SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's leading cellular operator, Vivo Participacoes (VIV), reported Thursday a third-quarter net profit of 340 million Brazilian Reals ($197 million), more than double from BRL133.9 million seen in the third quarter of 2008.
Vivo's third-quarter net revenue rose 0.2% to BRL4.09 billion from BRL4.08 billion in the year-ago period.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, were BRL1.4 billion, up from BRL1.32 billion in the third quarter of 2008.
The Ebitda margin, a measure of profitability over net revenue, was 34.4% in the quarter, up from 32.5% a year earlier.
Vivo said it invested BRL548.7 million in its operations in the third quarter, compared with BRL868.4 million in the third quarter of 2008.
The company ended the quarter with 48.8 million customers, a 15.5% increase from 42.27 million in the year-ago quarter.
Vivo is jointly controlled by Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF) and Portugal Telecom SGPS SA (PT).
-By Rogerio Jelmayer, Dow Jones Newswires; 5511-2847-4521; rogerio.jelmayer@dowjones.com