India's Reliance Jio posts slowest profit, rev growth in six qtrs

BENGALURU, July 21 (Reuters) - Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), reported its slowest profit and revenue growth in six quarters on Friday, hit by higher expenses and a lack of recent tariff hikes.

Jio, Indias biggest telecom carrier by subscribers, said net profit climbed to 48.63 billion rupees ($593.2 million) in April-June from 43.35 billion rupees a year earlier.

Its revenue from operations rose 9.9% to 240.42 billion rupees, while total expenses increased 9%.

Jio has been investing heavily in network infrastructure to grab a bigger market share. Earlier this month, it launched a cheap 4G feature phone to tap the countrys vast remote markets, which are still on slower mobile networks.

The launch of the phone is seen as a way to avoid any hit to its overall subscriber base from a likely tariff hike in September, according to Ambit Capital.

Reliance Industries is scheduled to report its results later in the day.

($1 = 81.9772 Indian rupees)