TKC · Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.

Turkcell’s Q1 2026 results reflect strong top-line execution amid macroeconomic headwinds, with 8.9% YoY revenue growth to TRY 68.377 billion — the highest among key metrics — driven by corporate services, hardware sales, and accelerated growth in Data Center & Cloud (21% YoY) and Paycell (15% YoY). While EBITDA rose modestly by 3.2% to TRY 28.300 billion, EBIT declined 2.9% YoY to TRY 10.439 billion, reflecting deliberate strategic investments in 5G infrastructure and digital transformation initiatives. The EBITDA margin compression from 43.7% to 41.4% (2.3 pp) and EBIT margin decline from 17.1% to 15.3% (1.9 pp) confirm this investment intensity. Notably, net income surged 14.9% YoY to TRY 4.634 billion — outpacing both revenue and EBITDA growth — primarily due to non-operational monetary gains from capitalization of the 5G license and positive contributions from equity-accounted investees, partially offset by a higher tax burden. Management explicitly attributes the earnings strength to disciplined postpaid and fiber monetization (residential fiber ARPU up 9.7% YoY), Superbox adoption (38k net additions), and successful 5G commercialization across all 81 provinces. The concurrent approval of a TRY 8.8 billion dividend (gross TRY 4.00/share) reaffirms Turkcell’s commitment to shareholder returns, while the landmark USD 1 billion Murabaha loan — the largest such transaction by a Turkish corporation — signals robust international investor confidence in its balance sheet and long-term strategy. These developments collectively underscore Turkcell’s dual focus on near-term profitability resilience and structural positioning for Türkiye’s next-generation digital economy.