Friday, October 31, 2008

Internet products boost Akamai Q3 sales

Akamai Technologies Inc. posted a 22 percent year-over-year increase in revenue for the third quarter. Akamai CEO Paul Sagan cited “strong growth” in new products, such as application performance services and dynamic site accelerations, and also pointed to the company’s $251 million cash flow so far this year.

Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM), a Cambridge content delivery company, reported net income of $33.4 million on revenue of $197.3 million in the September quarter. That profit was up 37 percent over the same quarter last year. Akamai’s list of customers under long-term service contracts grew by 83, to a record 2,808, the company said in a release.

Earlier this month, Akamai announced plans to use $95 million of that cash to purchase New York-based acerno Inc., an online co-operative of shopping and purchase data for online advertising. The deal awaits approval by acerno’s shareholders. 

Akamai, founded in 1998, operates an Internet content delivery network. Last year, the company acquired California’s Netli Inc. in a stock deal worth about $117.6 million. In 2006, Akamai Technologies acquired San Diego, Calif.-based Nine Systems Corp. Inc. in a combination of stock and cash worth an estimated $160 million.

The company employs about 1,300 workers. For 2007, Akamai reported a profit of $101 million on revenue of $636.4 million.