Brazilian telephone company Brasil Telecom Participacoes posted a fourth quarter profit of 267.8 million reais ($125.7 million) on Tuesday, as revenue rose modestly and costs fell 21 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The phone company reversed a loss of 118.6 million reais in the same period a year earlier. It made 64 million reais profit in the third quarter.

The company, which runs Brazil's third-largest fixed-line operator, said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure of cash flow known as EBITDA, rose to 947.1 million reais in the fourth quarter from 312.9 million reais in the same period in 2005 and 907.9 million reais in the third quarter.

Net revenue in the fourth quarter was 2.74 billion reais, a rise of 5.8 percent from a year earlier. Costs fell 21.3 percent to 1.79 billion reais from a year earlier.

For all of 2006, the company made a 470.4 million reais profit, compared with a loss of 28.3 million reais a year earlier. Net revenue rose 1.6 percent to 10.29 billion reais.

(Published by Reuters, January 31, 2007)