Profit falls at LinkedIn’s Irish arm despite revenue rise

Profits at LinkedIn’s Irish arm fell by more than 50 per cent last year while revenue rose $483 million (€417 million), recently-filed accounts show. The Irish business did not pay a dividend to its parent company.

Turnover for the year at LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited was $3.2 billion, up from $2.76 billion a year earlier. Costs rose to $1.8 billion, up from $1.4 billion in 2019, with gross profit of $1.4 billion.

Rising costs led to a $25 million fall in operating profit.

LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. The Irish arms of the professional social network unit, which manages LinkedIn's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa recorded pretax profit of $124.2 million, less than half the $294 million recorded in 2019.

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The 2019 figures included $147.8 million in interest on loans, mostly to Microsoft Global Finance, and a $46.5 million profit. The 2020 profit figures were also hit by a decrease in interest income arising from a fall in interest rates.

Dividend

Profit after tax fell to $103.5 million, down from $225.1 million in 2019, with the company paying $20.7 million in tax for the year.

LinkedIn paid no dividend for the year, compared with a payout of $200 million in 2019.

Staff numbers at the subsidiary also increased over the year, with LinkedIn adding just under 200 employees to its payroll. The company employed 1,810 people at the end of last year, with staff costs rising to $288 million for the year.

The increase comes as LinkedIn continues to recruit to support the growth in its activities. LinkedIn has seen a significant increase in both user engagement and user base during 2020, adding 80 million members throughout the year to a total of almost 740 million members as the company continued to investment in the platform.

Initiatives

LinkedIn has also been involved in training initiatives with Microsoft through LinkedIn Learning, as part of a Covid-19 reskilling programme designed to help people develop the necessary skills for employment in the technology sector.

The company has subsidiaries based in 17 countries – Britain, Canada, India, France, Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden, Brazil, Austria, Malaysia and Mexico.