Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri: Third Quarter 2021 Results

“Guidance Upgrade on Strong Set of Results”

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL):

• Please note that all financial data is consolidated and comprises that of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (the “Company”, or “Turkcell”) and its subsidiaries and associates (together referred to as the “Group”), unless otherwise stated.
• We have four reporting segments:
  • "Turkcell Turkey" which comprises our telecom, digital services and digital business services related businesses in Turkey (as used in our previous releases in periods prior to Q115, this term covered only the mobile businesses). All non-financial data presented in this press release is unconsolidated and comprises Turkcell Turkey only figures, unless otherwise stated. The terms "we", "us", and "our" in this press release refer only to Turkcell Turkey, except in discussions of financial data, where such terms refer to the Group, and except where context otherwise requires.
  • “Turkcell International” which comprises all of our telecom and digital services related businesses outside of Turkey.
  • “Techfin” which comprises all of our financial services businesses.
  • “Other” which mainly comprises our non-group call center and energy businesses, retail channel operations, smart devices management and consumer electronics sales through digital channels and intersegment eliminations.
• In this press release, a year-on-year comparison of our key indicators is provided and figures in parentheses following the operational and financial results for September 30, 2021 refer to the same item as at September 30, 2020. For further details, please refer to our consolidated financial statements and notes as at and for September 30, 2021, which can be accessed via our website in the investor relations section (www.turkcell.com.tr).
• Selected financial information presented in this press release for the third quarter and nine months of 2020 and 2021 is based on IFRS figures in TRY terms unless otherwise stated.
• In the tables used in this press release totals may not foot due to rounding differences. The same applies to the calculations in the text.
• Year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter percentage comparisons appearing in this press release reflect mathematical calculation.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Another quarter with strong set of financial results:
  • Group revenues up 22.3% year-on-year on subscriber base expansion, increased data and digital services revenues as well as the contribution of international operations, techfin, and equipment revenues
  • EBITDA up 18.7% year-on-year leading to an EBITDA margin of 43.1%; EBIT up 17.8% year-on-year resulting in an EBIT margin of 23.6%
  • All time high quarterly net income of TRY1,429 million, up 18.0% year-on-year mainly on robust operational performance and disciplined financial risk management
  • Free cash flow³ generation of TRY1,037 million; leverage at 0.9x; long FX position at US$122 million
• Robust operational performance continued:
  • Turkcell Turkey subscriber base up by 1.2 million quarterly net additions; highest quarterly net additions since Q207; 2.5 million total net additions in the first nine months of 2021
  • 464 thousand quarterly mobile postpaid net additions; postpaid subscriber base share at 65.5%
  • 643 thousand quarterly prepaid subscriber net additions supported by visitors to Turkey during the tourism season
  • Mobile ARPU⁴ up 12.3% year-on-year mainly on upsell efforts and higher data and digital services usage
  • Residential fiber ARPU growth of 10.0% year-on-year
  • Data usage of 4.5G users at 15.2 GB in Q321; smartphone penetration at 84%
  • Digital channels’ share in sales at 16.5%⁵
• We revise our 2021 guidance⁶. Accordingly, we now target revenue growth of ~20% up from ~18%, an EBITDA of ~TRY14.5 billion compared to ~TRY14.3 billion, and operational capex over sales ratio⁷ of ~21% which was 21% - 22% previously.

(1) EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See page 16 for the explanation of how we calculate Adjusted EBITDA and its reconciliation to net income.

(2) EBIT is a non-GAAP financial measure and is equal to EBITDA minus depreciation and amortization expenses.

(3) Free cash flow calculation includes EBITDA and the following items as per IFRS cash flow statement; acquisition of property, plant and equipment, acquisition of intangible assets, change in operating assets/liabilities, payment of lease liabilities and income tax paid.

(4) Excluding M2M

(5) Share of sales from digital channels (including voice, data, services & smart devices) in Turkcell Turkey consumer sales (excluding fixed business) and equipment related revenues in other segment.

(6) Please note that this paragraph contains forward looking statements based on our current estimates and expectations regarding market conditions for each of our different businesses. No assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with such estimates and expectations. For a discussion of factors that may affect our results, see our Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2020 filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and in particular, the risk factor section therein.

(7) Excluding license fee

For further details, please refer to our consolidated financial statements and notes as at September 30, 2021 via our website in the investor relations section (www.turkcell.com.tr).

