ISTANBUL, March 30 (Reuters) - Leading Turkish vehicle maker Tofas swung to an operating profit in 2003 from a loss the year before as sales increased, the company, a joint venture between Fiat and Turkey's Koc Holding, said on Tuesday.
Operating profit was 28.4 trillion lira ($21.5 million) in 2003 compared with a loss of 32.7 trillion in 2002.
However, consolidated net profit fell 78.5 percent to 6.34 trillion lira. Accounting for the decline was a sharp fall in the amount of deferred tax payments to 8.8 trillion lira in 2003 from 137.7 trillion in 2002.
In 2002, the pre-tax loss was 105.2 trillion lira but this resulted in a net profit after the deferral of taxes was taken into account.
The company, owned jointly by Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding and Italy's Fiat , said net sales in 2003 rose 7.7 percent to 2,072 trillion lira ($1.57 billion).
The gross profit margin rose to 9.3 percent in 2003 from 6.1 percent in the previous year, said Ata Invest analyst Onur Marsan.
"There were higher sales in the automotive sector last year as a result of the growing market. The first two months of 2004 support the growth expectations and we expect this to be a year of growth," Marsan said.
Tofas shares fell 0.74 percent to 3,350 lira in Tuesday's morning session.