Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. reported late Tuesday a small profit for its 2008 fiscal year from a combination of cost cuts and slightly higher sales.

Camarillo-based Vitesse reported net income of $16.6 million (7 cents per share) for the year ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $21.6 million (-10 cents) a year ago.

Net revenues rose 3 percent to nearly $229 million. The company had charges of $10.8 million related to professional fees for completion of an internal accounting investigation and actions to improve internal controls. The company’s top executives were ousted in a stock option back-dating scandal two years ago.

The company, which was delisted from the Nasdaq and now trades on the Pink Sheets, did not provide separate fourth quarter results.

“Vitesse has emerged from some very formidable times as a stronger and profitable business,” said Chief Executive Chris Gardner, in a statement. “While we still have some challenges ahead, we now have a sound base on which to build, and we remain as committed as ever to improving shareholder value.”

Vitesse, which makes chips for telecommunications networks, last year paid $8.7 million to settle shareholder lawsuits over the backdating of employee stock options.

The company was among four cited in a March 2006 Wall Street Journal article about questionable stock option practices, which allowed executives to maximize their returns by choosing grant dates that coincided with low share prices. A subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission probe into backdating practices unveiled widespread abuse by companies nationwide.

Co-founder and former chief executive Louis Tomasetta, former executive vice president Eugene Hovanec and former finance chief Yatin Mody were fired a few months later after Vitesse launched its own internal probe. Vitesse said the stock option grants were backdated for the executives’ financial benefit and documents altered to cover it up.