NEW DELHI: Indian telecommunications tower operator Bharti Infratel Ltd reported on Monday a 68 percent rise in quarterly profit on higher sales from leasing infrastructure to mobile phone carriers.

Bharti Infratel, majority owned by top Indian mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd, said consolidated net profit rose to 3.58 billion rupees ($61 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June from 2.13 billion rupees reported a year earlier.

The company was expected to report a net profit of 3.07 billion rupees, according to the average of three analyst estimates on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue for the quarter rose an annual 9 percent to 26.22 billion rupees. Four analysts on average expected revenue of 27.44 billion rupees.

Bharti Infratel raised $750 million in December in what was India's biggest IPO in two years. The company's stock is down nearly a third from its IPO price.

Demand for mobile towers has been hit after several smaller players either exited India or scaled back due to a court order invalidating numerous telecommunications licences, but tower companies are betting on demand from growth in high-speed mobile data services.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com