BROOMFIELD, Colo.—Internet services company Level 3 Communications Inc. said its fourth-quarter loss widened from last year, just months after the company completed its acquisition of long-distance telecom provider Global Crossing Ltd.
But the company’s stock surged 9 percent Wednesday after the company forecast that its adjusted earnings before interest and other factors would grow between 20 percent and 25 percent in 2012.
The company said it lost $163 million, or 80 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compares with a loss of $52 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.
Level 3 bought Global Crossing in early October in a stock swap valued at about $2 billion. It reported quarterly and annual results that combined sales and net income from the two firms going back to 2010, reporting them as a merged entity. It also reported sales for each company on a stand-alone basis.
Revenue rose to $1.58 billion from $904 million the year before.
Level 3 Communications’ stand-alone revenue during the quarter was $934 million, compared with $904 million during the same period a year before.
Global Crossing’s revenue during the quarter was $670 million, compared with $683 million during the prior year period.
The results were better than the loss of $1.06 per share than analysts expected, according to FactSet. But the combined company’s revenue was below the $1.64 billion that analysts expected, according to FactSet.
For the full year, Level 3 Communications reported a net loss of $756 million, or $5.51 per share, compared with a loss of $622 million, or $5.62 per share, the year before.
Revenue for the year was $4.33 billion, compared to $3.59 billion the year before.
Shares rose $1.80, or 9 percent, to $21.39 in afternoon trading.
