Cisco shares in Frankfurt are down almost three per cent this morning after the router giant posted disappointing quarterly results late last night.

For the first quarter of 2006, ended 29 October 2005, Cisco made sales of $6.5bn, compared with $6.0bn for the first fiscal quarter of 2005 and $6.6bn in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Net income in the period was $1.3bn compared with $1.1bn in the first quarter of 2005. This figure was hit by stock option expenses of $228m.

Cisco's president and CEO, John Chambers, said: "Q1 was a solid quarter for Cisco, with balanced execution across most of our geographies, market segments and product categories."

Despite this analysts and the markets were disappointed with Cisco's prediction that growth in the next quarter will be between eight and nine per cent not the 11 per cent they had been expecting. Chambers said poor sales in Europe, and especially the UK, weakened performance.

Cisco's stock repurchase program continues - during the period it bought 194m shares at an average price of $18.03 - a total of $3.5bn.

There's a Q&A with president and CEO John Chambers and CFO Dennis Powell available here. ®