COMMENTS BY CEO, MURAT ERKAN

Record subscriber gain enabled strong results; we are raising our guidance

As Turkcell Group, we have put our signature to successful results by once again maintaining our strong performance in the third quarter of 2021. This quarter has been a period of increased mobility with the end of COVID-19 restrictions, as Turks living abroad visited our country more frequently and foreign touristic visits were significantly above the level of the previous year, although they have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. We remain the first choice of new and existing customers with our offers that touch their lives, our focus on quality, and with our diversified business model enriched by consumer/corporate digital services and techfin solutions.

Thanks to our customer-centricity, innovative and extensive product portfolio, all further supported by increased mobility with widespread vaccination activities and seasonality, we have achieved the highest quarterly net subscriber addition level of the past 14 years with a net 1.2 million new subscribers in total in mobile, fixed broadband, and IPTV in this quarter. Thus, we cemented our leadership of the market by gaining a net 2.5 million subscribers in the first 9 months of the year.

We have recorded 464 thousand postpaid and 643 thousand prepaid subscribers, making for a net of 1.1 million mobile subscribers in total in this quarter, by means of the rising visits of tourists and Turks residing abroad over the summer season, as well as the contribution of offerings we created leveraging our analytical capabilities, and our effectively employed digital channels. Mobile blended ARPU (excluding M2M) has reached TRY57.5 increasing 12.3% year over year on the back of rising data and digital service use in the summer season, upsell to higher packages supported by our smart data analysis models, and price adjustments.

In the fixed broadband segment, we have added net 71 thousand subscribers in total, 60 thousand of which were fiber. This was achieved with the quality and high-speed infrastructure services we offered our customers to meet their fixed internet connection needs that have continued in the post-pandemic period, along with the rising fiber homepass and strong take-up rate trend. Accordingly, our fixed broadband subscriber base has exceeded 2.6 million.

In this quarter, consolidated revenues reached TRY9.4 billion rising 22.3% on an annual basis. While EBITDA¹ has reached TRY4 billion on a rise of 18.7%, the EBITDA margin was at 43.1%. Our net profit grew by 18.0% to TRY1.4 billion. With these results in the first nine months we have generated a revenue of TRY25.7 billion on growth of 21.2% and EBITDA of TRY10.8 billion with an increase of 19.7%. Considering our expectations in the last quarter we once again revise our full year guidance² upwards. We have increased our revenue growth guidance to around 20% level and our nominal EBITDA guidance to around TRY14.5 billion for 2021. We update our operational capex to sales ratio³ target to around the 21% level.

We take advance firmly in our three main strategic focus areas

The stand-alone revenue of digital services, which are developed by Turkcell engineers with an aim of contributing to the digital transformation of Turkey and are offered under the Turkcell brand ecosystem, increased 31% to TRY435 million in this quarter. Stand-alone paid users have reached 3.6 million with a rise of 930 thousand year over year. BiP, offering uninterrupted communication with its robust infrastructure, launched new features in demand by our customers such as status sharing and group video call of up to 15 persons. The 3-month active users of BiP have reached 27.2 million by tripling from the same period of last year. Thanks to the offers that we have customized to meet customer needs, and to the product experience enhanced with rich content at an optimal price level, TV+ customers exceeded 1 million and the IPTV penetration among residential fiber users has reached 63.1%. Our TV+ focus, whereby we increased our market share for the last 12 quarters, will continue in the forthcoming quarters.

The revenue of Digital Business Services through which we offer new generation technologies to automatize the business processes of our corporate customers, cloud-based software services enabling end-to-end digitalization, data center and IoT services was registered at TRY499 million in this quarter. We have led in the digital transformation processes of our customers by signing 575 projects with a contract value of TRY 221 million in this quarter. From system integration projects we have a contract value (backlog) of TRY832 million to be realized beyond the third quarter of 2021. This quarter we opened the Turkcell European Data Center, in which we invested to transform Turkey into a hub of data and cloud technologies. Additionally, we have included our data storage product “Object Storage” for Turkcell Cloud users and cybersecurity service “WatchGuard” in our product portfolio. In the forthcoming period, we aim to digitalize the end-to-end infrastructure services of private health institutions by enhancing our competences in the field of hospital management systems in which we are already the market leader, and to leverage the opportunities of remote education technologies in the market.

