Shares in Cisco Systems gained nearly six per cent after the bell last night on further signals that the IT hardware giant is profiting from a global upgrade of the infrastructure behind the world wide web.

Silicon Valley’s largest company, which makes hardware such as the routers and switchers that direct traffic over the web, reported a 25 rise in quarterly profits, to $1.93 billion, compared with the same period last year, beating analyst expectations. It also raised its full-year forecasts.

Excluding one-time charges, Cisco earned 36 cents per share, a penny above the consensus analyst estimate.

Revenue for the period was $9.43 billion, up 18 per cent on last year, also ahead of forecasts.

Shares of Cisco climbed $1.72 to $31.41 in after-hours deals.

John Chambers, the chief executive, added that the company is boosting its revenue forecast to 13 per cent to 16 per cent for 2008. For the current quarter, the company expects revenue of $9.45 billion to $9.55 billion, above the average analyst estimate of $9.39 billion.

Mr Chambers also announced that the chief financial officer Dennis Powell will retire at the end of the second quarter of the current fiscal year. His replacement will be Frank Calderoni, currently a Cisco senior vice president.

Mr Powell said in an interview with The Associated Press that he’s “never been more optimistic” about Cisco’s prospects and is leaving at a time when the company’s investments in emerging markets are beginning to pay off.

“We’re at the right time with the right products,” he said. “And the economy, from my perspective, on a global basis have never been better. And that bodes well for Cisco.”

The company’s higher guidance signals that it expects robust spending on such network improvements to continue well into the future, said Troy Jensen, senior research analyst with investment bank Piper Jaffray & Co.

“That implies they’re pretty serious about the upgrade cycle,” Mr Jensen said. “There was really just nothing wrong with the quarter.”

Some analysts have expressed concerns about whether Cisco can keep up its rapid growth. Investors have been particularly worried in the past couple of quarters about a slowdown in one of Cisco’s key businesses — orders from US businesses — whose growth has plunged to mid-single digit rates.

However, that segment rebounded in the fourth quarter, growing about 12 per cent over last year.

Cisco is also growing by moving beyond its roots as purely a networking gear maker.

During the fourth quarter, the company completed its $3.2 billion acquisition of online meeting company WebEx Communications and the $830 million takeover of IronPort Systems, a maker of anti-spam and antivirus security products.

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