Turkey's Sabanci posts 11 pct profit

Sabanci Holding, one of Turkey's largest industrial and financial conglomerates, posted an 11 percent profit increase for the first half of the year on Thursday.

According to an income statement on the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange, profits rose to 1.35 billion Turkish liras ($456 million) as sales jumped 22 percent to 17.2 billion liras ($5.8 billion).

Sabanci Group companies currently operate in 16 countries, mainly in the finance, energy, cement, retail and industrial sectors. Partners include prominent companies such as Ageas, Aviva, Bridgestone, Carrefour, E.ON, HeidelbergCement, Marubeni and Philip Morris.