Idea Cellular on Tuesday announced a sharp rise of 64% in net profit for the third quarter. Analysts on average had predicted net profit of Rs 7.85 billion.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 7.67 billion for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014 compared with Rs 4.67 billion in the same period last year.

Net sales for the quarter increased 21.24% to Rs 80.17 billion, compared with Rs 66.13 billion for the prior year period.

Shares of the company gained Rs 1.85, or 1.1%, to settle at Rs 170.35. The total volume of shares traded was 360,554 at the BSE (Tuesday).