Cisco Systems Inc reported Tuesday that quarterly revenue dropped 4 percent to US$4.6 billion, but profits jumped 35 percent because of aggressive cost cutting.
Cisco, the No. 1 maker of gear for directing Internet traffic, said net income for its third fiscal quarter was US$987 million, or US$0.14 per share -- compared with US$729 million, or US$0.10 per share for the third quarter of fiscal 2002.
After adjusting for acquisitions and other one-time costs, net income was US$1.1 billion, or US$0.15 per share -- compared with US$838 million, or US$0.11 per share, for the same quarter last year.
The adjusted earnings exceeded the expectations of analysts polled by First Call. They expected San Jose-based Cisco to earn an adjusted US$0.14 per share in the third fiscal quarter, which ended April 26.
"It's a repeat of what we saw last quarter, though I sense a little tinge of optimism," said Meta Group analyst David Willis. "Nobody else is picking up Cisco's business, so whenever people do buy again, they're likely to go to Cisco."
Cisco wooed new customers last quarter including Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Cancer Therapy and Research Center and the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, but total sales dropped.
The company sold US$4.6 billion worth of routers, switchers and other networking hardware, software and consulting services, down from the US$4.8 billion it sold in the same quarter last year.
The value of Cisco's investments also fell. The company had US$20.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of last month, down from US$21.2 billion at the end of the previous quarter.
In response to sluggish sales, Cisco pared total operating expenses to US$2.03 billion, compared to US$2.19 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
The company slashed research and development spending to US$703 million in the quarter, compared to US$807 million in the same quarter last year. It also shaved sales and marketing costs to US$1.02 billion, down from the US$1.06 billion in the same quarter of last year.
Cisco executives said they were encouraged by US$1.3 billion in cash flow and the increase in net income, but warned it was too early to predict a rebound. Over the past three years, Cisco and other hardware providers have lost thousands of customers -- particularly dot-coms and other technology startups that have collapsed since the initial stock market slide in the spring of 2000.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique