Page 89 - TURKRptSept19

interest rates on US dollar- and EUR-denominated loans taken out as part of an existing €750mn loan agreement with China Development Bank, which stood at LIBOR +2.22% and EURIBOR +2.20%, have been revised down to LIBOR +2.17% and EURIBOR +2.15%, respectively. “The updated rates are effective as of 2019. There have been no changes to the maturity or the repayment terms of the loan,” Turkcell said in a filing with the Istanbul stock exchange.
● Turk Telekom
Turk Telekom has posted TRY435mn net profit in Q2 versus a net loss of TRY870mn in Q2 2018 while revenues rose by 16% y/y to TRY5.8bn. The market expected a net profit of TRY454mn for the second quarter. The company increased its EBITDA target for 2019 to TRY10.3-10.5bn from a previous TRY10-10.2bn after its EBITDA rose by 36% y/y to TRY2.3bn in Q2. EBITDA margin also rose to 49% in the quarter from 40% a year ago but compared two percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2019. Turk Telekom’s FX debt hedge ratio declined to 76% in Q2 from 84% in Q1 but it was higher than 44% in Q2 2018. The number of total subscribers rose by 320,000 in the quarter to a total of 47mn. Turk Telekom’s Net Debt/EBITDA ratio, which reached 2.3 in Q3 2018, declined to 1.76 in Q2 2019 from 1.86 in Q1 2019.
● Others
Streaming platform Netflix is preparing to exit the Turkish market
following a recent legislation that gives the country’s radio and television watchdog sweeping oversight over all online content, claimed Ozgur Karabat, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). “Netflix is withdrawing because of the RTUK’s [The Radio and Television Supreme Council] censorship. This mentality questions the moral values of an international streaming platform: what an admirable approach. With its censorship-minded approach which does not event exits in the Kingdom of Qatar the [ruling] AKP made history,” Karabat wrote on Twitter. The CHP deputy, however, did not say how he obtained the information regarding Netflix’s exit. Netflix has some 400,000 subscribers in Turkey. The popular streaming platform has not yet commented on Karabat’s tweet. After the legislation published in the Official Gazette on August 1, a spokesperson for Netflix said the platform was closely following developments and wanted to continue providing content for Turkey.
9.2.8 Tourism corporate news
Neset Kockar, a Turkish tourism entrepreneur who last month took an 8% stake in troubled UK travel giant Thomas Cook, is reportedly demanding a role in rescuing the company. Kockar’s purchase of the holding for £10mn caused Thomas Cook’s stock to triple in value. Kockar told Bloomberg News on August 7 that a planned £750mn financing package from Chinese shareholder Fosun and banks probably over-estimated the scale of challenges facing the world’s oldest holiday firm. “Fosun may be assessing the company through the lens of a financial investor,” Kockar, whose Anex Tour has $2.4bn in annual sales, reportedly said, adding. “I think the problems can be overcome by injecting less cash than the announced recap plan. I see managerial
89 TURKEY Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com