Jio Q3 net profit up 63% to Rs 1360 crore

MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm has reported a 62.5% increase in net profit for the October-December period, helped by tariff raises that aided its average revenue per user (ARPU) rebound from seven straight quarters of decline.

The telco, led by Mukesh Ambani, on Friday said profit for the quarter rose to Rs 1,350 crore compared with Rs 831 crore a year ago. The market had estimated profit to be more than Rs 1,300 crore. Profit was up 36.4% from the preceding quarter. It is the company’s ninth profitable quarter in a row.

But charging 0.6 paise a minute for calls to rival networks cost the telco some 22 million subscribers, dragging its net additions down to 14.8 million from 24 million in the previous quarter, the company said, adding that it had cleaned up inactive, mainly voice users.