Internet networking giant Cisco Systems yesterday announced a net loss of $268 million (€299 million) in the quarter ending October 27th 2001, compared with a $798 million profit in the same period a year ago.

The California-based firm said that excluding acquisition costs and other one-time items, it earned a profit of $332 million or four cents per share - better than analysts had expected on Wall Street. Revenue for the first fiscal quarter was $4.4 billion compared with $6.5 billion a year earlier, but slightly better than the $4.3 billion in the prior quarter.