ISTANBUL -(Dow Jones)- Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TKC, TCELL.IS), Turkey's leading cell phone operator, late Wednesday posted a 56% rise in first-quarter net profit, mainly due to higher net financial income and a slightly stronger than expected operating performance. Turkcell said its net profit in the first quarter was 515.5 million Turkish lira ($292.5 million), up from TRY330.9 million in the same period a year earlier and well above the average forecast in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of five analysts for net profit of TRY407 million. The company's revenue rose 12.4% to TRY2.38 billion in the first quarter, in line with average analysts' forecasts of TRY2.3 billion revenue. The news sent Turkcell's share price 1.4% higher, to trade at TRY8.74 at 0750 GMT. "We think that 12% growth in both revenue and EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization] and net financial income of TRL162 million are the key factors driving up the 1Q12 bottom line...However, there are slight declines in yields as a result of the ongoing competition especially in voice, which was also signaled by Avea's results recently," said Istanbul-based Oyak Securities Research in a note. -By Yeliz Candemir, Dow Jones Newswires, +90 0212 272 92 87; yeliz.candemir@dowjones.com Order free Annual Report for TURKCELL Iletisim Hizmetleri AS Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=US9001112047 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028
