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Level 3 Trims First-Quarter Losses to $78M

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Level 3 Communications Inc. on Thursday reported narrower losses in the first quarter even as business customers accounted for more revenue.

The Colorado-based provider said the net loss came to $78 million, or 36 cents per share, compared to losses of $138 million, or 66 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell 0.6 percent to $1.58 billion. The company took some hits for foreign currency devaluations and unfavorable shifts. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were projecting a loss of 17 cents per share on $1.61 billion in revenue.

Revenue from core network services increased to $1.37 billion, or 1.6 percent, with enterprise customers making up $835 million of that amount, 4.3 percent more than the first quarter of 2012. Wholesale revenue, however, was down 2.7 percent to $515 million. And revenue from wholesale voice and other network services fell 13 percent to $205 million.

The narrower losses come as Level 3 has continued to improve earnings since buying Global Crossing in 2011.