Cisco sees profit fall five per cent

Cisco has unveiled third-quarter profit of $1.8bn (£900m), compared with $1.9bn for the same period last year.

Turnover was up 10.4 per cent on the third quarter of 2007, at $9.8bn, while net sales for the first nine months of the financial year hit $29.2bn, compared with $25.5bn for the same period in 2007.

Net income for the first nine months of the 2008 fiscal year reached $6.0bn, up from $5.4bn for the first nine months of the previous year.

Innovation and far-sighted management have helped Cisco's performance this quarter, said John Chambers, chairman and chief executive at Cisco.

"In the quarter, Cisco delivered solid financial results driven by our focus on innovation, our broad and growing global footprint, and our teams' focus on delivering results," he said.

"We believe that our steady performance is based on Cisco's unique balance across business and technology architectures and our continued focus on execution against our long-term strategy."