Cisco Systems Inc. saw a 25 percent rise in profit in its fourth quarter of 2007 as customers spent more money, the company reported on Tuesday.

    The equipment maker’s fourth-quarter net income climbed to $1.93 billion, or 31 cents a share, up from $1.54 billion, or 25 cents, a year earlier. Sales increased 18 percent to $9.43 billion in the quarter that ended July 28; the numbers beat analysts’ expectations.

    "As we turn our attention to the next fiscal year, we believe that we are headed into a new era in networking that we define as the second phase of the Internet,” said John Chambers, Cisco’s chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement. “We expect that this phase will be driven by collaboration and Web 2.0 technologies and will become an increasingly influential market trend for businesses.”

    Cisco’s sales for the full fiscal year reached $34.9 billion, up 23 percent from fiscal 2006. The company attributed the increase to sales following the close of the Scientific Atlanta acquisition last year.

    Cisco stock closed 19 cents higher on the earnings news at $29.69.