Level 3 Communications Q4 Profit Increases - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT) reported that its net income for the fourth-quarter ended December 31, 2014 increased to $66 million from $14 million in the prior year. On a per share basis, net income was $0.21, up from $0.06 in the previous year.

On a consolidated basis, net income per share was $0.35 per share excluding adjustments for unusual items in the fourth quarter 2014; including those adjustments, the net income per share was $0.22 per share. The fourth quarter adjustments were comprised of a charge of $70 million or $0.23 per share of acquisition-related expenses for the tw telecom transaction, a charge of $53 million or $0.17 per share on the extinguishment of debt, a non-cash charge of $17 million or $0.06 per share for the impairment of an intangible asset and a non-cash income tax benefit in EMEA of approximately $100 million or $0.33 per share.

The reported results on a consolidated basis include two months of tw telecom's financial performance, as the company closed the tw telecom acquisition on Oct. 31, 2014.

Consolidated total revenue was $1.914 billion for the fourth quarter 2014, compared to $1.602 billion for the fourth quarter 2013.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.30 per share and revenues of $1.97 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

In 2015, the company expects to grow Adjusted EBITDA 12 to 16 percent from a starting point of $2.271 billion, which represents the combined company's full year Adjusted EBITDA including acquisition-related expenses. Additionally, it expects to generate Free Cash Flow of $550 million - $600 million for the full year 2015.