CenturyLink's net income falls with acquisitions

Third-quarter net income at CenturyLink fell 40 percent as charges linked to the company's acquisition of Qwest Communications overshadowed higher earnings.

Now the nation's third-largest telecommunications company afterwards the acquisition of Qwest, Monroe, La.-based CenturyLink said net income for the quarter was $140 million, or 23 cents per share compared to $232 million and 76 cents per share a year ago.

The Qwest transaction

Not including one-time charges — $65 million towards the Qwest transaction, $24 million for the integration of Embarq, Sprint's former landline telephone business, and $20 million for the acquisition of the data center and cloud computing firm Savvis — net income for the July-September quarter was $210 million and 34 cents per share.

Revenue while the quarter saw dramatic jumps across the board. Total revenue was $4.6 billion compared to $1.7 billion 12 months ago as legacy services, which includes CenturyLink's landline telephone business, hit $2.2 billion compared to just over $1 billion last year.

The most recent Nebraska figures

According to the most recent Nebraska figures, CenturyLink had 175,640 in-state access lines compared to 196,149 access lines a year ago, according to the 2011 annual report filed by the Nebraska Public Service Commission to the state legislature. Since CenturyLink merged with Qwest, it was overtaken by Windstream as the largest telecommunications provider in Nebraska based on total access lines.

"Overall, we are pleased with the third quarter results, and we are optimistic about our business in the months ahead," he said.