Oracle Reports 15 Percent Income Growth over Year

CEO Larry Ellison calls grid technology and the 10g database "sparkplugs" for licensing growth as the company also reports a 9 percent rise in revenue.

Despite its relentless, multibillion-dollar hostile takeover pursuit of PeopleSoft, Oracle on Tuesday announced a 15 percent growth in its fiscal fourth-quarter net income to $990 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with net income of $850 million, or 16 cents per share, one year ago. According to the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giants earnings report for the quarter, total revenue from sales was brisk, as total revenue jumped 9 percent to $3.1 billion in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, with software revenue up 12 percent to $2.5 billion. Services revenue, however, fell 4 percent to $558 million. Oracle Corp.s full fiscal year 2004 net income also climbed, rising 16 percent to $2.7 billion. Earnings per share rose to 50 cents, up from 43 cents. Total revenue for the fiscal year reached $10.2 billion, marking a 7 percent increase, with software revenue accounting for $8.1 billion at a 12 percent rise. Services for fiscal year 2004 slipped 8 percent to $2.1 billion. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison lauded growing interest in grid technology and the rollout of Oracles 10g database earlier this year as sparkplugs that powered new license sales in the database space. "Were still early on in the adoption cycle, but the Oracle 10g database is off to a fast start," Ellison said in a statement. "The market is just beginning the move to databases and application servers running on grids of low-cost computers, and Oracle is leading the way." Just more than a year after Oracle announced its intentions to purchase all tender shares of Pleasanton, Calif.-based enterprise software maker PeopleSoft Inc., Oracle finds itself in a San Francisco federal District courthouse this week battling the U.S. Department of Justice in a civil antitrust suit over the right to acquire PeopleSoft. The DOJ and seven state attorneys general are attempting to block Oracles takeover bid on the grounds that customers would suffer if PeopleSoft were removed from the competitive software landscape. Check out eWEEK.coms Enterprise Applications Center at http://enterpriseapps.eweek.com for the latest news, reviews and analysis about productivity and business solutions.

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