Our techfin business had a strong quarter with the contribution of Paycell and Financell, and revenues rose 37% year on year to TRY281 million. The revenues of Financell increased 28.1% this quarter due to the end of loan portfolio contraction, increased average interest rates and support from the emerging insurance business. With its wide service portfolio Paycell’s 3-month active users reached 6 million. In line with the global trend, Paycell has enabled its users to continue their new payment habits in the post-pandemic period. The transaction volume of “Pay Later” allowing expenditures to be reflected on Turkcell invoices, increased 84% annually to TRY455 million and the transaction volume over Paycell Card has increased to around sixfold of the same period of last year. In this quarter, we ensured the widespread availability of our virtual and physical POS solutions designed for merchants. While the number of Android POS devices we offered for the use of SMEs reached 1,700, we provided virtual POS integration on approximately 900 e-commerce websites including Turkcell channels. Within this scope, the transaction volume of POS devices was 8 times that of last year at TRY475 million.

We are among the three fastest operators in the world

We serve our customers above world standards, by distinguishing ourselves from other operators with our resilient network enriched with analytical competences, our broad spectrum and robust and modern infrastructure. According to the report prepared by the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), we rank among the three operators providing the world’s highest speed thanks to our strong LTE network that has the capability to reach speeds of 1.6 Gbps, owning the fastest 4.5G network infrastructure in Europe.

Sustainability remains our focus

We adopt a human-centric and environmentally sensitive approach in all our business processes and act by considering the footprint we leave on the world with our products and services. Sustainability is a focus that we have factored into our business model, and we continue to implement it in our Group companies. We have also placed the Human Rights Policy and Environmental Policy adopted at the beginning of 2021 on the agenda of our subsidiaries.

We have minimized not only our environmental impact by means of our renewable energy investments and recycling projects, but also continue developing new products and projects. We also produce solutions to the problem of climate change causing the disasters of fire and flood, along with humanitarian aid in the wake of such disasters. This year, we have determined the theme of the “Women Developers of the Future” project as “Climathon”, having put it into practice in cooperation with TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey). In the contest women will offer technological solutions to climate change where the categories are waste management, emissions reduction, the use of renewable and efficient energy, and sustainable agriculture. Within the scope of the contest, participating women are provided with capacity increasing and climate change-based trainings to develop their knowledge of technology and entrepreneurship. While focusing on technological solutions for a sustainable environment, we also aim to contribute to gender equality and to reduce inequalities.

We will work with all our strength to render quality service to our customers

We have achieved leadership in the category of ‘Customer-Centric Culture’ at the European Customer Centricity Awards, one of the world’s most prestigious contests concerning customer experience. By keeping our customers in focus at all times, we will continue to serve Turkcell quality to existing and new subscribers with our mobile and fixed broadband services, and our innovative digital solutions.

I extend my thanks to all our teammates for their contribution to our successes, and to our Board of Directors for their support in realizing our strategy, which is the key to our achievements. We also express our gratitude to our customers and business associates for remaining with us on our journey.

(1) EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See page 16 for the explanation of how we calculate Adjusted EBITDA and its reconciliation to net income.

(2) Please note that this paragraph contains forward looking statements based on our current estimates and expectations regarding market conditions for each of our different businesses. No assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with such estimates and expectations. For a discussion of factors that may affect our results, see our Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2020 filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and in particular, the risk factor section therein.

(3) Excluding license fee

FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL REVIEW

Financial Review of Turkcell Group

(1) Excluding depreciation and amortization expenses.

(2) EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See page 16 for the explanation of how we calculate Adjusted EBITDA and its reconciliation to net income.

(3) EBIT is a non-GAAP financial measure and is equal to EBITDA minus depreciation and amortization expenses.

Revenue of the Group grew by 22.3% year-on-year in Q321. Turkcell Turkey’s growing subscriber base and higher data and digital services revenues as well as the contribution of our international operations and equipment sales were the main drivers behind this growth.

Turkcell Turkey revenues, comprising 75% of Group revenues, rose 17.2% year-on-year to TRY7,050 million (TRY6,013 million).

- Consumer segment revenues grew 17.5% year-on-year on the back of increased mobile and fixed subscribers, upsell efforts and price adjustments.

- Corporate segment revenues rose 14.1% year-on-year. Digital business services revenues grew 13.6% year-on-year.

- Standalone digital services revenues registered as part of consumer and corporate segments grew 31.3% year-on-year. This performance was supported by the increased number of paid users, which rose 0.9 million year-on-year to 3.6 million.

