Oracle reports profits and an increase in sales

By Alun Williams

Posted on 19 Mar 2003 at 17:41

The database giant has reported its quarterly results and revealed a 12 per cent increase in profits on the back of a two per cent increase in sales (year on year).

For its third quarter, Oracle met analyst's expectations by declaring a net income of $571m from revenue of $2.31bn.

The market response to the results, however, was to sell Oracle stock. This move was attributed a decline in sales of new software licences - an indication of future revenues. The revenue from such licences was down four per cent to $755m.

'Given the difficult global economy and the increasing uncertainty caused by the impending war in Iraq, we were pleased to see modest revenue and operating earnings growth in our fiscal third quarter,' said Jeff Henley, Oracle Chief Financial Officer. 'We also continued to generate strong operating cash flow which exceeded $2bn for the first nine months.'

The company also reported that it had increased R&D spending by six per cent, up to $300m.

You can read the full financial figures at Oracle.com/investor.