Brocade today delivered moderately disappointing fourth quarter results, which stand as an improvement over painful revenue totals turned in last quarter.

The storage switch maker reported revenue of $146m. That total marks a six per cent decline from the $156m reported in the same period last year. For the full year, Brocade pulled in $574m - a four per cent drop from 2004's $596m.

"Our GAAP revenue and reported sell-through were better than we planned and I'm very pleased with our overall performance this quarter," said Michael Klayko, Brocade's CEO. "Strong demand, solid gross margins and some one-time expense savings led to increased profitability and helped generate $39 million in cash from operations."

Brocade reported fourth quarter net income of $1.1m, down from $20m in last year's fourth quarter.

Net income for the full year was $43m, which is a solid improvement over a $34m loss in 2004.

The company expects a healthy rise in revenue during 2006 to between $660m and $672m. ®

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