No IPO for Avea until 2009

Turkey’s third largest mobile phone operator, Avea, has announced that it will not launch an IPO until 2009 at the earliest, and in the meantime it aims to turn its net losses over the past two years into profit to meet Turkish Capital Board conditions governing public listings. Under local regulations, a company must have two consecutive years of profit growth before applying for an IPO. Avea, 81%-owned by Turk Telekom, posted losses of USD590 million in 2005 and USD557 million in 2006. The cellco’s management expects revenue to grow by between 25% and 30% this year.