Cisco Expected to Take Acquisition Charges

Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s No. 1 maker of Internet equipment, is expected to report lower fiscal first-quarter profit Tuesday after costs for acquisitions. Net income in the period ended Oct. 30 will fall to an estimated 10 cents to 14 cents a share from 16 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Excluding acquisition expenses, profit is expected to rise to 23 cents, according to analysts polled by First Call Corp. Cisco has said charges will total as much as 13 cents. Sales are forecast to increase 47% to $3.8 billion. Demand from phone, wireless and cable companies for Internet services and faster computer-networking equipment is driving sales growth. Sales to telecommunications service providers have been rising more than twice as fast as sales to corporations, government and educational institutions. On Friday, shares of San Jose-based Cisco rose $3.44 to close at $73.44 on Nasdaq. The shares have risen 58% this year, though they’re little changed since September amid concern the year 2000 computer problem could cut orders more than expected.