McAfee Irish unit profits rise 50%

PRE-tax profits at the main Irish unit of US security software maker, McAfee, increased last year by more than 50% to €21 million.

Accounts just filed with the Companies Office show Cork-based McAfee Ireland Ltd increased its pre-tax profits by 52% to the end of December last year after increasing turnover 5% from €323.7m to €340.6m.

Last year, McAfee – which has its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in Cork – announced the creation of an additional 120 jobs at its Cork base.

In August of this year, Intel agreed to buy McAfee’s global operation for $7.68 billion (€5.6bn) in cash in an effort to boost its security offerings.

McAfee Ireland’s profits last year reduced the company’s accumulated losses from €71.8m to €53.3m.

McAfee, which established its Irish operations in 2004, provides anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and intrusion prevention.

The company’s cost of sales increased from €17.3m to €20.9m, while its administrative expenses increased from €293.8m to €298.9m.

The accounts show that the company’s operating profits increased 65% from €12.49m to €20.7m. The company’s pre-tax profits were boosted by €772,859 in interest receivable.

An analysis of the company’s turnover shows that €228.9m was generated in EU countries with €111.6m in non-EU countries. The figures show that the firm’s staff costs last year increased by 15% from €7.4m to €8.5m with staff numbers increasing from 163 to 178 with 103 engaged in administration; 70 in technical support and five in sales and marketing.

Functions carried out at the Cork base include finance, procurement, localisation, order processing and customer care for its network of resellers. The figures show that remuneration for the company’s directors remained at the same level last year at €516,643.

The accounts show that during the year, the company incurred costs of €6.8m on product research.

The ultimate parent company is McAfee Inc, a Californian company quoted on the New York Stock Exchange. It has more than 6,100 staff and had revenues of $1.92 billion (€1.4bn) in 2009. Last year, McAfee confirmed that 11 sites in Europe had been considered before Cork was ultimately chosen for the investment.