Cisco reported sales of USD 10.4 billion for its fiscal second quarter to 29 January, up 6 percent from the year-earlier period. Net profit fell 17.9 percent to USD 1.5 billion, and EPS dropped 15.6 percent to 27 cents. Cash flow from operations rose to USD 2.6 billion from USD 2.5 billion a year ago, and Cisco finished the quarter with total cash of USD 40.2 billion. Cisco said it had a book-to-bill ratio of over 1 in the quarter, with product orders strongest in emerging markets, up 27 percent. Orders in the US and Canada rose 7 percent, Europe was up 2 percent and Asia Pacific increased 8 percent. Across customer segments, orders from enterprise customors were up 10 percent, the public sector rose 7 percent, service provider orders increased 9 percent and commerical orders rose 11 percent, while the consumer market was down 15 percent. Cisco said the quarter "played out as expected", showing the success of its architectural strategy.