- Wholesale revenues grew 26.8% to TRY496 million (TRY391 million), mainly with customers’ data capacity upgrades, the positive impact of currency movements and increased international carrier traffic.

Turkcell International revenues, comprising 10% of Group revenues, rose 39.2% to TRY915 million (TRY658 million). Our Ukrainian operations, having registered a strong subscriber and ARPU performance, were the main driver of this robust revenue performance. Currency movements also positively impacted the revenues of Turkcell International.

Techfin segment revenues, comprising 3% of Group revenues, rose 37% to TRY281 million (TRY205 million). This was driven by 53% rise in Paycell revenues and 28% growth in that of Finance company. Please refer to the Techfin section for details.

Other subsidiaries' revenues, at 12% of Group revenues, including mainly non-group call center and energy business revenues, and consumer electronics sales revenues, rose 43.1% to TRY1,107 million (TRY773 million). This was driven primarily by increased equipment revenues.

Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization) rose to 49.3% (48.7%) as a percentage of revenues in Q321. This was due mainly to the Turkcell Energy subsidiary’s increased cost of goods sold (0.8pp) and radio costs (0.5pp), despite the decline in other cost items (0.7pp).

Administrative Expenses decreased to 2.3% (2.4%) as a percentage of revenues in Q321.

Selling and Marketing Expenses increased to 4.6% (3.9%) as a percentage of revenues in Q321. This was driven mainly by the increase in selling expenses (0.6pp) with higher mobility and marketing expenses (0.1pp) as a percentage of revenues.

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets was at 0.7% (0.6%) as a percentage of revenues in Q321.

EBITDA¹ rose by 18.7% year-on-year in Q321 leading to an EBITDA margin of 43.1% (44.4%).

- Turkcell Turkey’s EBITDA rose 16.0% year-on-year to TRY3,316 million (TRY2,859 million) leading to an EBITDA margin of 47.0% (47.6%).

- Turkcell International EBITDA grew 51.7% year-on-year to TRY451 million (TRY298 million), which resulted in an EBITDA margin of 49.3 (45.2%) on 4.1pp improvement.

- Techfin segment EBITDA rose 20.8% to TRY174 million (TRY144 million) with an EBITDA margin of 61.7% (70.2%).

- The EBITDA of other subsidiaries was at TRY88 million (TRY93 million).

Depreciation and amortization expenses increased 19.8% year-on-year in Q321.

Net finance expense increased to TRY359 million (TRY295 million) in Q321. This was driven mainly by a higher interest expense on financial assets and liabilities.

See Appendix A for details of net foreign exchange gain and loss.

Income tax expense increased to TRY402 million (TRY356 million) due mainly to a higher deferred tax expense incurred in Q321.

Net income of the Group rose 18.0% to TRY1,429 million (TRY1,211 million) in Q321. This was driven mainly by solid operational performance as well as prudent financial risk management.

Total cash & debt: Consolidated cash as of September 30, 2021 declined to TRY12,322 million from TRY12,443 million as of June 30, 2021. The positive impact of currency movements and cash flow generation was offset by the second installment payment of the dividend distribution. Excluding FX swap transactions, 86% of our cash is in US$, 9% in EUR, and 4% in TRY.

Consolidated debt as of September 30, 2021 increased to TRY24,805 million from TRY24,077 million as of June 30, 2021 due mainly to the new borrowings and the impact of currency movements. Please note that TRY2,156 million of our consolidated debt is comprised of lease obligations.

Consolidated debt breakdown excluding lease obligations:

- Turkcell Turkey’s debt was at TRY20,261 million, of which TRY12,293 million (US$1,390 million) was denominated in US$, TRY6,588 million (EUR639 million) in EUR, TRY530 million (CNY390 million) in CNY, and the remaining TRY850 million in TRY.

- The finance company had a debt balance of TRY1,056 million, of which TRY187 million (US$21 million) was denominated in US$, and TRY457 million (EUR44 million) in EUR with the remaining TRY413 million in TRY.

(1) EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See page 16 for the explanation of how we calculate adjusted EBITDA and its reconciliation to net income

- The debt balance of lifecell was TRY1,170 million, fully denominated in UAH.

- Under the Other segment we have a debt balance of TRY162 million (US$18 million), fully denominated in US$.

