Cisco back on growth track

Industry bellwether exceeds expectations for second quarter

Chambers: Predicts revenues to grow by at least 23 per cent next quarter

Ciscomade a return to growth during its fiscal second quarter, according to the networking giant’s latest set of results.

Cisco achieved net sales of $9.8bn in the three months to the end of January - eight per cent higher than the equivalent quarter last year.

The vendor also saw its GAAP net profit rise from £1.5bn in Q2 2009 to $1.9bn – an increase of 23.2 per cent.

Frank Calderoni, chief financial officer at Cisco, said: “We delivered strong gross margins and added $2.5bn in cash from operations during our second quarter, bringing our total of cash and investments to $36.9bn.

“We believe these results demonstrate the strong foundation from which we can continue to focus on growing and capturing market transitions in our industry.”

John Chambers, chairman and chief executive officer at Cisco, said he expects the firm’s next quarter revenues to grow between 23 and 26 per cent compared to Q3 2009.

He added: “We are confident that our aggressive strategy of investing in the business during the downturn and our focus on innovation, operational excellence and productivity are driving our momentum and growth in the market.”