Industry bellwether Cisco posted solid yearly results as revenue rose 13 per cent to top the £20bn mark.

2008 revenue stood at $39.5bn (£20.2bn), a 13.2 per cent increase on last year, while net profit rose 9.8 per cent to $8.1bn. Fourth quarter revenue was up 9.9 per cent to $10.4bn, while profit rose 4.4 per cent to $2bn.

Q4 revenues came in slightly ahead of what Wall Street analysts had anticipated and Cisco chief executive John Chambers indicated he was satisfied with the results. "Cisco delivered solid quarterly and annual results as network-enabled business process changes and productivity increases gain traction on a global basis," said Chambers.

"Today's strong results demonstrate the company's ability to execute. The market is clearly in transition, and we will use this time as an opportunity to expand our share of customer spend and to aggressively move into market adjacencies.

"Our focus is on our portfolio approach to technology innovation, a broad global footprint, and management dedicated to sustainable differentiation and execution. We believe we are entering the next phase of the Internet as growth and productivity will centre on collaboration enabled by networked Web 2.0 technologies."

Chief financial officer Frank Calderoni added: "We are very pleased to deliver the first $10 billion quarter in the company's history. Cisco's ability to deliver solid financial results, with excellent cash flow and a strong book to bill during a quarter of somewhat uncertain macro-economic conditions in our largest geographies illustrates the power of our business model. We believe this will enable us to take advantage of market transitions and drive toward our long-term growth objectives."