Showing posts with label Turkcell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkcell. Show all posts

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Turkcell is still a buy: Doubling down

Turkcell fundamentals and balance sheet are even better than before, and the price even cheaper. Turkcell has seen significant growth in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Due to a currency collapse, the Belarus subsidiary has been written down to a negligible value. Growth of profits from smart phones has been increasing on track to bring new growth. All of these items make Turkcell more and more attractive.

The Achillies Heel of TKC is the foreign shareholder versus domestic shareholder power struggle that has been ongoing since TeliaSonara bought a controlling share of the company in 2005. Collateral damage to shareholder occurred in 2011 with the foregoing of the dividend payment due to the inability to agree between the two major shareholder factions.

Who knows when these issues will resolve? But the deep value of Turkcell makes this investment worth the wait. Thus the author is doubling down on the Turkcell investment at $11.78.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Turkcell on sale

Simple market thesis, find a wide moat, buy and hold. Easier said than done.

Turkcell, the #1 cell phone provider in Turkey is one such company. Beyond the huge domestic market share (57%) and wonderful dividend policy (50% of profits to shareholders), this company holds a huge economic moat. The mobile telecom market naturally requires huge capital investment, and thus the barriers to entry are huge. Also, as in most emerging economies, telecom companies are often partially privatized but still national champions of the current regime. Turkcell is no different. No one in Turkey wants Turkcell to fail.

Purchasing this stock with .79 cent dividend (5.1% yield at $15) does incur currency risk. But economy of Turkey has held up very well in the recent economic crisis and has even been marked for a rating upgrade by the major rating agencies.

Although a large part of Turkcell is already foreign owned, at some point in the future I could see a major multinational moving in and buying Turkcell to extend their geographical footprint. But for now, I am content with the high growth and high yield.

The author is long TKC at $15/share.