Oracle, after a tumultuous 2009 during which it acquired Sun Microsystems
and battled IBM and SAP
in the markets, reported March 25 that it came through the last quarter in good
financial shape—despite the expensive legal and regulatory issues surrounding
the Sun deal.
The enterprise database and middleware maker's quarterly profit slipped by 11
percent due to its digestion of the $7.4 billion deal that brought it Sun.
Nonetheless, the company reported profit of $1.19 billion, or 23 cents per
share, for the quarter ended Feb. 28.
The profit margin was down from $1.33 billion, or 26 cents per share, in 2009.
Oracle's buyout
of Sun closed on Jan. 27. Oracle Chief Financial Officer Jeff Epstein said the
acquisition added $458 million in revenue to the company's fiscal third quarter
but restructuring and operating costs took their toll on the bottom line.
"The Sun integration is going even better than we expected," Oracle
President Safra Catz told listeners on a conference call. "We believe that
Sun will make a significant contribution to our fourth-quarter earnings per
share as well as meet the profitability goals we set for next year."
Oracle's third-quarter GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) total
revenues were up 17 percent to $6.4 billion over 2009, while non-GAAP total
revenues were up 18 percent to $6.5 billion.
New licensing revenue from database and middleware products improved by 13
percent, Epstein said.
CEO and co-founder Larry Ellison told
conference call listeners that the company continues to snare "huge chunks
of market share" from Germany-based rival SAP.
"SAP's products are fraying around the
edges," Ellison said. "They're running on 25-year-old code. Our
products beat them in so many ways."
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