Just Dial shares plunge 13 percent; earnings disappoint

Reuters Market Eye - Shares in local search service provider Just Dial Ltd plunge 13 percent as its October-December quarter earnings fell short of some analysts' expectations. The company reported late on Monday its net profit for the quarter was 295.5 million rupees, almost flat from 286.6 million rupees in the previous quarter. "Just Dial reported slower customer growth (in paid listing) at 5 percent QoQ vs our estimate of 8 percent QoQ (which was premised on continuing traction in customer growth from introduction of friction free sales process in Q1)," Axis Capital said in a note. "This led to Q3 revenue being 3 percent lower than our estimate." (Reporting by Indulal P)