Irish unit of open source software developers Red Hat sees profits jump

A Cork-based subsidiary of open source software specialist Red Hat reported a sharp rise in revenues and profits last year, recently lodged accounts show.

Red Hat Ltd, whose parent acquired Irish software firm Feed Henry for €63.5 million in September 2014, recorded a pretax profit of €33.2 million for the 12 months ending February 2016. This compares with a profit before tax of €26.6 million a year earlier.

Turnover for the company, which also has offices in Dublin and Waterford, the latter a result of the Feed Henry acquisition, rose to €430.7 million from €341.2 million a year earlier.

Distribution costs increased to €362.5 million from €289.5 million as administrative expenses rose to €35.8 million from €25.8 million.

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The Irish unit employed 98 people during the reporting period with staff costs totalling €17.4 million, as against €13.4 million in the preceding year.

Red Hat Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Round Pond, which is incorporated in Ireland. Its ultimate parent is North Carolina-based Red Hat Inc, which reported revenues of €2.05 billion for the year ending February 2016.