– IE Domain Registry records a 5% increase in turnover and 75% net new growth in .ie domains at 31 December 2014 –
The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has announced its financial results for the year ending 31 December 2014.
The company has reported a retained profit for the year of €193,462, while turnover increased by 5% to €2.72 million (2013 – €2.59 million) and Members’ Funds increased to €4.1 million at year end 2014.
Net additions[1] to the .ie domain registry grew by 75% in 2014. This new growth is reflected in a 1.3% increase in the value of invoiced registration fees to €2.9 million.
Operating profit decreased in 2014 reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment the .ie namespace with increased expenditure on supporting the registrar channel, promotion and sponsorship of .ie, staff recruitment in technical quality assurance and business development.
IEDR recorded a profit on the sale of financial investments of €132,358 in 2014 (2013 – €0). The financial asset impairment provision decreased by €80,499 in 2014 (2013 – €144,504) to €29,512 as stock markets continued to improve through 31 December 2014.
Net additions to the .ie domain registry to year end 31 December 2014 were 8,730, which is a 75.1% increase on net additions in 2013 (4,985), and amounts to a net yearly growth of 4.7%. That the .ie domain registry recorded growth in 2014 is positive, considering the economic challenges that continue to affect small- and micro-sized companies and the increased competition from new generic top level domain extensions (gTLDs) such as .restaurant, .hotel and .ninja in 2014.
At 31 December 2014, .ie had a market share of 49.5% (2013 – 47.9%), followed by .com at 27.4% (2013 – 30.6%). The new gTLDs have yet to make an impact on the Irish domain market with less than 7,000 registered by end-2014, then accounting for just 1.7% of the market.
This upward growth trajectory is set to continue into 2015. According to the recently published .ie Domain Profile Report, over 200,000.ie domains were registered for the first time at the end of Q1-2015. The Limerick-based action adventure park –www.BasecampAdventurePark.ie – was the 200,000th registered .ie domain.
The IEDR has also reported continued success of its OPTIMISE Fund. The Fund was established in response to the IEDR’s inaugural Domain Name Industry Report, which found that there was a comparatively low level of e-commerce activity on SMEs’ websites.
Now in its fifth year, the OPTIMISE Fund has assisted 60 Irish SMEs, enabling them to make greater use of web technologies to maximise their online presence. The Fund will benefit an additional 15 additional Irish micro-businesses and SMEs throughout 2015.
David Curtin, Chief Executive of IEDR, said: “2014 was a strong year for the .ie domain registry with positive growth recorded in both turnover and net yearly growth of registered .ie domains. We are extremely pleased that .ie remains the identifiably Irish domain of choice for Irish businesses. It is encouraging to see an increase in the number of individuals, communities and businesses migrating online, which is reflective of the wider economic recovery. To ensure that we remain on this positive upward trajectory, we would call on the Government to accelerate broadband and other digital initiatives to continue to improve the digital health of the online community.
“We are pleased that the board of the IEDR has approved a special Strategic Development Fund to be expended in 2015 on a range of projects designed to deepen internet awareness and uptake in Ireland,” he added.
Later this year, Irish businesses will be able to register two-letter .ie domain names for the first time, with up to 676 possible two-letter domain name combinations available (such as hp.ie or ms.ie). These uniquely memorable names are highly valuable and a hotly-contested auction process is expected for many of the names.
The IEDR is also exploring a second policy change that, if passed, will allow domain holders to sell the ‘right to use’ their .ie domain, thereby unlocking the potential intrinsic value of the .ie domain name through an aftermarket.
The IEDR is the official registry for .ie internet domain names and maintains the database of registered .ie domain names.
//ENDS
For more information contact:
Amanda Glancy, PR360: amanda@pr360.ie; 087 227 3108
Nuala Ryan, PR360: nuala@pr360.ie; 083 421 2733
Notes to editor:
Link to IEDR Annual Report and Review 2014:
https://www.iedr.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/IEDR-AnnualReport-2014.pdf
Extract from the audited financial statements of the IEDR Annual Report and Review 2014:
About IEDR
The IEDR is the official registry for .ie internet domain names and it maintains the database of .ie registered domain names.
The IEDR originated as a spinout from University College Dublin, becoming an independent, separate limited company 15 years ago in July 2000. Under the terms of the Companies Acts, it is defined as a public company.
The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) is responsible for the management and administration of Ireland’s official Internet address .ie, in the interest of the Irish and global internet communities. The IEDR operates the domain name system (DNS) for the .ie namespace, facilitates a dispute resolution service with WIPO and operates a public ‘Whois’ lookup service for .ie domains.
The IEDR is a managed registry, which means that there are policies and procedures governing the registration of .ie domain names. New applications are reviewed to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of registration. This contrasts with dot.com or dot.eu where there is no manual review, and the domain applied for will be automatically registered – once the name is available.
Only the IEDR can administer and manage the .ie namespace. These roles and responsibilities are undertaken as a public service. The IEDR liaises with government departments, governing bodies, trade associations and abides by internet best-practice principles while still operating as an independent public company.
The IEDR’s mission is to provide unique, identifiably Irish domain names along with registry and related services to the local and international internet community.
A .ie domain name requires a connection with the island of Ireland and a legitimate claim to the chosen name to register a domain.
A .ie domain name has a number of distinct advantages when compared against alternatives. These include: letting consumers know that a business is Irish; giving customers a greater sense of security particularly when buying online from a known local business; and providing more choices of desirable names, as a .ie is more likely to be available than a similar .com.
Later this year, when the policy changes are approved by the policy advisory committee (PAC), we expect that Irish businesses will be able to register one- and two-letter .ie domain names for the first time, with up to 676 possible two-letter domain name combinations available. These uniquely memorable names are highly valuable and we expect a hotly-contested auction process for many of the names. The PAC is also considering a policy change to allow domain names in Irish (names with fadas on the vowels) and, separately, a policy change to allow .ie domain holders to sell the ‘right to use’ their .ie domain.
[1]Net additions equals total new registrations less deletions and non-renewals
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