Turkcell’s profit up 56 pct in first quarter

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkcell CEO Süreyya Ciliv gestures during a press conference to announce Turkcell’s first quarter results. Company photo

Turkey’s leading mobile phone operator Turkcell’s first quarter profit rose 56 percent to 514.8 million Turkish Liras, beating market expectations, according to a Reuters survey.

The significant jump in profits is buoyed by an increase in interest income from higher interest rates and foreign exchange gains, the company said. Total revenues climbed 12.4 percent to 2.38 billion liras in the period, the company’s results statement showed. Turkcell has maintained its leadership in the local market, the company said.

Turkcell had been expected to post a net profit of 394.5 million liras in a Reuters poll of analysts.
“Net income increased 56 percent to 514.8 million liras which was achieved through higher EBITDA [earnings before interest tax depreciation] of 702.7 million liras, and higher net finance income of 61.8 million liras mainly arising from increased interest income on time deposits together with a translation gain of 37 million liras as opposed to translation loss of 24 million liras in Q111,” the company said.
Subscribers of Turkcell Turkey increased by 4.2 percent to 34.5 million compared with the same period last year, the company said, adding that the competition intensified in the Turkish mobile market in the first quarter.

“On the postpaid front, we registered 347,000 net subscribers in the first quarter of 2012, the share of which in the total subscriber base rose to 34.8 percent.”