Turkcell 3Q13 revenue rises 8.3% to TRY2.98bn

Istanbul-based telecoms group Turkcell has reported consolidated revenue of TRY2.98 billion (USD1.51 billion) for the three months ended 30 September 2013, representing an 8.3% increase year-on-year. EBITDA increased 11.4% y-o-y to TRY1.02 billion, while net income grew 22.5% to TRY699.1 million. Despite doing solid business in its domestic wireless market, Turkcell credits its growth to the sales generated by its subsidiaries, whose contribution to the top line rose to 21%. In particular, fibre-optic broadband provider Turkcell Superonline’s revenues grew by 27% to TRY237 million, while Ukraine-based Astelit’s turnover increased by 12% to USD124 million.

In its home market, Turkcell reported a 0.6% annual decrease in its mobile customer base, to 35.0 million, down from 35.2 million previously. The bulk of the net new additions were post-paid subscribers – up 7% to 13.8 million – but this was offset by a 4.9% fall in pre-paid subscriptions to 21.2 million. Blended average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped 5.7% to TRY11.5 per month for 3Q13, while minutes of use (MOU) jumped by 5.6% to 271.6 minutes on the back of enhanced tariff offers. Meanwhile, domestic broadband unit Superonline saw its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) user base increase 39.3% y-o-y to reach 520,600.

In Ukraine, Astelit, in which Turkcell owns a 55% stake, ended the quarter with 9.4 million ‘active’ subscribers, up from 8.2 million a year earlier, with the unit’s total subscriber base rising 1.5 million to 12.2 million. Fintur, which has interests in wireless operators in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Georgia, and in which Turkcell owns a 41.45% stake, ended September with 21.5 million customers, up 5.4% on an annualised basis.