Lumen Technologies tops third-quarter revenue estimates on strong demand

(Reuters) - Telecommunications services firm Lumen Technologies beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, helped by strong demand for its services as businesses digitize their operations.

Lumen has a network of fiber optic and copper cables and provides cloud-based communication services and IT solutions to businesses and users, helping them managing calls, messages and video meetings on a single interface.

The Monroe, Louisiana-based company posted revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' average estimate of $3.61 billion, according to LSEG data, but fell 17% from a year earlier.

The proposed sale of Lumen's EMEA business is expected to close on Wednesday, subject to meeting customary closing conditions, the company said.

The company has also decided to take reorganization measures, "which will result in about 4% fewer people inside the company," CEO Kate Johnson said in an earnings call.

The reorganization and additional optimization initiatives will generate annualized savings of approximately $300 million, Johnson added.

The company said its long-term debt at the end of the third-quarter was $19.74 billion.

The State of California's Department of Technology awarded Lumen an over $400 million contract last week related to the network infrastructure for the middle mile broadband initiative.

Lumen posted a net loss of $78 million for the quarter compared with a reported net income of $578 million a year earlier.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)