Cisco’s Quarterly Profit Meets Wall Street Forecasts

Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday said profit from operations rose 34%in the latest quarter, matching Wall Street forecasts, on slightly weaker-than-expected revenue.

The results were released after the market closed. Cisco shares had risen 31 cents to close at $81.94 in Nasdaq trading.

The world’s biggest maker of computer-networking gear reported profit from operations of $383 million, or 55 cents a share, for its fourth quarter, compared with $286 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.

With charges for two acquisitions and a gain from the sale of an investment, the company reported net income of $151 million, or 22 cents a share, for the quarter ended July 26. That compared with net profit of $276.6 million, or 41 cents a share, in the 1996 period.

Wall Street expected San Jose-based Cisco to report operating earnings of 55 cents a share.

Cisco gained market share in all its product lines, which are used to link computers into networks, the company said. Sales, however, came in on the lower side of the $1.76 billion to $1.8 billion that Wall Street analysts had expected.

Sales were hurt by weak economies in Japan, France and Germany, said Cisco Chief Executive John Chamber. He added that he expects sales to pick up in the winter as the company rolls out a new line of high-end routers.

At a Glance:

CB Commercial Real Estate Services Group Inc., based in Los Angeles, reported second-quarter net income of $4.9 million, or 27 cents per share, compared with $2.2 million, or 16 cents, a year ago.

Torrance-based Total Renal Care Holdings Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $8.9 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with $5.7 million, or 22 cents, a year ago.