Anil Ambani's RComm Q1 net profit falls 33%

Mobile carrier Reliance Communications Ltd reported a 33 per cent drop in quarterly profit, weighed down by higher finance costs even as pricing power improved due to reduced competition.

The Reliance Communications stock ended almost 6 per cent down at Rs 131.30 on the NSE, ahead of the results.

Reliance Communications, the most-leveraged among listed Indian phone carriers, said on Thursday consolidated net profit fell to Rs 108 crore from Rs 162 crore a year earlier.

That was the fourth consecutive quarter of declining profits at the company, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, with profits falling in 14 of the last 16 quarters.

Analysts expected the company to report a profit of Rs 287 crore, according to the average estimates of five analysts on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Reliance Communications, like its main rivals, has raised call prices in recent months after competition eased due to the exit of some smaller players, but its debt load has hurt its profitability.

The company has sealed two deals to lease its mobile phone towers and fibre optic network to a 4G venture of Reliance Industries Ltd, leading to a 76 per cent surge in Reliance Communications' stock price so far this year.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2013