Profits increase more than fourfold at LinkedIn's Irish unit to €375m

Jobs and professional networking social media platform has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin, where it employs more than 2,000 people

LinkedIn offices in Dublin, home to LinkedIn's European headquarters.

Pre-tax profits at the main Irish arm of jobs and professional networking social media platform LinkedIn last year surged more than fourfold to $427m (€375m).

New accounts show LinkedIn Ireland recorded the sharp increase in pre-tax profits, from $99.5m to $427.1m, as revenues surged by 68.5% or $3.6bn, from $5.3bn to $8.93bn.

The large rises in profits and revenues are somewhat skewed as the results are for the 18-month period to the end of June last compared to a prior 12-month period.

A spokesman for LinkedIn Ireland said on Thursday: “LinkedIn’s growth reflects more members, businesses and advertisers recognising the value of our platform, tools and professional community. Ireland, where we now have over 3.5 million members, is one of the most engaged bases globally.

Dublin is central to LinkedIn’s global expansion and the company officially opened its new LinkedIn campus last month at Wilton Park.

The new campus is LinkedIn's largest office outside the United States and has more than 2,000 employees in Ireland, representing 60% of LinkedIn's EMEA workforce.

Last October, the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) imposed a €310m fine of LinkedIn Ireland after examining LinkedIn’s processing of personal data for the purposes of behavioural analysis and targeted advertising of users who have created LinkedIn profiles.

The Irish-based business of LinkedIn manages the company’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The accounts — signed off on February 10 — show the business last year recorded post-tax profits of $364.68m after incurring a corporation tax charge of $62.42m.