Oracle Irish unit slides to €10m loss as cost rises bite

Gordon Deegan

The main Irish subsidiary of US software and hardware giant, Oracle went into the red last year in spite of revenues increasing by 8pc to €8.7bn.

New figures lodged by Oracle EMEA Ltd to the Companies Office show that the firm recorded a pre-tax loss of €10m - compared to a pre-tax profit of €109m in 2015.

"Although the company suffered an operating loss in the current year, the expectation is that the company will continue to trade successfully and return to profitability in future periods," the directors stated.

They added that the loss in the current year is due to an increase in both distribution costs and administration expenses.

They said the increases are driven by an adverse foreign-exchange impact, primarily to do with fluctuations experienced on the Russian rouble, and increases in certain provisions affecting the EMEA region.

The company's principal activities consist of the manufacture and sale of computer hardware and software products in Europe, Middle East and Africa markets, together with the associated translation, finance and marketing services.

The revenues generated by the Irish arm represent 25.5pc of Oracle's global revenues of €33.99bn ($37bn) in the year to May 31 last.

The directors' report reveals that "in fiscal 2016 Oracle EMEA Ltd invested €41m in research and development to enhance existing and develop new technologies".

On the firm's future developments, the directors state that the company intends to continue operating in the areas of software and cloud, hardware systems and services business, consolidating recent acquisitions and to increase profitability.

The filings show that the firm's tax liability for the year was €32m compared to a tax bill of €39m in 2015.

The shareholder funds stood at €2.2bn with the company's cash pile increasing marginally to €756m.