Xilinx profits increase by 36%

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of US technology giant, Xilinx last year increased by 36.5% to $27.87m (€23.7m)

According to accounts just filed by Xilinx Ireland, pre-tax profits at the Dublin-based firm increased in spite of revenues decreasing by 3.3% from $569.4m to $550.79m in the 12 months to the end of March 29 last year.

Xilinx established its Dublin base for its European, Middle East and African (EMEA) markets in 1995 and numbers employed at its Irish base last year increased from 214 to 233.

The Dublin unit has paid out over $2bn in dividends to its US parent between 1999 and 2013 and in fiscal 2014 paid out an additional $15m in dividends. According to the directors’ report, “new product revenues increased in fiscal 2014 but were offset by declines in mainstream, base and support products”.

The directors state that they are satisfied with the performance in the light of prevailing market conditions and believe that the current business model will ensure that the company is profitable on an ongoing basis.

The report states the firm’s pre-tax profits representing 5% of revenues “was ahead of expectations for the year”.

The firm’s net operating expenses last year increased by 12% to $93.5m and the increase is primarily due to an increase in net R&D spending of 20% to $17.8m “which is reflective of the company’s strategy to selectively invest in R&D efforts such as new products and more advanced process development, increased headcount and higher share-based payment expense”.

Accumulated profits increased from $98.67m to $102.13m.