Cisco reported a return to revenue growth in its fiscal second quarter to January, its first in two years. Sales were up 3 percent year-on-year to USD 11.9 billion. The company also announced a 14 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to 33 cents a share and an additional USD 25 billion for repurchasing shares.
The net result in Q2 was a loss of USD 8.8 billion or USD 1.78 per share, due to charges of USD 11.1 billion for the US corporate tax reform. That compares to a profit of USD 2.3 billion or 47 cents a share a year ago. The extra taxes will be due on cash abroad that Cisco plans to bring back to the US. Excluding the charges, EPS rose to USD 0.63 from USD 0.57 a year ago.
Quarterly revenue growth included 3 percent growth in both services and products. Product revenue performance reflected solid growth in Applications and Security, which each increased 6 percent, while the core business Infrastructure Platforms increased by 2 percent.
A third of total revenue was from recurring offers, up 2 percentage points from the year-earlier period. By geographic segment, the Americas showed the strongest performance with 5 percent sales growth, while the EMEA region was flat, and APJC fell 2 percent.
Cisco's operating cash flow increased 8 percent year-on-year to USD 4.1 billion. The company finished the quarter with USD 73.7 billion in cash and equivalents, up from USD 71.6 billion three months earlier.
For fiscal Q3, Cisco forecast revenue growth of 3-5 percent year-on-year and EPS of USD 0.50-0.55. The outlook includes the recently completed acquisition of Broadsoft.
