CenturyTel: Profit higher, outlook tempered

Independent telco CenturyTel, based in Monroe, La., reported fourth-quarter earnings highlighted by a 28% increase in profit that was largely due to higher revenue from last year's acquisition of Madison River. For 2008, the company issued an outlook for "flat to modestly higher" revenue growth.

The telco also said its access line count increased by about 2% in the fourth quarter of 2007, but without the addition of Madison River's lines, it would have fallen by 5.7%.

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