Turkcell 2Q12 revenues up 12.5% to TRY2.565bn
Istanbul-based telecoms group Turkcell has reported group revenue of TRY2.565 billion (USD1.404 billion) for the three months ended 30 June 2012, representing a 12.5% rise year-on-year. Turkcell’s domestic revenues accounted for the lion’s share of sales, up 9% y-o-y to TRY2.149 million, with revenue provided by subsidiaries growing by 37% to TRY416 million. EBITDA for 2Q12 increased 8.0% y-o-y to TRY779 million, whilst net income rose to TRY534.2 million, compared to a loss of TRY21.4 million posted during the corresponding period one year earlier. The company credits the improvement in net income to the absence of the impairment charges incurred in Belarus during the second quarter of 2011. CAPEX amounted to TRY326.9 million in 2Q12, of which TRY166.5 million was invested in Turkcell, TRY15.4 million in Ukraine’s Astelit, TRY109.0 million went to fibre-optic unit Turkcell Superonline and a further TRY8.9 million to Belarus’s BeST.
In its home market, Turkcell reported a 1.8% annual increase in its mobile customer base, to 34.7 million, from 34.1 million. The bulk of the net new additions were post-paid subscribers – up 17.8% to 12.6 million – although pre-paid subscriptions declined 4.7% to 22.2 million. Blended average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 5.6% to TRY20.7 per month for 2Q12, while minutes of use jumped by 13.9% to 250.4 minutes on the back of enhanced tariff offers. Meanwhile, the company’s fixed broadband subsidiary Superonline, which is in the process of rolling out a nationwide fibre-optic (FTTx) network, notched up 342,000 FTTx subscribers by end-June. Superonline continued to deliver strong results in all segments with year-on-year revenue growth of 54.9% to TRY162.2 million.
In Ukraine, Astelit, in which Turkcell owns a 55% stake, ended the quarter with 7.4 ‘active’ mobile subscribers, up from 6.4 million a year earlier, with the unit’s total subscriber base rising 1.4 million to 10.1 million. Fintur, which has interests in wireless operators in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Georgia, and in which Turkcell owns a 41.45% stake, ended June with 19.1 million customers, up 13.0% year-on-year.
CEO Sureyya Ciliv commented: ‘Our investments for the quarter in our 3G and fibre broadband infrastructure paved the way for a higher quality and enriched communication experience. And as part of our vision of spreading mobile broadband in Turkey, we continued to change the usage habits of our subscribers together with our Turkcell-branded smartphones that form an important part of our rich smartphone portfolio … Group companies continued to significantly support overall growth with their successful results. Turkcell Superonline, which introduced fibre broadband to Turkey, grew by 55% year-on-year. Meanwhile, our Ukraine operation managed to increase its EBITDA margin to over 30%, growing 13% in USD terms, while recording its first positive EBIT.’