MONROE, La. (AP) -- Phone company CenturyLink Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit dropped by more than half, as hefty one-time charges more than offset contributions from two recent acquisitions.
While adjusted earnings were below analysts' expectations, its revenue beat the consensus estimate and its shares edged higher in midday trading Thursday. CenturyLink is the nation's third largest traditional phone service provider.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, CenturyLink reported late Wednesday that its net income fell to $109 million, or 18 cents per share, from $225 million, or 74 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Excluding one-time charges, the company said the latest quarter's adjusted profit totaled 55 cents per share. Analysts, on average, expected adjusted profit of 61 cents per share, according to a FactSet poll.
Operating revenue nearly tripled to $4.65 billion from $1.72 billion, beating average Wall Street estimates of $4.62 billion.
The latest quarter's revenue included $2.99 billion in contributions from CenturyLink's acquisitions of the former regional phone company Qwest Communications International Inc. and Savvis, which offers hosting and cloud computing services to business customers.
The company said it added a net 70,000 new high-speed Internet subscribers during the recent quarter.
For the full year 2011, CenturyLink said its net income fell to $573 million, or $1.07 per share, down from $948 million, or $3.13 per share, in 2010. Operating revenue rose to $13.33 billion from $4.98 billion.
CenturyLink said it expects to post adjusted earnings of 57 cents to 63 cents per share on operating revenue of $4.58 billion to $4.64 billion for the first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of 62 cents per share and $4.58 billion in revenue for the quarter.
For all of 2012, CenturyLink projected an adjusted profit of $2.25 to $2.45 per share and $18.2 billion to $18.4 billion in revenue. Analysts expect a full-year profit of $2.55 per share on $18.19 billion in revenue.
CenturyLink shares rose 68 cents to $38.51 in midday trading. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $31.16 to $43.49.
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