Red Hat nearly doubled its profit in the third quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, it said on Wednesday.

The Linux vendor reported diluted net income of US$24.5 million for the three-month period to Nov. 30, compared to US$12.4 million for the same quarter in 2004. Diluted net income per share was US$0.12, up from US$0.06 the year earlier.

Revenue came in at US$73.1 million, a 44 percent gain over third-quarter 2004 revenue of US$50.9 million.

The results reflected investments in personnel and infrastructure along with improvements in the company's day-to-day operations, said Charlie Peters, Red Hat's executive vice president and chief financial officer, in a news release.

The company's subscription revenue increased 54 percent year-over-year, coming in at US$60.2 million. Early last month, Red Hat officials said they had signed up 37,000 customers over the last three quarters, many of whom are small- to medium-sized enterprises.