Turk Telekom Q2 turnover climbs 21% as it meets broadband demand spike

Consolidated revenues at fixed and mobile operator Turk Telekom (TT) increased to TRY7.0 billion (USD960 million) in the second quarter of 2020, up by 21.0% year-on-year, or if excluding IFRIC 12 accounting impact, revenue growth was 15.5% y-o-y. EBITDA grew 20.7% y-o-y to TRY3.2 billion with an EBITDA margin of 46.4% (49.6% if excluding IFRIC 12 effects). Quarterly operating profit increased by 28.1% y-o-y to TRY1.9 billion and net income grew 125% to TRY980 million, driven by strong underlying operating performance and lower financial expenses. CAPEX was TRY1.2 billion in 2Q20 compared to TRY930 million in 2Q19, driven by increased fibre investments.

TT’s mobile subscriber base stood at 22.8 million at end-June 2020 following 380,000 net subscriber losses quarter-on-quarter, although the total was up from 22.4 million a year earlier. Direct fibre access broadband subscribers reached 1.9 million at the end of 2Q20, up from 1.7 million at end-1Q20 and 1.5 million at mid-2019. TT’s total retail and wholesale fixed broadband access lines reached 12.2 million at 30 June 2020, up from 11.6 million three months earlier and 11.1 million a year before.

TT’s CEO Umit Onal noted ‘strong performance during the second quarter when the effects of the pandemic were felt intensely,’ adding that TT saw ‘significant increases in both fixed broadband subscription demand and data traffic amid changing needs and user habits,’ and stating that the operator managed to meet the increased demand ‘smoothly’ thanks to ‘strong infrastructure’.