Cisco profit slides by nearly 50 per cent

Sales and income down but network supplier hopes decline has bottomed out

Chambers: Solid results

Cisco Systems has reported fourth quarter profit down by nearly half and revenue down by 18 per cent.

The networking specialist announced net sales of $8.5bn (£5bn), with net income down 46 per cent to $1.1bn (£647m).

Like most major IT suppliers finding sales more difficult to come by in the recession, Cisco presented the results as a positive outcome under pressure.

"Cisco delivered very solid quarterly and annual results in a challenging economic environment, as we continued our focus on disciplined execution and our customers' success," said Cisco chief executive John Chambers.

"We saw a number of positive signs this quarter in the economy and in our business, especially comparing our sequential quarter-over-quarter order trends. If we continue to see these positive order trends for the next one to two quarters, we believe there is a good chance we will look back and see that the tipping point occurred in our business in the fourth quarter."

For the full year, revenue dropped 8.7 per cent to $36.1bn (£21.1bn), with net income down 23.8 per cent to $6.1bn (£3.6bn).