In July-September 2023, Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell increased its net profit by 45.5% year-on-year to UAH 555.4 million.
According to the report of Turkcell’s parent company on its website on Tuesday, lifecell’s revenue in the third quarter of this year increased by 25.7% to UAH 2.98 billion, which is explained by price adjustments.
The operator’s EBITDA increased by 16.3% to UAH 1.65 billion, while the EBITDA margin decreased by 4.5 percentage points to 55.3%.
“lifecell achieved an EBITDA margin of 55.3%. The decline is due to increased costs for roaming, interconnection services and electricity costs,” Turkcell said in a press release.
The operator’s capital expenditures in the third quarter increased by 48.9% to UAH 952.1 million.
According to the report, lifecell’s active subscriber base amounted to 9.1 million in the third quarter, up from 8.6 million in the previous quarter and 8.2 million a year earlier. The total number of customers increased to 11.4 million from 11.1 million in the previous quarter and 10.1 million a year earlier.
At the same time, ARPU (average revenue per user per month) among active users increased by 19.2% year-on-year and by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter to UAH 113.7.
“The penetration of lifecell smartphones amounted to 84.3% at the end of the third quarter. As of the end of June, on average, about 97% of stores in the country were open daily,” the report said.
Turkcell added that lifecell’s current cash reserves are “more than sufficient” to support its operations.
Overall, in the first nine months of the year, lifecell’s revenue increased by 26% year-on-year to UAH 8 billion 571.8 million, EBITDA by 26.1% to UAH 4 billion 968.9 million, and net profit by 2.9 times to UAH 1 billion 68.6 million. The company also increased its capital investments by 51% to UAH 3 billion 035.7 million.
lifecell is the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine. Turkcell owns 100% of the shares in Lifecell LLC.
In the third quarter, lifecell’s revenue accounted for 75.9% of Turkcell International’s revenue and 8.4% of Turkcell’s total revenue. The Ukrainian operator accounted for 10.6% of consolidated EBITDA and 7.4% of consolidated profit of Turkcell.
Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell earned UAH 611.5 million in net profit in April-June 2023, while it ended April-June 2022 with a net loss of UAH 27.4 million.
Parent company Turkcell said in a report on its website on Thursday that lifecell’s revenue rose 36.5 percent to UAH 2 billion 903.1 million in the second quarter.
“Lifecell’s revenue grew by 36.5% year-on-year in local currency, mainly due to ARPU growth, which was supported by price adjustments and increased data consumption,” the company pointed out in a press release.
EBITDA increased by 39.3% to UAH 1 billion 715.1 million, while EBITDA margin increased by 1.2 percentage points to 59.1%. Turkcell attributed this improvement mainly to lower interconnection and electricity costs as a percentage of revenue.
At the same time, the company’s capital expenditures for April-June increased 2.2 times to UAH 1 billion 445.6 million.
According to the report, the base of active lifecell subscribers for this period amounted, as in the previous quarter, to 8.6 million against 8.4 million a year earlier, while the total number of customers increased to 11.1 million from 10.8 million in the previous quarter and 10.2 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile, ARPU (average revenue per user per month) among active users rose 36.1% year over year and 7.7% to 112.7 UAH in the quarter.
“The penetration of lifecell smartphones amounted to 84.6% as of the end of Q2. On average, about 96% of stores were operating daily as of the end of June. On average, about 7.3% of the nearly 9,000 sites were temporarily out of service on a daily basis in Q2,” the report also said.
Turkcell added that lifecell’s current cash reserves are “more than sufficient” to support its operations.
Overall in the first half of the year, lifecell’s revenue grew by 26.1% year-on-year to UAH 5 billion 590.6 million, EBITDA by 31.6% to UAH 3 billion 320.1 million and net profit by 6.2 times to UAH 1 billion 127.2 million. The company also increased capital investments by 52% to UAH 2 billion 83.6 million.
lifecell is the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine. Turkcell is the owner of 100% of lifecell’s shares.
