Red Hat profits as economy suffers

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 23 Dec 2008 at 17:22

Red Hat has reported an increase in quarterly profits, as enterprises turn to open source to cut costs.

Speaking on a conference call to investors, Red Hat chief executive Jim Whitehurst said he expected the poor economy to help the company attract new customers.

"Businesses can no longer afford the status quo of proprietary solutions. They must search for low-cost, more flexible alternatives, which favours open source and Red Hat," he said.

Red Hat's net profit in its third quarter rose to $24.3 million from $20.3 million, over a year ago. Red Hat says profits would have been higher, but for the weakness of the dollar against other currencies.

For its fourth quarter, Red Hat has bullishly forecast adjusted earnings of 19 cents to 20 cents a share, and revenues of between $166 million and $167.5 million.