* Sees 2012 revenue 9.9-10.1 bln lira, EBITDA 3.0-3.2 bln
* Firm awaiting court decision on boardroom dispute
* 2011 net profit drops 33 pct on crisis in Belarus
* To consider share buyback after July
By Evren Ballim
ISTANBUL, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Turkey’s biggest mobile
phone operator Turkcell, riven by an ownership
dispute, forecast demand for mobile internet services would
accelerate growth this year after 2011 results were held back by
an economic crisis in Belarus.
Chief Executive Sureyya Ciliv told Reuters on Thursday the
firm would look at the possibility of buying back shares after
July and that it might also bid for Bulgaria’s indebted Vivacom.
Turkcell is in the midst of a bitter boardroom struggle
between Turkish founder Mehmet Emin Karamehmet and his Russian
and Nordic partners, being fought in Caribbean and British
courts.
Cukurova Group, owned by Karamehmet, Turkey’s richest man,
has been ordered by a court of appeal in the British Virgin
Islands to deposit $1.4 billion in an escrow account in early
March, pending the outcome of a long-running dispute with
Russia’s Alfa Group over an unpaid loan.
Continued…
