Reliance Communications Q4 net profit almost halves

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Reliance Communications Ltd , India's fourth-biggest cellular carrier by customers, reported a higher-than-expected 48.5 percent fall in quarterly profit from a year ago-period that had been aided by one-off gains, even as carriers are benefiting from lower competition and higher call prices.

Reliance Communications, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, said consolidated net profit fell to 1.56 billion rupees ($26 million) for its fourth quarter ended March 31, from 3.03 billion rupees reported a year earlier.

That compared with analysts' average estimate of 2.15 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data. ($1 = 60.3150 Indian Rupees)

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Matt Driskill and Anand Basu)