Turkish military vehicles firm Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi could sell hundreds of tanks to Saudi Arabia, according to a report in Turkey’s press.
Bloomberg said that stock in the company jumped 5.7 percent to as high as 92.25 liras in Istanbul, its highest since the firm began trading in April 1995, after Hurriyet Daily News published the report, which cited unnamed defence officials.
Otokar will reportedly begin construction of its Altay battle tank, said to be the first of its kind manufactured in Turkey, in 2015, state news reported late last year. A prototype of the vehicle was exhibited at a defence exhibition earlier this month, and will have a development cost of around $500m.
Otokar, headquartered in the northwestern city of Sakarya, is 44.7 percent owned by industrial conglomerate Koc Holding. In the first quarter of this year, the company reported a net profit of 25.3m liras ($14m), up from 6.33m liras the previous year.
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