Brocade continues green streak

Storage switch maker Brocade continued its run of financial good form by posting its best ever revenues, and said its acquisiton of arch-rival McData could close as soon as January.

Brocade brought in $208.8m in Q4, 44 per cent up on revenues for the same period in 2005. It beat its own best expectations of $205m, which it had already upped from earlier estimates.

On a GAAP basis profit hit $20.0m, or $0.07 per share, up on Q4 2005 when Brocade barely broke even by making $1.1m. For the financial year overall GAAP profit was $67.6m on revenues of $750.6m, compared to $43.1m on revenues of $574.1m for 2005.

McData's earnings report as a standalone company earlier this month revealed it shrank in market share and revenue during what Brocade hopes will be its last year in the game. Cisco's storage revenues meanwhile increased last quarter, but nowhere near as quickly as Brocade's.

In a conference call, CFO Richard Deranleau said he expected the Federal Trade Commission's interest in the $713m acquisition of McData to come to nothing. He said he expected the deal to be approved and go through as soon as January.

CEO Michael Klayko said: "The success in our Storage Area Network (SAN) business has helped us to drive returns this year while at the same time allowing us to invest for future growth." The firm is working on a move into File Area Networking (FAN) and expanding its services division.

Shares in Brocade gained 3.7 per cent in after-hours trading last night. ®