Financial performance analysis of retail trading companies listed on Borsa İstanbul (BIST): Entropy, TOPSIS and promethee methods

Today, due to the intense competition environment, globalization and capital mobility in the economy, analyzing the financial performance of companies is of great importance. These analyses provide useful information for decision-making managers, competitors in the sector, creditors, credit institutions, current and potential investors. The study aimed to analyze the financial performances of 9 companies (8 companies in 2024) traded in the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) retail trade sector and whose data can be accessed completely, using multi-criteria decision-making methods. For this purpose, 13 financial ratios obtained from the financial statements of the companies for the 8-year period covering the years 2017-2024 were calculated. These data were obtained from the annual income statements and balance sheets of the companies published on the official website of the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). The Entropy method was used to calculate the criteria weights, and TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods were used for performance analysis. Although the results obtained with the Entropy method used in the study vary according to years, the criteria with the highest weight are generally; It can be said that the criteria are inventory turnover, receivables turnover, net profit margin and cash ratio. When the results were evaluated within the scope of performance analysis, the first three companies with the best performance according to the average and ranking of TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods in the period covering 2017-2024 were MEPET, CASA and MGROS, respectively; while CRFSA, TKNSA and BIZIM companies were at the bottom. When the results obtained with the TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods are evaluated according to years; In both methods, it was evaluated that MEPET company had the best performance in 2017, 2018, 2023 and CASA company in 2019, 2021 and 2022. In 2020 and 2024, it was determined that MEPET company had the best performance according to the TOPSIS method, and BIMAS (2020) and MAVI (2024) companies had the best performance according to the PROMETHEE method. As a result, it was evaluated that both methods used in the study gave similar results although they did not give exactly the same results. Keywords: Financial Performance Analysis, Borsa Istanbul (BIST), Multi-Criteria Decision Making, Entropy, TOPSIS, PROMETHEE.