Lifecell’s revenue in the second quarter amounted to 75.3% of Turkcell International’s revenue and 7.6% of the consolidated revenue of Turkcell as a whole.
Kyivstar and lifecell have launched new security solutions for their customers: “Kyivstar, in cooperation with Fortinet, a network security company specializing in devices, announced new cyber security solutions, while lifecell announced access to the DefensX browser with enhanced cybersecurity and credential protection to protect Internet users from online threats.
According to Kyivstar’s release, Fortinet solutions will be available in different versions: from physical hardware to specialized virtual machines. In particular, they will be available on a subscription basis.
It is also claimed that customized services to counter cyber threats can be offered, taking into account the needs of companies, with support at all stages of implementation and use.
“The peculiarity of the DefensX browser is that all web pages accessed by the user are opened in the cloud, i.e. remotely from the device traffic and the user’s endpoint, which ensures reliable blocking of malicious code fragments and potential threats,” lifecell explained the essence of its offer.
The company added that the browser’s features also include the ability to block ads and phishing warnings.
DefensX was developed by lifecell’s partner Secure Industries, Inc. The product was available as part of a comprehensive corporate solution for the partner’s B2B customers.
As reported, during the year of full-scale war, Kyivstar’s cybersecurity department successfully blocked more than 450 DDoS attacks on the network and more than 13 thousand phishing attacks.
Earlier, in 2021, Kyivstar business customers already have access to the AntiDDoS service to protect against DDoS attacks (a solution based on FortiDDoS from Fortinet).
Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased net profit by 71.8% compared to the same period last year – up to 408.8 million UAH, while in general it increased by 59.2% – to 972.3 million UAH.
According to the report of the parent company Turkcell on its website, the revenue of lifecell in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased by 8.3% – to 2.607 billion UAH, and for the whole of 2022 – by 11%, to 9.41 billion UAH.
EBITDA in the fourth quarter increased by 14.1% to UAH 1.505 bln, and for the year as a whole by 14.6%, to UAH 5.45 bln.
At the same time, the capital expenditures of the company in the fourth quarter decreased by 24.4% – to UAH 997.4 million, and for the year as a whole by 16.3%, to UAH 3 billion.
Base of active subscribers of lifecell in the fourth quarter increased from 8.2 million to 8.5 million, but this is less than a year ago, when there were 9.2 million people. At that ARPU (average revenue per user) among active users in 2022 increased by 10% – up to 91.5 UAH. At that if in the first half of the year ARPU was slightly decreasing then in the second half rose quickly enough – from 82.8 UAH to 95.4 UAH in the third quarter and to 104.5 UAH in the fourth quarter thanks to price adjustments and growth in data usage.
Due to the war, as of December 31, 2022, 23% or about 9 thousand of the company’s mobile communication stations in Ukraine were out of operation. The state of the stations in the occupied territories is unknown, the report said. At the same time, 92% of the company’s stores were working and returned to prewar levels in the fourth quarter. It is noted that the company’s operating systems worked steadily, as well as the banking system, including payments.
It is specified that as of December 31, 2022, the amount of write-downs of assets in the Russian-occupied territories recognized in the consolidated financial statements is 214.2 million Turkish liras (about $11.3 million).
As the risks that may affect the company’s activities, the ongoing military operations and changes in the hryvnia’s exchange rate due to the economic situation in the country are noted. The risk of loss of control or expropriation of the company’s assets in Ukraine due to the actions of the Russian Federation is also singled out.
The company plans to focus on ensuring the safety of its employees and providing quality service to Ukrainian consumers.
