THE MAIN Irish arm of social networking giant Facebook recorded pretax profits of almost €300,000 in its first year of operation in Ireland.
Documents just filed with the Companies Office show that Facebook Ireland Ltd recorded revenues of €15 million in the 15 months to the end of December 2009. The company recorded pretax profits of €297,688 in the period.
Last week, the Dublin-based company, which was first incorporated in Ireland in October 2008, announced it is to increase the number it employs in Dublin by 100 to 300 by next year.
The company officially opened its European headquarters in Dublin in October 2009, following other leading internet-based firms, including Google, eBay and Amazon, to Ireland.
Facebook hosts important functions for the company’s users and advertisers across the Europe Middle East and Africa region in Dublin, such as user operations, online operations, inside sales and advertising campaign delivery.
The filings show the company employed 64 people at the end of last year, with staff costs totalling €1.6 million.
The accounts confirm the company had administrative expenses totalling €14.8 million last year, resulting in an operating profit of €297,679. A tax charge of €47,252 resulted in an after-tax profit of €250,436. The company received a capital contribution of €2.8 million from its US-based parent, the accounts show.
Last week, Google confirmed Facebook was the most popular search item on its search engine this year among Irish users. The online social network was first launched in February 2004 and has more than 500 million members worldwide, with 70 per cent of users outside the US. In all, 50 per cent of internet users log on to Facebook in any given day.
Today, the privately owned company employs in excess of 1,700 employees and the establishment of the company recently formed the subject matter of a movie, The Social Network.