TRY1,025 million of lease obligations is denominated in TRY, TRY59 million (US$7 million) in US$, TRY223 million (EUR22 million) in EUR, and the remaining balance in other local currencies (Please note that the figures in parentheses refer to US$ or EUR equivalents).

Net debt as of September 30, 2021 was at TRY12,483 million with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.9 times. Excluding finance company consumer loans, our telco only net debt was at TRY10,522 million with a leverage of 0.8 times.

Turkcell Group had a long FX position of US$122 million as at the end of the third quarter. (Please note that this figure takes advance payments into account).

Capital expenditures: Capital expenditures, including non-operational items, amounted to TRY2,217 million in Q321. In Q321 and 9M21, operational capital expenditures (excluding license fees) at the Group level were at 14.7% and 19.2% of total revenues, respectively.

(1) Superbox subscribers are included in mobile subscribers.

(2) Churn figures represent average monthly churn figures for the respective quarters.

(3) In Q117, our churn policy was revised to extend from 9 months to 12 months (the period at the end of which we disconnect prepaid subscribers who have not topped up above TRY10). Additionally, under our revised policy, prepaid customers who last topped up before March is disconnected at the latest by year-end. As a regulatory requirement, we started to disconnect prepaid lines in accordance with the new ICTA regulation, which requires deactivation of prepaid lines which lack residency documents by the 6^th month of subscription starting from 2019. Furthermore, as required by the ICTA, the line of a deceased customer should either be transferred to a successor/another user or terminated. Lines, which are not transferred or terminated, are to be disconnected at the end of seven months.

(4) Starting from Q121, as a consequence of the change in reportable segments, commission revenues resulting from devices and accessories sales have been excluded from the mobile ARPU of Turkcell Turkey since these commissions are now reported under the Other segment.

Turkcell Turkey’s subscriber base continued to expand reaching 39.3 million on 1.2 million net quarterly additions. This number marked the highest quarterly net addition performance since Q207. We achieved this robust performance thanks to our customer-centric strategy as well as rich and differentiated value proposition offered to our customers. Along with these, increased mobility with improvement in the pandemic environment and a higher number of visitors to the country on rising tourism activity also contributed to customer net additions.

Our subscriber base expanded by 1.1 million quarterly net additions on the mobile front, reaching 35.7 million in total. This was driven by strong net addition performance from both postpaid and prepaid segments. We registered 464 thousand quarterly net additions to the postpaid subscriber base, which reached 65.5% (63.8%) of total mobile subscribers. Meanwhile, prepaid subscribers grew by 643 thousand quarterly net additions backed by improved tourism activity.

On the fixed front, our subscriber base exceeded 2.6 million as of Q321 on 71 thousand quarterly net additions. We registered 60 thousand quarterly net additions to our fiber subscribers on demand for high-quality broadband connections. IPTV subscribers exceeded 1 million milestone on 51 thousand quarterly net additions. Accordingly, 63% of residential fiber subscribers also have IPTV subscriptions.

The average monthly mobile churn rate was at 1.9% in Q321. Meanwhile the average monthly fixed churn rate was 1.4%. The improvement in both mobile and fixed churn rates compared to the previous year resulted from our customer-oriented approach and our analytical capabilities that allow us to make the right offer to the right customer at the right time.

Our mobile ARPU (excluding M2M) rose 12.3% year-on-year driven mainly by a rising postpaid subscriber base, price adjustments and upsell efforts as well as increased data and digital services usage.

Our residential fiber ARPU growth was 10.0% year-on-year, driven mainly by price adjustments, upsell efforts to higher speed offerings and increased IPTV penetration.

Average monthly mobile data usage per user rose 12.3% year-on-year to 13.7 GB with the increasing number and data consumption of 4.5G users. Accordingly, the average mobile data usage of 4.5G users reached 15.2 GB in Q321.

Total smartphone penetration on our network reached 84% in Q321 on a 4.6pp year-on-year increase. 92% of those smartphones were 4.5G compatible. 4.5G subscriptions reached 34.1 million, while only 70% of these had 4.5G compatible smartphones at the end of Q321.

