Phone company CenturyLinkhas reported 5% lower first-quarter profit, including the impact of expenses related to cost-cutting and to its purchase in 2011 of regional phone company Qwest and data cantrer operator Savvis.

CenturyLink said its net income declined to US$200 million from US$211 million. CenturyLink had had 620 million shares on the market during the first quarter, more than twice the 304 million shares it had a year ago. Aided by the acquisitions, CenturyLink's revenue climbed to meet that forecast, compared with US$1.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter a year earlier. The company said it incurred US$43 million in one-time costs - severance costs related to cost-cutting and a range of costs related to the acquisitions - and it offset some of that by retiring debt and selling securities.

Source: Bloomberg