Level 3 shares climb after company posts sixth quarterly profit in a row

BROOMFIELD – Level 3 Communications Inc.’s share price was up 3.4 percent in afternoon trading Wednesday following the company’s earnings report that showed a sixth-straight quarterly profit.

For its first full quarter since the acquisition of rival TW Telecom, Level 3 posted net income of $122 million. That’s up 9 percent from Level 3’s mark for the same period a year ago, but up 23 percent from Level 3’s and TW Telecom’s combined earnings in the first quarter last year.

The latest earnings, for the period ending March 31, amounted to 35 cents per diluted share, up from 29 cents per share…