The activities of the parent company turkcell were seriously affected by the earthquake in Turkey, due to which the company had to adjust its financial results for 2023. The negative impact on income is estimated at about 1.5 billion Turkish liras (about $79 million). It is reported that on the first day of the disaster almost 3.3 thousand base stations in the region stopped working due to power outages and destruction. One mobile tower and 150 base stations were destroyed. 1,200 employees were sent to the affected regions to carry out repair work. 250 mobile communication stations were deployed and 1.4 thousand power generators were installed.
Lifecell is the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine. The company Turkcell (Turkey) is the owner of 100% of shares of Lifecell. The share of Ukraine, where its subsidiaries UkrTower, Global LLC and Paycell LLC also operate, accounts for 8.9% of Turkcell’s total revenue and 14% of its non-current assets.
In July-September 2022, the mobile operator Lifecell LLC (lifecell) increased its revenue by 9.8% – up to UAH 2 billion 370.9 million compared to UAH 2,159.2 million for the same period in 2021.
According to a statement on the website of its parent company Turkcell, the net profit of Lifecell LLC for the specified period amounted to UAH 381.6 million, which is 2.2 times more than in July-September 2020 (UAH 173.8 million). EBITDA increased by 15.8% to UAH 1 billion 417.6 million, the EBITDA margin was 59.8% (for the same period in 2021, this figure was 56.7%).
The active three-month subscriber base of lifecell in the third quarter decreased by 7.9% – to 8.2 million subscribers. At the same time, the total number of users grew by 2%, to 10.1 million subscribers.
The company’s active three-month ARPU in the third quarter of 2022 increased by 14.9% and amounted to UAH 95.4 compared to last year’s figure of UAH 83.
Lifecell’s capital investments in July-September 2022 decreased by 10.4% – to UAH 639.6 million compared to UAH 713.7 million for the same period in 2021.
According to the report, as of September 30, 2022, the network and other equipment of the company in the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia due to hostilities and territories controlled by Ukraine, which has not been working for more than 92 days, is out of order. “As of September 30, 2022, the amount of impairment recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements is TL 231,472 (UAH 458,000 – IF),” Turkcell said in a statement.
As reported, according to the results of 2021, lifecell received a net profit of UAH 610.9 million, which is 4.24 times less than in 2020, while the operator’s income in 2021 increased by 24.1% to UAH 8.483 billion . The total number of subscribers of the operator at the end of 2021 amounted to 10.1 million.
lifecell is the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine. Turkcell (Turkey) owns 100% shares of Lifecell LLC.
Lifecell LLC mobile operator in April-June 2022 recorded a net loss of UAH 27.4 million compared to a net profit of UAH 116 million for the same period in 2021 due to write-offs of assets in the territories controlled by Ukraine, but not working for more than 92 days, and assets in the territories seized by Russia.
According to the parent company Turkcell, the company’s income in the second quarter of this year increased by 5.4% – to UAH 2.127 billion from UAH 2.018 billion in the second quarter of 2021, mainly due to an increase in income from international incoming calls and data transfer.
In the specified period, EBITDA increased by 8.8% – up to UAH 1.231 billion, and EBITDA margin increased by 1.8 percentage points – up to 57.9%, which the company explained with cost control measures implemented by Lifecell.
The report clarifies that the write-offs amounted to 204 million Turkish lire (about UAH 383.1 million at the rate in the report).
Lifecell’s capital investments in the second quarter of this year decreased by a third compared to the second quarter of the previous year, to UAH 659 million.
The active Lifecell subscriber base for the three reporting months decreased by 5.6%, or 500,000 – to 8.4 million subscribers, returning to the level of a year ago.
Active three-month ARPU in the second quarter of this year decreased by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter – to UAH 82.8, and MoU – by 5.5%, to 160.7 minutes. In annual terms, ARPU increased by 1.1%, while MoU fell by 14%.
“Meanwhile, three-month active 4.5G users grew by 7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, to 76% of the total number of mobile data users. Lifecell maintained its leadership in the Ukrainian market in terms of smartphone penetration, which at the end of Q2 2022 reached 84.6%,” the company says.
