ELCAB KABLO PROFİL SANAYİ TİCARET A.Ş // CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD NEJDET TISKAOĞLU “We continue to move ahead on our way without making concessions from our understanding of good quality production, delivery on time and superior after-sales service.”

Have the first quarter’s data of 2019 realized in accordance with your goals?

When we evaluate the first quater of 2019 on a sectoral basis we may say that we have experienced a slowdown in termsof economic growth and volume of trade worldwide on one hand and that the commercial risks have increased as a result of increases of interest rates and weakening of entry of direct capital Investments on the other hand. When we make a general evaluation we may say that the year that we have left behind has not been a good year not only for our sector but for all other sectors and companies due to the insecure trade and market conditions created by the political turmoils and instable market environment affecting the whole world. No positive and noteworthy developments have been observed throughout that year due to the political problems affecting our country and foreign countries as well as the instability in the markets and the fluctuations of the exchange rates. And it has also been observed that the companies not only in our sector but in all other sectors have maintained their existence at the same level in a stable manner without growth and making any progress and tried to finish this year with the least amount of losses. When we finally evaluate this question in the name of our company we may say that our enterprise which has focused on customer satisfaction since the date of its foundation without making concession from quality continues in its path in the year 2019 as well whatever the market conditions may be, supply quality products and services at a cheaper cost, errorfree and on time by optimum utilization of the resources, put permanent improvements and progress in the production process into action by increasing the training level of its employees, proceeds more prudently based on a strategy which is more selective in the businesses it ındertakes and more sensitive regarding profitability based on its understanding of corporate governance.

There has been a recession in domestic market. It has been seen in fairs. In which proportion have you been being affected by this recession as company and sector?

Being Elcab Cable, we continue our sales activity by 2 separate professional teams both in domestic market and international market. However our market share shows plus\minus rate of changes in accordance with the changes experienced time to time in global and international area, we can consider it as 60%for domestic market and 40% for export. We have been trying to meet the deficity coming out as a result of the recession in local market incurred by the instability in markets and the fluctuations in the exchange rates by expanding our sales network to abroad.

Export has been like a flotation ring in today’s conjuncture. How is the prospect? Is high exchange rate an advantage for export?

We can evaluate, how our export sales is affected by the fluctuations in foreign exchanges by this means; the supply of raw materials and goods necessary for the production are realized in foreign currency. When we answer this question by considering the export activities, we can say that the situation is in our favor because the difficulty of applying instantaneous changes into the internal market is seen in the international market, and that our sales are made in foreign currency. However, whether high exchange rates are really a serious advantage for export or not is an arguable issue because when it comes to the country’s macroeconomy, high exchange rates are not a very big advantage in export since the inputs are foreign indexed and based on foreign exchange.

How is your export sales going on to EU countries?

Our exports, as Elcab Cable, to countries in the European Union continue at a stable level and our greatest wish is to maintain our current export volume to the countries in this union and eventually increase this volume. The problems experienced in previous years and the crisis setting that was generated showed that companies far from a corporate identity concept encountered major problems and the smallest sign of fluctuation or change and faced serious problems in maintaining their presence. As long as companies move forward with a corporate identity approach we can say that in which sales, not just our company, but also in our sector to European Union member countries, can rise and positive developments are possible.

Could you please share your basis and target markets for export sales?

As Elcab Cable, in addition to the leading companies we serve in the domestic market, we also export our products to a number of different countries in Europe, Asia, North Afrca, South America and Middle East. As a company that aims to maintain its export country volume at a wide range and deliver its products; never compromising on quality, to any location throughout the world with affordable prices and on time delivery advantages, in line with customer wishes and demands, we are well aware of the vital importance of providing customer satisfaction focused quality services to our existing customers in these countries in addition to participating in fairs, conducting market research and customer visits to increase our presence in these markets to an even higher level and to enter the new markets like United States of America.