Linux company sees revenue jump

MandrakeSoft, the French Linux distributor, says it is on track to profitability by the end of this year, following a sharp increase in revenue and some cost cutting. The results buck the general trend of the high-tech industry in general and Linux companies in particular, which have both faced hard times due to the downturn in technology spending.

The company said late on Monday that its operating loss for its financial third quarter, ending in June, was one-fourth that of the same quarter last year, dropping from 3.12 million euros to 790,000 euros. Losses have been falling steadily every quarter for the past year. The improved situation was largely due to higher revenues, which hit 1.6 million euros for the quarter, following the release of Mandrake Linux 8.2 in April. Revenue was 1.18 million euros for the third quarter last year.

ZDNet U.K.'s Matthew Broersma reported from London.

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