Database giant Oracle has reported revenues of US$2.5bn in the second quarter, which the company attributed to a recovery in technology spending. The company reported earnings of 12 cents per share on revenue of US$2.5bn for the second quarter, ended 30 November.
Revenue grew 8pc compared with the same quarter last year, while earnings rose 2 cents per share. New software licence sales climbed 13pc to $849m.
The company said its Q2 results signals a growing willingness among businesses to buy IT products after three years of slack spending. “There is an upturn, but the upturn isn’t dramatic,” Oracle boss Larry Ellison is reported to have said.
In the third quarter, the company expects revenue to grow by between 7pc and 10pc. It expects that new software licence revenue will rise 5pc to 15pc in the third quarter, which ends 29 February. For its fiscal year 2004, the company expects “modest spending improvement”.
In Europe, the vice president of Oracle EMEA, Sergio Giacoletto, said the quarter was marked by significant product developments. “With the upcoming release of Oracle 10g Grid Computing, we will provide the first grid-ready solution in the marketplace and offer organisations the most powerful and cost-effective way to manage their information and business applications.
“Additionally, we have furthered our commitment to Europe’s millions of small and medium sized enterprises with the launch of Oracle Standard Edition One of our database, and with additional modules for our applications offering, E-Business Suite Special Edition. We also saw continued demand for our solutions in the European Union accession countries and across most industry sectors, particularly in financial and public services,” he concluded.
By John Kennedy
