Pre-tax profits at Iona Technologies jumped to $4.5 million (€5.2 million) for the three months to end September, up from $1.2 million for the same quarter last year.
Revenue at the Dublin-based enterprise portal company, which is quoted in Dublin and on Nasdaq, was up 51 per cent in third quarter to $39.9 million. Profits after tax improved to $3.9 million from $961,000 for the corresponding quarter of 1999. Despite solid results Iona shares were down 11 per cent to $62-3/4 by midday on Nasdaq.
Earnings per share at 16 cents were up on the five cents generated in the third quarter last year. When amortisation and acquisition related costs are excluded, underlying profits after tax rose to $5.7 million from $2.4 million while earnings per share doubled to 24 cents.
In the three months to the end of September, underlying operating margins improved to 14.2 per cent from 11.5 per cent in the second quarter largely because of tight control of overheads and lower spending on research and development. The latest results show a strong increase in revenue from product sales - up to $27 million from $18 million in the third quarter of 1999. Revenue from services rose to $12.6 million from $8.5 million.
But the geographic distribution of revenue and the division of revenue between products and services disimproved. Some 73 per cent of revenue in the third quarter came from the Americas compared with 66 per cent in the second quarter. The proportion of revenue from the high margin product area dipped to 68 per cent from normal levels of about 70 per cent.
