By Yeliz Candemir
ISTANBUL--Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TCELL.IS, TKC) first
quarter net profit tumbled 36% on the year after its operations in
Ukraine suffered from the devaluation of the hryvnia against the
U.S. dollar.
In a statement late Thursday, Turkcell said its net profit for
the three months ended March 31 fell to 359.5 million Turkish lira
($167.7 million) from TRY566 million in the year-ago period.
The net profit was lower than the forecast of TRY381 million by
six analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization, or EBITDA, increased by 10% to TRY887 million.
Revenue was up 6% on the year in the first quarter to TRY2.855
billion from TRY2.688 billion a year earlier.
Analysts said Turkcell's earnings may remain under pressure in
the coming quarters, along with the depreciation of the Ukrainian
currency, which has lost 38% of its value against the dollar year
to date.
"[The] Ukrainian currency continued to weaken against USD within
the second quarter, meaning that further forex losses are possible
and business' contribution to consolidated growth might be weaker,"
said Alper Ozdemir, analyst at Oyak Securities in Istanbul.
At 0845 GMT, Turkcell shares were trading 0.8% higher at TRY11.6
amid a 0.8% lower overall Istanbul market.
Write to Yeliz Candemir at yeliz.candemir@wsj.com
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