MRF, the country's top tyre maker and the most expensive stock, said its profit from continuing operations for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to 5.08 billion rupees (around $61 mln) from 1.69 billion rupees.

The results are largely in line with those of other tyre makers, who reported profits that grew between 70% and 400%.

Analysts said MRF, unlike fierce competitors JK Tyre and CEAT, had not been able to hike prices during the quarter. Instead, the company benefited from a rebound in two-wheeler sales and replacement demand, a key sales driver for tyre makers in the country.

Two wheeler sales were up around 23% year-on-year in the third-quarter, the fastest growth so far this fiscal, helped by a revival in rural demand.

This helped it make up for sluggish sales in the bus and truck segments, in which MRF has a higher exposure compared to rivals, and drove revenue up an industry-leading 9.3%.

"It would be tough for the industry to hike prices easily going ahead due to major raw material basket inflation and thus result in margin mean reversion," ICICI Securities said in a note in late December.

Total expenses rose a modest 1%, with raw material costs dipping slightly.

The company's shares, which have been near record levels for the last few months, were down 1% earlier in the session and fell 3% after the results.

($1 = 82.9875 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)