Cisco reports buoyant quarterly results

Cisco Systems has reported an increase in profit and revenue for its second fiscal quarter, fuelling hopes that the economic recovery for IT is finally under way.

The infrastructure equipment maker reported a 23 per cent profit rise on the same quarter a year ago to $1.9bn (£1.19bn) for the three-month period ending 23 January and revenue of $9.8bn, an eight per cent increase compared with the same quarter in the previous year.

Revenue at Cisco surpassed analysts’ expectations of it reaching $9.4bn.

"During the quarter we saw dramatic across-the-board acceleration and sequential improvement in our business in almost all areas," Cisco’s chief executive John Chambers said in a statement.

The financial performance at the firm may indicate that businesses have begun to invest in IT after a long period of budget cuts.