THE US software company Informix is planning a major expansion of its Irish operation.

Inform ix, which employs 120 people at its European software centre in west Dublin, is experiencing huge growth in turnover, and may also give the Irish operation responsibility for the emerging Asian market.

"There are lots of things we are looking at doing in Ireland... we are going to expand the business," said Mr Ken Coulter, Informix's senior vice president responsible for its international business.

Mr Coulter, who was in Dublin with the company's chairman and chief executive, Mr Phil White, for a full meeting of the Informix board earlier this week, refused to be drawn about the exact nature or size of the expansion but said the company was very happy with its experience in Ireland. "Not one thing has gone wrong," he added.

The company would be expanding for Europe, but "may very well also add for Asia as well", according to Mr Coulter. Informix currently ships products in 16 languages from Dublin, and staff from its Irish operation have been assigned to spearhead the start up and development of the company's operations in China and Asia. "We are very pleased with the Irish operation it's been a great success," Mr Coulter said.

Informix, which claims to be the market leader in advanced database technology, yesterday reported a 38 per cent increase in turnover to $226 million (£140 million) from $164 million for its second quarter, which ended on June 30th. Pre-tax profits increased by 7 per cent to $34.3 million from $32 million.

Its northern European sales have increased by more than 60 per cent over the past 12 months, with growth in government, defence, retail, telecommunications and financial sectors. In the first six months of this year, European sales grew by 38 per cent to $174 million.