Beer Stocks Are Among Turkey’s Biggest Winners in Erdogan’s Loss

(Bloomberg) -- It’s the one corner of Turkey’s markets that’s celebrating the return of secularists to power: brewer stocks.

The lira swung between gains and losses and the yield on Turkey’s benchmark bond was unchanged, with the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, set to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted movement from office in the country’s biggest cites.

By contrast, shares of Turkey’s top beer maker jumped the most in eight months after Sunday’s election, far eclipsing the 0.3 percent increase in Istanbul’s main equity index.

“Some investors may be betting that municipal restrictions on alcohol sales may somehow be relaxed,” Burak Isyar, head of research at ICBC Securities in Istanbul, said by phone.

Anadolu Efes Biracilik ve Malt Sanayii AS rose 6.9 percent at the close in Istanbul, the biggest gain since September. Turk Tuborg Bira ve Malt Sanayii AS, the other listed beer maker, climbed 2.4 percent.

Candidates of the main opposition CHP scored significant victories in the vote, leading races in major cities including Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Adana. All four were in the hands of Erdogan’s ruling party or its nationalist ally, MHP. Under Erdogan’s watch, some municipalities cracked down on venues with outdoor seating areas that spilled into the streets, transforming once popular night spots.

Anadolu Efes still has a lot of ground to make up. It’s declined 9.2 percent this year, trailing the 3.1 percent gain in the benchmark Borsa Istanbul-100 index. The company reported 96.9 million liras ($18 million) profit in 2018, missing the average analyst estimate. It expects “flattish” beer sales volume this year, according to a guidance published in February.

To contact the reporter on this story: Taylan Bilgic in Istanbul at tbilgic2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Paul Abelsky, Mark Williams

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