Focused on sustainable production
Our General Manager Hamdi Alp told Birol Bozkurt from Dünya Newspaper about Çates' IPO journey and its importance in the energy sector.
You can read the entire interview below.
Çatalağzı Thermal Power Plant's (ÇATES) public offering application was approved by the CMB. Stating that they have undertaken an important task for Turkey's energy supply security, ÇATES General Manager Hamdi Alp said, "We want to make our people share in the sustainable income we have obtained through the public offering."
The wind of public offerings in the stock market continues unabated. Çatalağzı Thermal Power Plant (ÇATES), which joined Aydem Holding in 2014, is going public. The public offering size of ÇATES, whose public offering has been permitted by the Capital Markets Board (CMB), will be 1.8 billion TL.
The company plans to direct the IPO proceeds to capital increases to strengthen its financial resilience. The net profit of the company, which earned 2.9 billion TL in the first 9 months of 2023, was 401.7 million TL. We talked about the company's public offering process and future goals with ÇATES General Manager Hamdi Alp. Stating that the Çatalağzı Thermal Power Plant was put into operation in 1948 as a state investment in the Çatalağzı town of Zonguldak, Hamdi Alp said, “One of the biggest problems of Turkey is the current account deficit.
The energy sector has an important role in this share. Therefore, production with domestic resources makes a very important contribution to closing our country's current account deficit. Being aware that the utilization of all resources is of great importance in the development of countries, we take it as our duty to ensure the sustainability of energy production and to always observe environmental awareness.
Thermal power plants in the base load power plant group can operate with high availability. The fact that these power plants operate uninterruptedly and efficiently and produce energy with domestic coal contributes greatly to our energy supply security, prevents the current account deficit and, of course, contributes to employment. "In order to talk about electricity supply security, the continuity of the operation of these power plants must be ensured," he said.
Underlining that they produce electricity with high-quality domestic coal, Hamdi Alp underlined that it is not possible to give up coal in electricity production at this stage and said; “While the problems in natural gas supply experienced in European countries in 2021 and the subsequent record-breaking natural gas prices reminded us again how important energy supply security is, high oil prices along with the war with Ukraine and Russia took energy supply security to a whole different level.
Although increasing energy prices cause concern, at this point it is possible to say that the steps taken by Turkey to produce its own energy have been reciprocated. While the share of import-based resources in electricity production was around 38 percent in 2019, this rate approached 50 percent in 2021.
On the other hand, the problems caused by the sharp price increases in imported coal and natural gas, almost all of which are imported, are among the main problems currently faced by our sector. Such a situation makes domestic coal indispensable. Decrease in the contribution rate of domestic coal thermal power plants to our country's electricity production; While it will negatively affect the current account deficit by increasing imports, it will also negatively affect employment.
“We will make our people share in our profits with regular dividends.”
Stating that they are making regular investments to keep the efficiency of the power plant high, ÇATES General Manager Hamdi Alp said, “Our strategy for the coming period is to make ÇATES a company that pays regular and predictable dividends. In addition to being Turkey's first thermal power plant, ÇATES is the first and only power plant powered by domestic hard coal.
I believe that it will provide significant advantages to its investors with its location in a location with the richest coal reserves in Turkey, such as Zonguldak, its resource diversity thanks to its location on the seaside and the ability to supply imported coal, and its potential for regular dividend income.
I believe that ÇATES, as a base load power plant, will provide significant advantages to its investors with its ability to produce electricity 24/7 without being affected by any natural conditions and its structure that provides regular income. We will share this sustainable income with our people through regular dividends. We are excited and happy to share this value we have created thanks to the public offering with our new investors.
With the power and confidence we will receive from our investors after our public offering; "We will continue to work with all our strength to further what we have contributed to our country and our industry so far," he said.
“We attach great importance to sustainable production”
Pointing out that coal is a mineral with a high carbon footprint due to its nature, Hamdi Alp said, “However, as ÇATES, we work in accordance with the environmental legislation brought to EU standards and we continue our R&D studies on how we can better improve all our values.
As a company, we are developing our efforts to reduce environmental impacts and make energy production more environmentally friendly. In addition, we closely follow future environmental regulations and legal changes and update our business strategies to adapt to these changes. "We act by taking into account the needs of future generations," he said.
ÇATES will collect requests between 30 November - 1 December
Book building dates for ÇATES public offering were announced as 30 November - 1 December. 36 brokerage firms within the consortium established under the leadership of İnfo Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. are participating in the public offering. While the share ratio of the company to be offered to the public was announced as 20.01%; It was stated that equal distribution method would be used in the offering of shares. With the company's issued capital of 140 million 405 thousand TL being increased by 24 million 795 thousand TL to 165 million 200 thousand TL, a total of 33 million 50 thousand shares will be offered to the public, including 8 million 255 thousand shares through joint sale. While the size of the public offering is expected to be 1.89 billion TL, book building will be realized at a price of 57.15 TL.
