Idea Cellular Q3 net more than doubles

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Mumbai, January 19:: India's sixth-largest wireless telecoms firm, Idea Cellular Ltd, said on Saturday its quarterly net profit more than doubled, boosted by an expanding user base in the world's fastest growing wireless market.

Idea, part of conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, said its net profit for the December quarter jumped to 2.4 billion rupees ($61 million) from 1.13 billion a year earlier.

Total revenue in its fiscal third-quarter rose to 17.1 billion rupees from 11.5 billion a year earlier, it said.

The company said it added 2.38 million subscribers during the quarter, lifting its subscriber base to 21.05 million.

Idea, which operates in 11 of India's 23 telecom zones, last month formed an independent tower company with top mobile operator Bharti Airtel and Vodafone to share 70,000 tower units in India.

Bharti and Vodafone each own 42 percent in the venture, while Idea holds the remaining 16 percent.

Declining call rates, cheaper handsets and expansion of networks into smaller towns and rural areas have seen Indian operators adding more than 60 million users in eight months to November.

Shares in Idea Cellular, which was listed in March last year, closed 4.9 percent down at 136.05 rupees on Friday in a Mumbai market that fell 3.49 percent.

The shares rose 10.8 percent in the December quarter, underperforming a 17 percent rise in the benchmark.

Idea shares trade at more than 35 times their forecast earnings, compared with 25 for sector leader Bharti Airtel and 30 times for No. 2 Reliance Communications, Reuters data showed.