Juniper Networks swung to a profit during the second quarter of 2007, spurred by an increase of product and service sales as companies buy more equipment to handle internet traffic. The company reported a $86.2m profit for the second quarter of 2007, compared to a $1.21bn loss in the same period last year.

The network equipment maker's revenue exceeded market expectations, reaching $664.9m, compared to a $646.9m average seen in analysts' crystal balls. Revenue grew 17 per cent from $567.5m in Q2 '06.

"We are pleased with our progress in the second quarter and first half of 2007, and we also remain fully aware of the ongoing work that lies ahead," said Juniper CEO Scott Kriens.

In Juniper's quarterly coniferous call, Kriens raised the company's annual revenue forecast slightly, to between $2.73bn to $2.76bn from its previous outlook of $2.6bn to $2.7bn. However, he warned that gross margins would slip about a percentage point from 67.4 per cent in Q2 due to sales of switches with less profitability.

The company forecasts third quarter revenue in the $695m to $715m range.

Juniper released a variety of products during the quarter, including the high end service-aware T1600 core router with 1.2Tbps of throughput to counter Cisco's CRS-1 offering.

Juniper also announced it has appointed Mike Rose, a former CIO of Royal Dutch Shell, to its board of directors.®

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