Idea Cellular Q1 net profit up 32%

It lagged market estimates on higher costs.

Idea Cellular, India's third-largest mobile phone carrier by revenue, said its quarterly net profit increased by nearly a third, but lagged market estimates on higher costs.

Idea, a part of the Aditya Birla conglomerate, said consolidated net profit rose 32.2 percent to Rs 234 crore for its fiscal first quarter ended June, from Rs 177 crore reported a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected the company to report a net profit of Rs 301crore according to Thomson Reuters.

Idea, in which Malaysia's Axiata owns about a fifth, ranks fourth by subscribers. It had about 116 million mobile customers as of May, 22 percent higher than June last year.