Hawaiian Telcom’s revenue grew and its net loss shrank in the third quarter, but the former Verizon subsidiary admitted it is struggling with efforts to adjust to life as a standalone company.

Hawaiian Telcom reported a nearly $44-million loss for the third quarter, a 25% improvement from a year earlier. Though its operating revenue grew 17% from a year earlier to nearly $142 million, the company attributed the growth mainly to “the application of purchase accounting,” adding that revenue dropped more than 2% sequentially.

At nearly $155 million, Hawaii Telcom’s third-quarter operating expenses were up nearly 3% from a year earlier, driven mostly by a 21% year-over-year increase in depreciation and amortization costs. The company also spent $3.4 million during the quarter to continue its transformation from a Verizon subsidiary to a standalone entity, including facilities renovation, system changes, relocation, training and residual contractor costs.

“There remains a lot of hard work ahead to overcome the cutover-related systems issues we still face,” Michael Ruley, Hawaiian Telcom’s chief executive officer, said in a statement issued Tuesday, adding that the company has brought in “significant external resources” to assist it.

“Resolving these matters is the company’s number-one near-term priority,” he said.

Hawaii Telcom gained its independence last year when Verizon sold the company to the Carlyle Group, a private equity investment firm.

The carrier is planning to deploy a mix of fiber to the curb, fiber to the node and (for greenfields) fiber to the premises networks early next year.

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