İşbank may consider options over Avea

ISTANBUL - Reuters

İşbank, Turkey’s largest listed bank, will consider strategic options for its non-financial units, including mobile network Avea, if opportunities rise, its chief executive said yesterday.

“Regarding our non-financial units, which are not directly in our operating area, we plan to use our capital in an optimum way and do whatever necessary if market conditions allow us, and Avea is included in this,” Adnan Bali told a news conference on the company’s second-quarter performance.

İşbank has a 10.01 percent stake in Turkish mobile phone network Avea while the remaining 89.99 is owned by Türk Telekom.

İşbank did not previously contribute to the capital increase process at Avea, which resulted in a fall in their total share, Bali said, adding that reducing the stake and withdrawing totally from Avea were two separate issues.

İşbank announced a day earlier that its second-quarter net profit rose 17.8 percent to 952.8 million Turkish Liras ($533 million), supported by trading gains and higher net interest income.

The bank said net interest income rose from 1.08 billion liras to 1.43 billion liras a year earlier, in a note to the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB).

Trading gains from activities in capital markets, derivatives and foreign exchange were 193.7 million liras in the quarter, compared with a loss of 29.4 million liras a year earlier. The profit exceeded a forecast in a Reuters poll of 813 million liras. Deutsche Bank analysts said in a research report that İşbank’s net profit was higher than its estimate of 817 million liras mainly because of a higher than expected top line and “more importantly very strong trading gains.”