first year bring us excitement.
Ziraat Participation ended 2015 with TL 2,177 million of assets, positioning us ahead of many players in the banking sector in our first year of operation.

Our equity amounted to TL 665 million in 2015, accounting for 31% of total liabilities, with a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 47%. The collected sum of current and participation accounts accounted for 58% of total liabilities, while current accounts accounted for 14% of participation accounts at the end of 2015.

As part of our goal to diversify our resource base, Ziraat Participation provided TL 164 million of funding from domestic and foreign banks in 2015.

One of the main goals after entering operation on 29 May 2015 was to initiate a rapid branching process in accordance with our corporate strategy. I am delighted to say that Ziraat Participation opened a total of 22 branches in ten provinces, including nine branches in Istanbul and four branches in Adana since its first day when the Bank entered the sector.

Another issue that needs to be emphasized in this context is the regular increase in the volume of fund raising and disbursement upon increasing the number of branches.

The volumes that we have reached in our first year indicate the accuracy of our strategy for branch expansion, as well as demonstrate how powerful the demand is for participation banking’s products and services.

Our target for branch expansion is to reach 50 branches by the end of 2016. We will continue to offer services for the needs of customers in both the retail and corporate segments in line with the principles of participation banking through the new branches that will be opened until the end of 2016.

Another important issue that needs mentioning in this context is that Ziraat Participation will have access to the regions which generate 80% of Turkey’s GDP with the new branches that we plan to open in 2016.

We are determined to create a difference with our multi-channel strategy.
In addition to the financial contributions to the sector with rapid growth goals, Ziraat Participation provides services through the latest technology and infrastructure systems.

We also offer our transactions to our customers through our Internet Banking portal, which we commissioned on the very day we became operational, which marked our first step into digital banking.

We see digital banking as a growth area which we will continuously improve, as well as a basic distribution channel. Ziraat Participation sees increasing the product diversity and service effectiveness through the new projects that it will implement in the field of digital banking and creating difference also in this field among its main goals. In this context, we are planning to commission our mobile banking application that will enable our customers to carry out banking transactions in a safer and faster manner in 2016.

Sustainable profitability, sustainable future...
Ziraat Participation attaches importance to the concept of sustainable profitability and is therefore aware of the importance of taking part in the strategic investments that will affect the country’s values and its future.

Ziraat Participation undertakes the financing of suitable and appropriate investment projects that increase employment and support economic growth, contributing to a sustainable future. It also carries out activities that will pave the way for Turkey’s transformation into a leading international finance center and for the global funds to increasingly be directed to Turkey.

While finding solutions to meet the expectations and demands of customers from all walks of life and of all ages, we are working to offer financial support to a wider base by gaining new customers. As a participation bank that reconciles the dynamics of interest-free banking with the expectations of the real sector, we believe our customer focused activities will contribute to the development of both the real sector and the participation banking sector.

Ziraat Participation is focused on its activities with the ultimate goal of creating value for all of its stakeholders and the community, as well as its customers and shareholders.

Our human resources, which numbers 458 including our senior management team, work with faith and enthusiasm in representing the Ziraat culture successfully in the participation banking sector and raising the tradition of participation banking to higher levels on more powerful foundations.

Also in 2016, Ziraat Participation will continue its operations as a visionary participation bank that aims to grow all together with other participants.

I thank to everyone who has contributed to the value we have generated in our first year of operations, and we extend our gratitude to all of our stakeholders.

Osman ARSLAN
Board Member and General Manager