Idea Cellular Q4 profit jumps 60 percent

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Idea Cellular Ltd on Tuesday posted a better-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by higher data revenue and strong subscriber growth. Net profit was 9.42 billion rupees ($149.2 million) in the fourth quarter ended March 31, compared with 5.90 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to post a net profit of 8.5 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data. The company, part of the Aditya Birla conglomerate, posted consolidated net sales of 83.97 billion rupees, about 20 percent higher than a year earlier. ($1 = 63.1450 rupees) (Reporting by Aman Shah in Mumbai; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)