(RALEIGH) -- Red Hat, Inc. reported a fiscal first quarter profit of $18.5 million. This is up 7% compared to the same period a year ago.

The Raleigh-based company is a leading provider of open source software solutions and the maker of the popular Linux operating system. The company credits its solid quarterly performance on increasing demand for its products.

Total revenue for the quarter was $174.4 million, an increase of 11% from the same quarter in the prior year. Its subscription revenue for the quarter was $148.8 million, up 14% year-over-year.

"Red Hat’s growth is driven in part by our ability to help enterprise customers save money in a challenging IT spending environment," said Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat. "Our open source solutions drive new capabilities, efficiencies and functionality into the mission critical infrastructure of our customers.”