Software firm sees profits slump 46%

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of software firm, Novell Software dropped by 46%, to $50m (€44.3m), last year in spite of revenues increasing.

Newly filed accounts for the US-owned Novell Ireland Software Ltd show a drop in profit from $93.1m, but a rise in annual revenues from $273.48m to $286.89m.

The company, based at the Sandyford Business Estate in Dublin, acts as the principal for the Novell group operations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa territories. The firm develops, sells and installs enterprise quality software that is positioned in the operating systems and infrastructure software layers of the IT industry. The firm — which employs 91 people at its Dublin base — last year paid dividends of $85m following a dividend payout of $50m in 2013.