Turkcell reports best ever Q2 revenue, EBITDA, net income

Turkcell has announced that it has recorded its ‘historically highest second quarter revenue, EBITDA and net income’ in the three months ended 30 June 2015. The telco’s second quarter revenue reached TRY3.093 billion (USD1.113 billion), up 5.8% from TRY2.923 billion on an annualised basis, with the surge in demand for mobile and fixed data identified as the main factors behind the growth. Meanwhile, EBITDA was up 9.7% to TRY994.8 million in the period under review, with net income surging 44.6% to reach TRY712.0 million. Turkcell credits the improved bottom line to ‘the increasing operational strength of Turkcell Turkey, coupled with the positive impact of currency movements in Ukraine and Turkey’.

In operational terms, Turkcell’s broadband unit Superonline saw its user base surpass the 1.3 million subscriber mark, representing an increase of 30.4% year-on-year, driven by the expansion of fibre (up 25.3%) and ADSL (up 39.2%) products. The operator noted that its fibre network footprint now spans 34,200km with the number of homes passed exceeding 2.2 million. Meanwhile, Turkcell’s mobile customer base declined 1.7% to 34.0 million, due to a decrease in pre-paid customers, although the operator registered 9.7% growth in net post-paid additions, thanks to value propositions and a migration of pre-paid users to post-paid tariffs.

Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu commented: ‘We shifted to a new organisational structure with the aim of increasing efficiency and simplification in our business processes … we acquired the remaining 44.96% stake in Astelit for USD100 million [in June 2015] in order to strengthen our regional position, to reach a larger customer base that will create economies of scale and to increase its contribution to the Group … Going forward, our key priorities will be to strengthen our position in the Turkish telecommunication market as an integrated player, to evaluate M&A opportunities and our options with regards to our subsidiaries, and to solidify our Group balance sheet structure. Further, the expected spectrum tender will be among our top agenda items.’