Turkcell profit up 54%

Turkey’s largest mobile operator by subscribers Turkcell has reported full year 2007 net profit that rose by 54% year-on-year to USD1.35 billion, as consolidated revenues climbed 35% to USD6.3 billion. The GSM provider’s annual EBITDA reached USD2.6 billion, up 44.3% on its 2006 figure. Turkcell’s group subscriber base grew by 19.5% on an annual basis to 47.1 million (35.4 million of them in Turkey) as of 31 December 2007, with domestic annualised monthly ARPU rising by 18% year-on-year to USD14.3 (USD12.1), and average monthly minutes of usage (MOU) amongst Turkish subscribers increasing by 9% to 76.3 minutes (70.3). Turkcell’s Ukrainian subsidiary Astelit’s revenues increased by 191% in 2007 to USD256 million (USD88 million). Turkcell also owns stakes in four other GSM operators in partnership with TeliaSonera via their shared joint venture Fintur International. Fintur majority-owns market leading cellcos in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan (Geocell, Azercell and GSMK respectively), plus the second largest operator in Moldova, Moldcell.