ISO Second 500 Research Announced: Financing Expenses Increased

The results of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry's Second 500 Largest Industrial Enterprises-2025 research have been announced. According to the data, while production-based sales rose to 1 trillion 750 billion liras, the increase in financing expenses significantly heightened the financial burden on industrial organizations.

Sales Increased But Real Growth Remained Limited

According to the 2025 data announced by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, production-based sales of the second 500 largest industrial enterprises recorded an increase of 25.7 percent, rising to 1 trillion 750 billion liras.

Taking into account the growth rate of the Domestic Producer Price Index, it was determined that the real equivalent of this growth remained at the level of 0.2 per thousand.

Exports Declined and Financing Expenses Rose

While the total exports of the second 500 group experienced a decline of 0.3 percent, remaining at the level of 15.9 billion dollars, their share in Turkey's industrial exports also fell to 6 percent.

In the same period, operating profit increased by 35.4 percent to 160 billion liras, but financing expenses reached 138 billion liras with a 45.2 percent increase, making up 86.7 percent of the operating profit.

Balance Sheet Structure and Borrowing Trends

When examining the balance sheet structure of the companies, it was observed that total assets grew by 29.9 percent, while the increase in equity remained at the level of 13.3 percent.

During this process, in which total debts increased by 50.2 percent, the share of debts within assets also rose to the level of 51.8 percent.

Changes in R&D and Employment Data

While the number of organizations carrying out R&D expenditures dropped from 238 to 229, the share of high-technology-intensive industries within the created value-added rose to 4.9 percent.

The total number of employees in industrial organizations decreased by 2.2 percent, recording a decline to 285 thousand.