TURKCELL INTERNATIONAL

(1) Since July 10, 2015, we hold a 100% stake in lifecell.

lifecell (Ukraine) continued its growth momentum in Q321. Accordingly, lifecell reported strong revenue growth of 23.7% year-on-year in Q321 in local currency. This was driven by subscriber base expansion and ARPU growth on the back of price adjustments, mobile data and messaging revenues. Meanwhile, lifecell’s EBITDA rose 34.5% year-on-year, which led to an EBITDA margin of 56.7% on a 4.6pp improvement year-on-year. Strong revenue growth was the main driver behind this improvement.

lifecell revenues in TRY terms grew 50.3% year-on-year in Q321 positively impacted by currency movements and robust operational performance. lifecell’s EBITDA in TRY terms grew by 63.5%, leading to an EBITDA margin of 56.7%.

(2) We may occasionally offer campaigns and tariff schemes that have an active subscriber life differing from the one that we normally use to deactivate subscribers and calculate churn.

(3) Active subscribers are those who in the past three months made a revenue generating activity.

lifecell continued to expand its subscriber base in Q321 leveraging the attractiveness of its regional offerings and appealing content packages. Meanwhile, lifecell’s 3-month active ARPU rose 8.8% year-on-year, driven mainly by price adjustments and increased data consumption.

lifecell continued to increase the penetration of its 4.5G users within its customer base in Q321. The 3-month active 4.5G subscribers grew 40% year-on-year reaching 71% of total data users as at the end of Q321. The increase in 4.5G users supported the growth of overall data consumption. Accordingly, average monthly data consumption per user rose 14% year-on-year in Q321. Meanwhile, lifecell continued its leadership of the Ukrainian market in smartphone penetration, which reached 83% as of the end of Q321.

lifecell continued to enrich customer experience through its digital services while increasing their penetration of its customer base. As part these efforts, lifecell introduced its new intellectual game, WinQuiz in Q321. Accordingly, lifecell’s digital services 3-month active users grew 26% year-on-year in Q321.

(1) BeST, in which we hold an 80% stake, has operated in Belarus since July 2008.

BeST revenues declined 2.0% year-on-year in Q321 in local currency terms. Despite the rise in voice, messaging and mobile data revenues, this was due mainly to declining handset sales. Excluding handset sales, services revenue growth was at 15.5%. BeST’s EBITDA was at BYN9.3 million in Q321 with an EBITDA margin of 26.4% on a 3.8pp improvement. The decline in lower margin handset sales had a positive impact on EBITDA margin. BeST’s revenues in TRY terms grew by 17.9% year-on-year in Q321, while its EBITDA margin was at 26.4%.

BeST continued to expand its 4G network in Q321 leading the market in terms of 4G geographical coverage. At the end of Q321, BeST provides LTE services in 6 regions through over three thousand sites to its customers. Recently, it launched LTE-800 services over the beCloud network in the Vitebsk Region, which enables higher coverage and better customer experience. Having been expanding its 4G network, BeST has also continued to increase the penetration of 4G services within its customer base. Accordingly, 4G subscribers comprised 70% of the 3-month active subscriber base as of Q321. Meanwhile, the average monthly data consumption of subscribers rose 25% year-on-year to 13.7 GB.

BeST continued its efforts to increase the penetration of digital services, which supports ARPU growth and customer retention. Accordingly, 37% of 3-month active subscribers use at least one digital service as of Q321.

(2) Kuzey Kıbrıs Turkcell, in which we hold a 100% stake, has operated in Northern Cyprus since 1999

Kuzey Kıbrıs Turkcell revenues grew 23.8% year-on-year in Q321, driven by higher data, handset sales and voice revenues backed by increased mobility. The EBITDA of Kuzey Kıbrıs Turkcell rose 41.1% year-on-year leading to an EBITDA margin of 42.4%.

TECHFIN

Paycell continued its strong momentum registering 52.7% year-on-year revenue growth in Q321. This robust performance resulted mainly from the continued demand for mobile payment services, particularly the Pay Later solution, as well as increased Paycell card transactions and recently launched POS offerings.

The quarterly transaction volume of Pay Later service rose 84% to TRY455 million, which was supported by a 69% increase in Pay Later 3-month active users to 3.7 million. The increased volume of digital content purchases also contributed to higher Pay Later usage volume. Meanwhile, Paycell card transactions grew strongly to TRY657 million, which was 5.6 times that of Q320. Paycell registered increasing volumes in POS services, particularly virtual POS solutions, which supported topline growth in Q321. Overall, the total transaction volume exceeded TRY3.4 billion for the quarter, which derived from an increase in 3-month active users to 6 million and their increased usage.

