Level 3 Communications Loss Narrows - Update

(RTTNews) - Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT) on Wednesday reported a loss for the third quarter that narrowed from a year ago, due largely to lower costs and improved margins despite a decline in revenue. The loss for the period was lower than what Wall Street expected, although revenues fell short of estimates.

The Broomfield, Colorado-based company's loss for the third-quarter narrowed to $21 million or $0.09 per share from $166 million or $0.76 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.13 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the quarter dropped to $1.57 billion from $1.59 billion last year. Twelve analysts estimated revenues of $1.58 billion for the quarter.

"We had another solid quarter, with continued growth in enterprise Core Network Services revenue," said Jeff Storey, president and CEO of Level 3."

At its key Core network services, revenues for the third quarter grew 2.9 percent to $1.38 billion, as North America sales rose 3 percent, Latin American sales increased 10 percent, while Europe, Middle East and Asia dipped 1 percent.

Third-quarter gross margins improved to 61.2 percent from 59.6 percent last year. Selling, general and administrative costs dropped to $606 million from $625 million a year ago. Moving forward, Level 3 Communications said its outlook for the full year 2013 essentially remains unchanged. The company continues to see sequential Core Network Services revenue growth in 2013 to be generally stronger compared to 2012.

LVLT is currently trading at $28.68, up $1.66 or 6.14%, on a volume of 4.2 million shares.