Cisco reported revenues for its fiscal second quarter ended 25 January down 7.8 percent year-on-year to USD 11.2 billion. Sales fell in all major regions and were down in most product groups, with data centre and the security equipment the only areas of growth. Net profit fell to USD 1.4 billion or USD 0.27 per share, from USD 3.1 billion or USD 0.59 per share a year ago. Profits were hit by a one-time charge of USD 655 million to resolve problems with memory components in older products, as well as USD 926 million tax benefits from a settlement with the IRS and R&D credits in the US.
Despite the drop in profit, Cisco increased its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to USD 0.19 per share. Operating cash flow improved to USD 2.9 billion from USD 2.6 billion a year ago, and the company finished the quarter with USD 47.1 billion in total cash.
Cisco said it had a book-to-bill ratio greater than 1 in the quarter. However, product orders were down year-on-year in all regions, from 5 percent lower in the Americas to a 2 percent drop in EMEA. Across customer segments, the company saw a 1 percent increase in orders from the commercial and public sectors, but the service provider market contracted by 12 percent, and enterprise was 2 percent lower.
