Hawaiian Telcom earned $7.4 million in the third quarter, its third straight profitable quarter since emerging from bankruptcy last October, the company reported today.

The third-quarter profit was up from gains of $6.7 million gain in the second quarter and $5.5 million in the first quarter. It compared with a loss of $23.5 million during the third quarter of 2010 when the company was operating under bankruptcy protection.

The financial results were released in the midst of a labor dispute at the company. Hawaiian Telcom’s unionized 700 employees have been working without a contract since Oct. 24. Workers held a two-day strike last week to protest their disatisfaction with the company’s final contract proposal.

Hawaiian Telcom said revenue totaled $97 million during the July-through-September period, down from $101.5 million during the year-ago period.

The company said it added about 4,100 high-speed internet subscribers in the third quarter, up 4.2 percent from the same period in 2010. Loss of landlines slowed to a 5.6  percent decline from a 6.6 percent drop a year earlier.