MCI Profit Nearly Triples on Sales

MCI WorldCom Inc., which is buying rival long-distance phone company Sprint Corp., said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings nearly tripled on sales growth in high-profit Internet, international and data services.

Profit from operations rose to $1.24 billion, or 42 cents a share, from $460 million, or 15 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 5.3% to $9.63 billion. Excluding paging and certain international operations, revenue grew 15%.

The company’s investments in Internet and international markets helped it outpace revenue growth at its rivals and eased concern that long-distance price cuts would crimp growth. Profit margins rose as the cost of completing phone calls fell. The news helped send MCI WorldCom’s shares up $1.69 to close at $49.81 in heavy trading on Nasdaq.

MCI WorldCom earned 41 cents a share excluding its controlling stake in Brazil’s Embratel Participacoes and including the SkyTel Communications Inc. paging business it acquired Oct. 1. That matched the average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

Clinton-based MCI WorldCom said Internet, international and data services accounted for 40% of its communications services revenue in the quarter, a high rate in the industry.