Red Hat profit falls, beats Street view

SEATTLE, USA: Red Hat Inc reported lower fiscal second-quarter profit on Wednesday but still beat Wall Street forecasts as sales of its software rose sharply.

The world's biggest provider of Linux software, whose rivals for corporate customers include Novell Inc and Microsoft Corp, reported profit of $23.7 million, or 12 cents per share. That compared with $28.9 million, or 15 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter when Red Hat recorded a one-time $7.3 million tax gain.

Excluding items, it reported a profit of 19 cents per share. Wall Street was expecting 18 cents per share, on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 20 percent to $219.8 million for the quarter, helped by sales of its subscriptions to maintenance contracts that provide upgrades, help-desk support and bug fixes for Linux software. That beat analysts' average forecast of $211.5 million.

Red Hat's shares rose 1.4 percent in extended trading to $37.25 after closing at $36.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.