Red Hat Reports Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2009 Results

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 28, 2009.

Total revenue for the quarter was $166.2 million, an increase of 18% from the year ago quarter and 1% from the prior quarter. Subscription revenue for the quarter was $139.4 million, up 14% year-over-year and 3% from the prior quarter. For the full year, total revenue was $652.6 million, an increase of 25% over the prior year, and subscription revenue was $541.2 million, up 20% year-over-year.

GAAP operating income for the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year 2009 was $20.2 million and $82.5 million, respectively. After adjusting for stock compensation and amortization expenses, non-GAAP operating income for the fourth quarter was $39.8 million, or a 23.9% operating margin, up 70 basis points from the prior quarter and 180 basis points from the year ago quarter. Full year non-GAAP operating income was $148.4 million, an increase of 24% from the prior year.

GAAP net income for the quarter was $16.0 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared with $24.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the prior quarter and $22.0 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the year ago quarter. Non-GAAP adjusted net income for the quarter was $42.3 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, after adjusting for stock compensation, amortization and tax expense as detailed in the tables below. This compares to non-GAAP adjusted net income of $48.4 million, or $0.24 per diluted share in the prior quarter and $45.7 million, or $0.21 per diluted share in the year ago quarter. Both the prior quarter and the year ago fourth quarter included one-time gains in other income of $4.1 million and $4.7 million respectively that are not included in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter.

For the full year, GAAP net income was $78.7 million or $0.39 per diluted share, compared with $76.7 million or $0.36 per diluted share in the prior year. Non-GAAP adjusted net income for the year was $178.1 million or $0.86 per diluted share, compared to $165.3 million and $0.77 per diluted share for the fiscal year ended February 29, 2008.

Operating cash flow totaled $59.7 million for the quarter and $236.4 million for the full year. At year end, the company's total deferred revenue balance was $543.1 million, an increase of 15% on a year-over-year basis and 8% sequentially. Total cash, cash equivalents and investments as of February 28, 2009 were $846.1 million after redeeming the remaining balance of $285.5 million of convertible debentures during the quarter.

"Our ability to demonstrate real value and deliver cost savings to our customers enabled us to achieve significant new milestones during the quarter, including billings in excess of $200 million and more than 100 deals in excess of $250,000. Our value proposition is even more compelling in a challenging economic environment, and we believe that's a key driver to our solid financial results and market share gains," stated Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat. "For the full fiscal year, we achieved an impressive combination of 25% revenue growth, 24% non-GAAP operating income growth and operating cash flow of $236 million, while renewing 100% of our top 25 customers up for renewal each quarter."

"Solid execution by our associates and focused expense management on a continuing basis has enabled us to exceed our guidance for non-GAAP operating margins and EPS for the fourth quarter," stated Charlie Peters, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Red Hat. "We continue to enhance the company's already strong financial profile. We ended the fiscal year with cash and cash equivalents and investments of $846 million and essentially no debt. During fiscal year 2009, we redeemed $570 million in convertible debt and repurchased 2.9 million shares of the company's common stock, which reduced our diluted share count by more than 10%. In summary, it was a strong year in a very difficult economic climate."

Additional information on Red Hat's reported results, including a reconciliation of the non-GAAP adjusted results, are included in the financial tables below. A live webcast of Red Hat's results will begin at 5:00 pm ET today and can be accessed by the general public at Red Hat's investor relations website at http://investors.redhat.com. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the live event has ended.

For more information about Red Hat, visit www.redhat.com. For more news, more often, visit www.press.redhat.com.

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat, the world's leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with over 65 offices spanning the globe. CIOs ranked Red Hat as one of the top vendors delivering value in Enterprise Software for five consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value survey. Red Hat provides high-quality, affordable technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including JBoss Enterprise Middleware. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to the integration of acquisitions; the ability of the Company to effectively compete; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Company's growth and international operations; adverse results in litigation; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

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