The sun is finally setting on MCI as the storied telecommunications Thursday filed what is expected to be its final financial report. The firm, in the process of being acquired by Verizon, swung to a profit of $271 million, although its revenue dropped by 12 percent to $4.47 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Verizon’s acquisition of MCI was approved by the U.S. Justice Department last week and by the Federal Communications Commission this week and the company said the merger is virtually a done deal with just a few states still waiting to approve the deal.

“With all U.S. federal and international regulatory approvals complete, we remain on track to close our merger with Verizon later this year or early in 2006,” said Michael D. Capellas, MCI’s president and CEO, in a statement.

The executive said the merger with Verizon is already beneficial, because customers are more receptive to MCI offerings because of the “financial stability” represented by the merger.

In its early days, MCI stood out as the sole major competitor to the original AT&T, but after the technology bubble burst five years ago, MCI was charged with committing widespread accounting fraud. Because of new regulations approved earlier this year by the FCC, both MCI and competitor AT&T couldn’t compete effectively any longer and were targeted for acquisition by Verizon and SBC respectively.