Paycell’s EBITDA rose 17.2% year-on-year leading to an EBITDA margin of 46.4%. The decline in EBITDA margin was due mainly to increased marketing activity and other operational expenses incurred to scale the business.

Financell registered strong year-on-year revenue growth of 28.1% in Q321. While the average loan portfolio was around TRY1.9 billion for both Q321 and Q320, the increase in revenues resulted mainly from higher average interest rate on the loan portfolio in Q321. Increased revenues from insurance operations also supported topline growth. Meanwhile, Financell reported EBITDA growth of 24.2% year-on-year, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 73.4%. Q320 EBITDA performance was positively impacted by the sale of doubtful receivables. The year-on-year decline in net income was mainly impacted by fair valuation of derivative instruments.

The loan portfolio of Financell increased to TRY2 billion as of the end Q321. Although the installment limitation on consumer loans for telecom devices still limits the growth of the loan portfolio, the increase in loan portfolio was supported by the financing provided to corporate customers as well as the increased mobility with the improvement in pandemic conditions. Accordingly, Financell has provided loans to over 7,000 corporate customers to date. Meanwhile, Financell’s cost of risk was at 0.3% Q321 thanks to a successful collection performance and customer portfolio improvement. Having insured 82% of the loans it granted over the past year with an insurance product, Financell continued to support its strong collection performance. Financell’s market share for loans granted under TRY5 thousand in Turkey was 24%.

Turkcell Group Subscribers

Turkcell Group registered subscribers amounted to approximately 51.2 million as of September 30, 2021. This figure is calculated by taking the number of subscribers of Turkcell Turkey, and of each of our subsidiaries. It includes the total number of mobile, fiber, ADSL, cable and IPTV subscribers of Turkcell Turkey, and the mobile subscribers of lifecell and BeST, as well as those of Kuzey Kıbrıs Turkcell.

(1) Superbox subscribers are included in mobile subscribers.

(2) Subscribers to more than one service are counted separately for each service.

OVERVIEW OF THE MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The foreign exchange rates used in our financial reporting, along with certain macroeconomic indicators, are set out below.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASUREMENTS: We believe Adjusted EBITDA, among other measures, facilitates performance comparisons from period to period and management decision making. It also facilitates performance comparisons from company to company. Adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure eliminates potential differences caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense), tax positions (such as the impact of changes in effective tax rates on periods or companies) and the age and book depreciation of tangible assets (affecting relative depreciation expense). We also present Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in evaluating the performance of other mobile operators in the telecommunications industry in Europe, many of which present Adjusted EBITDA when reporting their results.

Our Adjusted EBITDA definition includes Revenue, Cost of Revenue excluding depreciation and amortization, Selling and Marketing expenses, Administrative expenses and Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets, but excludes translation gain/(loss), finance income, finance expense, share of profit of equity accounted investees, gain on sale of investments, minority interest and other income/(expense).

Nevertheless, Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation from, or as a substitute for analysis of our results of operations, as reported under IFRS. The following table provides a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA, as calculated using financial data prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB, to net profit, which we believe is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB.

NOTICE: This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Safe Harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes, in particular, our targets for revenue, EBITDA and capex for 2021. More generally, all statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release, including, without limitation, certain statements regarding the launch of new businesses, our operations, financial position and business strategy may constitute forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, among others, "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "believe", "continue" and “guidance”.

Although Turkcell believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these cautionary statements. For a discussion of certain factors that may affect the outcome of such forward looking statements, see our Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2020 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and in particular the risk factor section therein. We undertake no duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The Company makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this press release, which remains subject to verification, completion and change. No responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, board members, officers, employees or agents as to or in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this press release or any other written or oral information made available to any interested party or its advisers.

ABOUT TURKCELL: Turkcell is a digital operator headquartered in Turkey, serving its customers with its unique portfolio of digital services along with voice, messaging, data and IPTV services on its mobile and fixed networks. Turkcell Group companies operate in 4 countries – Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, and Northern Cyprus. Turkcell launched LTE services in its home country on April 1^st, 2016, employing LTE-Advanced and 3 carrier aggregation technologies in 81 cities. Turkcell offers up to 10 Gbps fiber internet speed with its FTTH services. Turkcell Group reported TRY9.4 billion revenue in Q321 with total assets of TRY57.3 billion as of September 30, 2021. It has been listed on the NYSE and the BIST since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr.

Appendix A – Tables

Table: Net foreign exchange gain and loss details

Table: Income tax expense details

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