Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Turkcell reported second-quarter revenue of TRY 71.8 billion, up 2.5% year over year, as the Turkish telecommunications company cited disciplined pricing, postpaid subscriber growth and lower churn in a macroeconomic environment where inflation remained above 30%. Chief Executive Officer Ali Taha Koç said the company delivered “real revenue growth” for an eighth consecutive quarter, despite inflation of 32% during the period. EBITDA totaled TRY 30 billion, representing a 41.8% margin, while net income was TRY 5.2 billion. Management kept its full-year financial guidance unchanged even after revising its year-end inflation assumption to approximately 28% from 23% previously. Koç said growth in the second half should be supported by the delayed effect of pricing actions taken during the first half, more normalized competition in the mobile market, and continued contributions from Digital Business Services and Techfin.

Mobile Growth and Customer Metrics

Turkcell crossed 40 million mobile subscribers for the first time, led by 284,000 postpaid net additions during the quarter. The company’s postpaid base reached 32.5 million subscribers, including 2.4 million additions over the past 12 months. Postpaid customers accounted for 81% of the mobile customer base. Monthly average churn improved to 1.6%, while mobile ARPU excluding machine-to-machine customers increased 27% year over year to TRY 448. Koç said the contractual nature of the postpaid base means price increases are reflected gradually as customer contracts renew. Management said it expects clearer effects from recent pricing measures toward the end of the fourth quarter, with more substantial ARPU gains expected in 2027. Chief Financial Officer Kamil Kalyon said investors could begin seeing positive signals as early as the third and fourth quarters of 2026.

Fiber, Fixed Wireless and TV+ Expansion

Turkcell’s fiber business added 31,000 net subscribers during the quarter, bringing its subscriber base to 2.6 million. Residential fiber ARPU rose 37% year over year to TRY 570, and monthly churn improved to 1.1%. The company said 88% of residential fiber customers were on 12-month contracts. The company added 194,000 fiber home passes during the quarter, reaching 6.7 million homes across 31 cities. Customers served through Turkcell’s own fiber infrastructure represented 80% of the fiber base, while the company reported a 41% take-up rate. Its Superbox fixed wireless access, or FWA, service added 64,000 subscribers, expanding the base to 818,000 customers. Turkcell said it held a 74% share of the FWA market. Koç described 5G as a potential catalyst for the product, which is positioned as a plug-and-play home internet option and is priced at levels comparable to, but slightly above, fiber depending on data allowances. Turkcell has begun replacing existing 4G Superbox devices with 5G-capable equipment for customers as it expands 5G coverage. Koç said the company’s 5G offerings support Wi-Fi 7 and are aimed in part at households relying on older DSL technology. TV+ subscribers rose to 2.7 million after 123,000 net additions in the quarter, accelerating from 106,000 additions in the first quarter. The company said its HBO Max partnership, launched in November, strengthened its content offering. Viewing time increased 14% sequentially and 64% year over year.

Digital Business Services and Data Center Investments

Digital Business Services revenue increased 33% from a year earlier to TRY 8.7 billion. Data center and cloud revenue rose 10% to TRY 1.6 billion and represented 2.3% of group revenue. Turkcell activated a new data center module during the quarter, lifting active IT capacity to 54 megawatts across facilities...