MONROE, La. (AP) _ CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $223 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Monroe, Louisiana-based company said it had net income of 21 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 33 cents per share.

The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 33 cents per share.

The communications company posted revenue of $5.57 billion in the period, exceeding Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.54 billion.

For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $5.27 billion, or $4.92 per share. Revenue was reported as $22.4 billion.

CenturyLink shares have risen 15% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed nearly 5%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $15.19, an increase of slightly more than 4% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CTL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CTL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News