Level 3 Communications' losses continue in Q3

Level 3 Communications' Q3 09 earnings certainly leave a lot to be desired. Shouldering both sluggish sales and ongoing debt, Level 3 Communications reported that it lost $41 million more during the Q3 2009 than it did in Q3 2008. The wholesale operator said it lost $170 million, a significantly wider loss than it had in Q3 2008 of $129 million. At the same time, Level 3's revenue declined 14 percent to $916 million.

Since these results came in well below analyst expectations, the wholesale operator's shares quickly dropped 11.76 percent to reach $1.20. Making matters worse, Level 3's core communications services sales dropped 15 percent to $901 million, while network and wholesale voice revenue declined 11 percent year-over-year to $859 million.

Despite the gloomy picture, Level 3's long-term debt held at $6.1 billion. And while that's $68 million less than what it had in Q2 09 and $145 million less than what it had at the start of 2009, the company will have to deal with $157 million in debt to deal with in 2010 and $433 million in 2011.

For more:
- Xchange has this article [1]

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