CenturyLink Credits MPLS, Ethernet, Colocation, Other Business Services for Profit

CenturyLink Inc. swung to a third-quarter profit thanks in large part to demand for its data, colocation, managed hosting, cloud, IT and high-bandwidth services.

The service provider on Wednesday afternoon reported net income of $188 million, or 33 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.05 billion, or $1.76, in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue, comprised of legacy (landline), strategic (business), data integration and other units, amounted to $4.514. That was down just slightly from $4.515 billion in the third quarter of 2013.

On the business side, more customers signed up for MPLS, Ethernet and Wavelength services, CenturyLink said. And in the hosting unit, managed hosting and colocation adoption led to higher revenue.

CenturyLink’s improved financials also came in part from the addition of 8,400 high-speed Internet users and 14,000 more Prism TV subscribers. Landlines, as expected, continued to decline.

For the fourth quarter, CenturyLink said it expects lower overall revenue from anticipated declines in data integration, among other factors.