India’s second-biggest cellular operator, Reliance Communications Saturday, announced a net profit of 12.2 billion rupees (US$270 million) for the three months ended March.
The company, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, did not offer comparable year-ago profit figures and revenues earned for the quarter.
The results beat the expectations of analysts, who had forecast a profit of Rs9 billion for the quarter. For the full year, the company’s net profit fell 23 percent to Rs46.55 billion, on revenues which slipped 3.6 percent to Rs221.32 billion.
India, the world’s fastest growing cellular market, has more than a dozen cellular operators compared with just two state-owned telecom players a decade ago.
A flood of new players has unleashed a cut-throat price war, affecting profitability of most local telecom firms, with calls now costing less than a cent a minute in India.
“The financial year 2010 is one of the most challenging for the industry. We are confident that in spite of highly competitive environment, we will sustain profitable growth in coming quarters,” company chairman Ambani said in a statement.
Reliance Communications has a customer base of 109 million users.
Last month, rival Bharti Airtel reported that its fourth-quarter net profit fell 8.2 percent from a year earlier.
On Friday, Reliance Communications shares closed down 1.4 percent, or Rs2.05, to Rs144.5 on the Mumbai stock exchange.
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