(Bloomberg) Global Crossing Ltd., operator of a high-speed fiber-optics network that carries telephone calls and data, said its third-quarter loss narrowed after it improved the efficiency of its network and sold more profitable services.

The net loss shrank to $94 million from $95 million a year earlier, the Bermuda-based company said last week in a statement. Sales declined 22 percent to $481 million from $620 million.

Adjusted gross margin, or the portion of revenue left after most production costs, rose to 36 percent in the quarter from 30 percent a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer John Legere has shifted Global Crossing to higher-margin services such as managing networks for big companies.

?Our business transformation is on track,? Legere said in the statement. Revenue from less-profitable wholesale voice services dropped 40 percent in the third quarter.

Shares of Global Crossing fell 56 cents to $14.34 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading yesterday. The shares have fallen 21 percent this year.

The company, co-founded by Gary Winnick in 1997, declared bankruptcy in January 2002 when it was unable to pay $12 billion in debt.

Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. paid $250 million for a 62 percent stake to help the company exit bankruptcy in 2003. It is run out of Florham Park, New Jersey.

Global Crossing last year restated results after it discovered weaknesses in the supervision of accounting personnel and a lack of control over bad-debt estimates.