Turkcell Group has announced its results for the quarter ended 31 March 2016, posting record high first quarter revenue and EBITDA, driven by growth in its domestic unit. Group revenue in 1Q16 totalled TRY3.225 billion (USD1.15 billion), up 8.3% from TRY2.978 billion in the same period one year earlier, while EBITDA reached TRY1.002 billion, climbing 8.1% year-on-year from TRY927 million; the EBITDA margin remained flat at 31.3%. Turkcell’s local unit reported a 10.0% increase in turnover from TRY2.662 billion to TRY2.927 billion, equating to 91% of total Group revenues, and EBITDA of TRY916 million, up 10.6% from TRY927 million in 1Q15. Turkcell International, meanwhile, comprised 6% of Group revenue, generating TRY197 million, rising 2.1% compared to the year-ago period and turning to positive growth after seven quarters of y-o-y decline. Turkcell Group’s net income increased four-fold to TRY563 million in 1Q16 from TRY141 million, which the operator attributed to higher EBITDA, lower translation losses and tax expenses, partly offset by a lower contribution from Fintur and increased interest expense on loans and 4.5G payables.
In operational terms, Turkey’s domestic unit saw total subscriptions fall 1.1% y-o-y from 35.6 million to 35.2 million, mainly due to losses in the pre-paid mobile segment. Fibre subscriptions rose 20.5% from 776,1000 to 935,400 in the same period, while ADSL also continued to grow, up 30.4% from 495,500 to 646,200. Total consolidated mobile subscriptions fell 2.7% from 69.5 million to 67.6 million.
Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu commented: ‘In the first quarter of 2016, our key agenda item was the launch of 4.5G services on 1 April, which will underpin Turkey’s digital transformation. The Turkcell team has established a strong 4.5G network and made mobile broadband with 4.5G speed available in 81 cities with a population coverage of over 70% … Having seen a solid start to the year, we believe that we can achieve our 2016 targets by providing a strong 4.5G network, along with our converged services.’
