Oracle Q4 net surges 25% to $2.36 bn

Software major Oracle Corp has reported a 25 per cent jump in its net income to $2.36 billion for the three-month period ending May 31, 2010, on account of growth in new software licence sales and buyout of Sun Microsystems.

The company had a net income of $1.89 billion in the year-ago period, Oracle said in a statement on Thursday.

The total revenue rose by 39 per cent from the year-ago period to $9.5 billion in the fourth quarter ended May 31, 2010.

"We executed better than expected on both the top and bottom line for the quarter," said Oracle CFO Jeff Epstein.
    
The company attributed the jump in earnings to new software licences and the buyout of Sun Microsystems this year.
    
"We estimate that Sun contributed over $400 million to non-GAAP operating income in our Q4. We have increased confidence that we will meet or exceed our goal of Sun contributing $1.5 billion to non-GAAP operating income in FY 2011, and $2.0 billion in FY 2012," said Oracle president Safra Catz.
    
Oracle said that sales of new software licences grew 14 per cent to $3.1 billion during the quarter, compared to the year-ago period. The company had projected that software sales would rise between 3 and 13 per cent.
    
In addition, Oracle's board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.05 per share.
    
For the year ended May 31, 2010, Oracle posted a net income of $6.13 billion, compared to $5.59 billion in the year-ago period. The company's total revenue was up 15 per cent from the previous fiscal to $26.82 billion.
    
Oracle president Charles Phillips said, "Over the last 12 months, Oracle's applications business has grown 5 per cent on a constant dollar basis while SAP's business has declined 24 per cent over the previous four quarters. This trend has been going on for a long time. Oracle's applications business has grown 60 per cent in the last four years, while SAP's business is 7 per cent smaller than it was four years ago."
    
Earlier, in January this year, Oracle said it had completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.