Reliance Communications Ltd reported a sharper-than-expected 60 percent decline in quarterly profit as the

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country's No.3 mobile phone carrier by customers struggles with its heavy debt load.

Consolidated net profit fell to Rs 1.02 billion for its fiscal second quarter ended September, from 2.52 billion rupees reported a year earlier, Reliance Communications, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, said in a statement on Thursday.

Analysts had expected the company to report a net profit of Rs 1.64 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares in Reliance Communications, valued at $2.2 billion, closed 1.4 percent higher ahead of the earnings announcement. The stock is down 16 percent this year, underperforming the benchmark Mumbai index that is up 22 percent.