Oracle Q4 net up 36% to $3.2 billion

NEW YORK: Oracle Corp reported a 36 per cent surge in net income to $3.2 billion in the three-month period ended May 31, 2011, driven by growth in software sales.

In the year-ago period, the software giant had a net income of USD 2.38 billion, Oracle said in a statement.

Oracle has attributed its robust quarter numbers to strong growth in software demand along with sales of Exadata and Exalogic systems, while the company has recorded a decline in hardware business.

Total revenues for the fourth quarter increased to $10.8 billion from USD 9.5 billion in the previous year quarter, representing a growth of 13 per cent.

New software license sales, which are the main contributor to the company's growth, grew by 19 per cent to $3.7 billion.

"In Q4, we achieved a 19 per cent new software license growth rate with almost no help from acquisitions," Oracle President and CFO Safra Catz said.

However, Oracle, maker of database software, may not be benefiting as much as predicted from its acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc as sales of hardware products declined 6 per cent to $1.16 billion.

The software firm has also tried to improve the unit's profitability by discontinuing sales of less expensive products and emphasising its high-performance Exadata and Exalogic computer servers.

"In addition to record setting software sales, our Exadata and Exalogic systems also made a strong contribution to our growth in Q4," Oracle President Mark Hurd said, adding "Today there are more than 1,000 Exadata machines installed worldwide. Our goal is to triple that number in FY'12."

Meanwhile, Oracle also announced that its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share of outstanding common stock.

For the full year, net income jumped 39 per cent to $8.5 billion on $35.6 billion in revenue, a rise of 33 per cent.