tw telecom Profit Falls By $3.3 Million

tw telecom inc.’s profit fell $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2014 but the managed services and Ethernet provider did report higher revenue.

The Colorado-based company this week reported $9.8 million in net income for the three months ended in March, compared to $13.1 million a year ago. Revenue, on the other hand, rose from $381.2 million in 2013’s first quarter to $408.3 million. Earnings-per-share came to 7 cents, compared to 9 cents a year ago.

In its earnings release, tw telecom blamed the lower profit on “higher depreciation expense resulting from net asset additions, offset by lower income tax and interest expense.”

But the company spent little time on the net-income numbers, instead focusing on value returned to shareholders and advancements in growth initiatives. For example, tw telecom said it increased data and Internet revenue by 3.6 percent sequentially and 15.1 percent year-over-year, and enterprise revenue 2.3 percent sequentially and 9.2 percent year-over-year.

tw telecom served more than 29,500 customers as of March 31. Customer churn totaled 0.8 percent, down from 0.9 percent in 2013’s first quarter.