Türk Telekom net falls

Bloomberg

Türk Telekom’s net income dropped to 291.1 million Turkish Liras from 398.2 million liras in the same quarter of 2008. Türk Telekom’s non-operating financial expenses jumped 57 percent to 458.7 million liras in the quarter, according to the filing. The lira fell 7.5 percent against the dollar in the three months to March 31, increasing servicing costs for $1.6 billion of debt. Sales rose 3.5 percent to 2.51 billion liras from a year ago, it said.

"The company’s foreign currency-denominated debts created foreign exchange losses after the lira lost value in the quarter," said Erdem Hafızoğlu, an analyst at BGC Partners in Istanbul. "Profit is below our estimate of 322 million liras."

Türk Telekom had 17.3 million fixed-line voice customers at the end of March, down from 17.5 million at the end of December.