Page 82 - TURKRptSept19

TRY217mn in the quarter from TRY47mn a year ago. Revenues rose by 48% y/y to TRY1.77bn while Ebitda rose to TRY245mn from TRY90mn a year ago. Ebitda margin also rose to 13.9% in the first quarter from 7.5% a year ago.
Pegasus’ revenues in EUR terms rose by 25% y/y to TRY407mn in Q2 and by 20% y/y to €697mn in H1, the company said in an investor presentation.
Ebitda margin was up by 12.5pp to 32.1% in Q2 and by 10.2pp to 24.8% in H1, both record high figures. Pegasus targets an Ebitda margin of 22.5- 23.5% this year, it said in January. In June, the company revised its Ebitda margin target to 25.5-26.5%.
The number of Pegasus’ international passengers rose by 19% y/y to 3.5mn in Q2 and by 16% y/y to 6.3mn in H1 while the number of Turkey’s total international air passengers rose by 10% y/y to 28.5mn and by 9% y/y to 45.2mn, respectively. However, the company’s domestic passengers declined by 21% y/y to 3.7mn in the quarter and by 15% y/y to 7.6mn in the first half versus 14% y/y and 12% y/y declines, respectively, registered in Turkey’s total domestic air passengers. Pegasus managed to increase the number of passengers it served by 7.7% in 2018 to a total of 30mn people. The domestic passenger volume rose 4.8% y/y to 17.7mn while the international passenger volume moved up 12% y/y to 11.7mn.
The number of passengers Turkey’s 56 airports served declined by 3.3% on an annual basis to 94.7mn in the first half of the year, according to data from the country’s airports authority (DHMI). The declines in domestic passenger traffic in H1 reflected the impact of unfavourable domestic economic conditions – high inflation, weak growth and high unemployment. A weaker currency is always a boon for the local tourism industry since it makes the country cheaper for international holidaymakers. And local airlines, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus, benefit greatly from the increased tourism activity. The Turkish lira depreciated by some 30% against the dollar last year and it has weakened another 10% since the start of this year. But the weaker lira is not good news for locals, because for them it means higher hotel and services prices and higher travel costs. The latest official CPI inflation data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) showed on August 5 that official headline CPI inflation rose to 16.65% in July from 15.72% while restaurant and hotel prices soared 19.85% y/y and transport costs increased 13.67% y/y in the month.
The number of aircraft in Pegasus’ fleet rose to 81 at end-June from 79 a year ago, the company said on August 9 in its interim activity report.
Pegasus operated charter flights since 1991. Following its acquisition by Esas Holding at the beginning of 2005, Pegasus changed its business model, introducing a low-cost network carrier model for the first time in Turkey. In 2013, the company held an initial public offering (IPO) to sell a 34.53% stake.
Pegasus has a 49% stake in Kyrgyzstan’s Air Manas. ● Others
Private equity firm Actera is selling Kamil Koc, Turkey’s oldest intercity bus company, to Germany-based Flixmobility. The companies have applied to Turkey’s competition authority to obtain the necessary permissions for the share transfer, Hurriyet reported, without providing the financial details of the acquisition. Actera, the largest private equity firm dedicated to investments in Turkey with assets under management exceeding $3.3bn, bought Kamil Koc in 2013. Founded in 1926, Kamil Koc transports more than 17mn passengers annually. The company has over 1,000 buses and 4,000 employees, and provides services across 54 provinces in Turkey via 700 points-of-sale. Flixmobility’s transport services brand FlixBus was launched in 2013. In 2015, FlixBus began expanding internationally with long-distance networks in France, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Croatia, as well as cross-border regular
82 TURKEY Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com