Record net profits of $906 million (£650 million) on a turnover of $9.8 billion have been made by Sun Microsystems for the financial year to June 30th, 1998, the technology company reported yesterday.

The company, which employs 138 people at its European Software Centre at Dublin's East Point Business Park, saw its net profit figure increase by 23 per cent from the $735 million it made last year.

Turnover increased by 14 per cent, from $8.6 billion in the previous year.

Fourth quarter turnover amounted to $2.9 billion, up by 13 per cent on the $2.5 billion reported for the same period in 1997.

Net profit for the quarter was, at $288 million, up 21 per cent on the 1997 fourth quarter, excluding once-off acquisition costs. "The European market place now accounts for approximately 28 per cent of Sun Microsystems Inc's worldwide sales," the company stated.

Its chief financial officer, Mr Michael Lehman, said that the results were achieved despite unfavourable currency movements and deepening economic turmoil in Asia. The chief executive of Sun Microsystems, Mr Scott McNealy, said the company's SPARC, Soaris and Java were "proving to be the open, scaleable network computing platforms for solving complex information technology problems for customers.

"As enterprise class products from Microsoft and Intel slip further into the horizon, customers continue to reward Sun's consistent vision, strategy and delivery of network computing products and services," he said. The company, whose headquarters is in California, employs 22,000 people worldwide and is 184th on the Fortune 500 index. Its Irish staff are engaged in strategic software engineering, including software development, software localisation and system test.