Cabletron expands sales channel

Networking company Cabletron Systems (CS) today announced a 26 percent jump in fourth-quarter revenues and improved earnings as it ramped up expansion and enlarged its sales distribution.

Cabletron reported fourth-quarter earnings of $60.3 million, or 39 cents a share, for the quarter ending February 28; that compares with a net loss of $7.5 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding a one-time acquisition charge of $12.2 million, Cabletron would have posted net earnings of $72.6 million, or 47 cents a share. That was in line with Wall Street's expectations of 47 cents share, according to First Call.

Revenues for the quarter reached $380.6 million, up from $302 million a year ago.

"We are extremely pleased to announce our 32nd quarter of consecutive record growth," said S. Robert Levine, Cabletron's president and chief executive, in a statement.

He added that during the year the company has undertaken four acquisitions, expanded its sales channel to include more resellers, and added to its management team.

The company's year-end sales reached $1.4 billion, up 27.8 percent over the previous year. Net profits climbed to $222.1 million, or $1.43 a share, for the year compared with $144.5 million or 95 cents a share the year before.

Wall Street appeared pleased with the results, pushing the stock up 3 percent to close at 29-1/2, up 7/8.

Meanwhile, the company is intensifying competition between itself and Cisco Systems, 3Com, and Bay Networks.

Cabletron recently rolled out plans for a new high-end switch, called the SmartSwitch 6000 chassis, to compete with the switching platforms of other networking firms in the local area network market.