Database king makes its numbers


15 Sep 2004

Buoyant database licence sales helped increase Oracle’s first quarter earnings per share 18pc to US$0.10, compared to the first quarter last year. Net income grew 16pc to US$509m while revenues were up 7pc to US$2.2bn compared to the first quarter last year. However, Oracle’s applications business nose-dived, with licence revenues falling 36pc.

Quarterly software revenues were up 12pc to US$1.7bn with new software licence sales up 7pc to US$563m, and software licence updates and product support were ahead 14pc to US$1.2bn. First quarter operating margin rose to 32pc versus 30pc last year.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison credited the jump in database sales to the success of its 10g database. “Since we introduced 10g, our database new licence sales have grown 16pc, 15pc and 19pc in the last three quarters respectively,” he said.

“Database grids mark a new generation of much faster and more reliable database technology that runs on groups of low cost PC servers. Oracle is first to market with database grid technology and our database sales are trending up,” he added.

“Trailing 12-month operating income and margin were at an all time high at US$3.961bn and 38.5pc respectively,” said Oracle CFO Harry L You. “This new level of performance reflects Oracle’s continued success in providing customers with innovative and integrated software solutions and services.”

The strong set of results comes just days after a US federal judge gave Oracle the go-ahead to acquire smaller rival PeopleSoft. Making the results announcement, Oracle senior executives affirmed the company’s determination to complete the acquisition.

By Brian Skelly