Cisco posts first quarterly sales increase in a year

Cisco Systems Inc. on Wednesday reported that its sales in the most recent quarter jumped 8 percent year-on-year, the first such increase for the world's largest networking equipment maker in a year.

In Cisco's second fiscal quarter ended on Jan. 23, 2010, revenue rose to 9.8 billion U.S. dollars from 9.1 billion dollars in the same period a year earlier.

The number exceeded the company's own expectations. In November last year, Cisco predicted that revenue would rise 1 percent to 4 percent in the second quarter.

Net income in the quarter was 1.9 billion dollars, representing an increase of 23.2 percent over the year-ago period.

Excluding some costs, Cisco earned 40 cents per share in the quarter. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated 35 cents on average.

John Chambers, Cisco's chief executive officer, believed the results provided a clear indication that the company was entering "the second phase of the economic recovery."

"During the quarter we saw dramatic across the board acceleration and sequential improvement in our business in almost all areas," he said in a statement.

"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," Chambers noted.

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