Red Hat made solid strides over the past year, posting a boost in revenue and income for its first quarter.

Red Hat reported total Q1 revenue of $41.6m - a 53 percent rise over the same quarter last year. Net income surged as well, increasing 603 percent to $10.7m. Red Hat managed to pump out $30.1m in cash during the quarter, ending the period with cash and investments totaling $964m.

"Red Hat continued to show consistent execution in the first quarter of fiscal 2005, as evidenced by a strong sequential growth in subscription volumes, gross margins, and operating margins", stated Kevin Thompson, Red Hat's CFO. "Cash flow from operations once again remained strong, representing 72% of total revenues in the quarter".

Red Hat's shares plummeted earlier this week when Thompson surprised investors by saying he would leave the company. The CFO has agreed to stay on until a replacement is found.

Looking back at the first quarter, Red Hat saw operating system subscriptions hit 98,000 - a 13 percent sequential increase.

Investors again sent Red Hat's shares lower on the financial news as they expected higher revenue totals. In the after-hours markets, Red Hat dropped close to 10 percent, at the time of this report, to $22.39. It started the week at $26 per share. ®

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