Red Hat announces fourth quarter and fiscal year 2010 earnings

American Linux distributor Red Hat has announced its earnings for the fourth quarter and for the full fiscal year ending on the 28th of February 2010. Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat, said that, "With double digit revenue growth and record billings, our fourth quarter capped off a year of solid performance, moving us closer to our milestone revenue goal of a billion dollars".

The company reported a total revenue of $195.9 million for the fourth quarter 2010 fiscal year – an increase of 18% compared to the same quarter just one year ago. According to the company's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2010 results, subscription revenue for the quarter totalled $169.2 million – an increase of 21% compared Q4 2009. Quarterly figures for sales of training and services, however, only increased slightly, while net income rose $7 million to $23.4 million for the quarter.

Year-over-year results were also favourable for Red Hat with an 15% increase to $748.2 million in total revenue and an 18% jump in subscription revenue reaching $638.7 million. Net income for the fiscal year rose from $78.7 million in 2009 to $87.3 million. Charlie Peters, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Red Hat said "This year has been about consistent execution in the most difficult economic conditions in our lifetime,".

Following its earnings report, the company also announced that it would be re-purchasing up to $300 million of the company's common stock, replacing the previous $250 million re-purchase program.

See also:

• Red Hat Summit and JBoss World agenda posted, a report from The H.
• Health check: Red Hat Linux, a feature from The H.

(crve)