New products, acquisitions spur Akamai's 2012 revenue to $1.3B

Akamai Technologies has reported a positive 2012 financial performance, with total revenue growing 19 percent to US$1.37 billion. This is on the back of new products, strategic acquisitions, and improved margins from network efficiencies, the CEO said.
In a statement Thursday, the company reported fourth quarter revenue increased 9 percent over the previous quarter to US$378 million. This, in turn, contributed to the company's overall revenue performance of US$1.37 billion--which was an improvement of 2011's US$1.16 billion, it noted.
Net income, in accordance to U.S. GAAP, for the fourth quarter was US$68 million, while full-year net income came up to US$204 million, Akamai added. The company's cash from operations for 2012 was US$530 million, or 39 percent of revenue, which was "consistent" with the prior year. It now has over US$1 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, it stated.

Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai, said in the statement: "With strong revenue and profit performance in the fourth quarter, Akamai closed out 2012 with record results on both the top and bottom line."
"Throughout the year, we announced new products across every solution line, closed a record number of strategic acquisitions, and achieved margin expansion through continued improvement in our network efficiency even as we expanded its capacity worldwide to meet rising demand for Akamai services. We believe these efforts have positioned us well to help our customers capitalize on the opportunities, and mitigate the challenges, of conducting business online."

The company had made a couple of buys to improve its content delivery network (CDN) and front-end optimization capabilities, which is increasingly relevant given more employees are using their mobile devices to access corporate networks for work.
In February 2012, Akamai announced it acquired Blaze Software, which provides front-end optimization technology to complement its own acceleration products. This was followed by its purchase of CDN operator Verivue in November, which would provide a boost to and complement its Aura Network Solutions line of managed content delivery network provisions.