Profits have surged at networking giant Cisco Systems, helped by the company's recent cost cuts.

The company posted net profit of $772m or 10 cents per share in the three months to the end of July, compared with $7m in the same period last year.

The results reflects steady demand for the company's products as well as its cost cutting efforts, including its decision to cut 8,500 jobs last year.

Cisco - whose results are often seen as an indicator for the technology sector - has benefited from the fact that many of its customers are government agencies or large corporations that have not cut their spending as dramatically as telecoms companies.

"This was another solid quarter for Cisco, despite the ongoing challenges in the economy," Cisco President and chief executive officer John Chambers said.

The company remains cautious on the prospects for recovery, commenting that customers are cautious but steady.

Cisco's Chambers sings his company's praises

Revenues rose to $4.89bn from $4.3bn in the same quarter a year previously, but were up only slightly from the previous quarter, when revenues stood at $4.82bn.

Shares fall to earth

Cisco's equipment provides the devices that link company computer networks together, and allow data and voice traffic to travel through telephone networks.

Once the star of the high-tech sector - and briefly the world's most valuable company - Cisco fell dramatically to earth when the dot.com bubble burst.

Its shares have fallen 33% this year. The company announced on Tuesday that it was increasing its share buyback programme to $8bn from $3bn.

Investor reaction to Tuesday's results was mixed.

Shares had risen in anticipation of the earnings report earlier in the day, but fell slightly in after hours trading.