SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Telefonica reported on Tuesday a 13% increase in net profit for the third quarter compared to the same period last year.

Telefonica Brasil reported a net profit of 1.67 billion reais ($290.4 million), versus analysts' expectations of a 1.57 billion real profit.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The firm, which is controlled by Spain's Telefonica, is the largest mobile-phone service provider in Brazil by total phone lines, according to data from local telecom regulator Anatel.

BY THE NUMBERS

Net operational revenue increased some 7% in the quarter to 14 billion reais, with revenues from its primary mobile unit rising nearly 9% on growth in postpaid services.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 5.95 billion reais, up 7.4% year-on-year.

KEY QUOTES

The "strong performance" of Telefonica's postpaid business comes from an increase in clients - both due to new customers and migrating existing customers over from prepaid services - as well as annual price hikes, Telefonica Brasil said in the earnings report.

($1 = 5.7514 reais)

(Reporting by Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; Editing by Kylie Madry and Lincoln Feast.)