Oracle enjoys blistering quarter

Database software giant sees a 27 per cent increase in turnover for Q3

Oracle’s chief executive Larry Ellison has claimed the software giant is substantially outgrowing rivals SAP and BEA after shattering targets for the three months to February.

The vendor recorded a 35 per cent year-on-year spike in net profits to $1.03bn in its fiscal third quarter. Turnover rose 27 per cent to $4.4bn.

Safra Catz, Oracle’s president and chief executive, emphasised that Oracle had exceeded guidance on “every metric” with “strong revenue growth across all product lines and geographies”. EMEA turnover grew by 27 per cent to $1.5bn.

But Catz left it to Ellison and Oracle president Charles Phillips to launch a withering assault on two of Oracle’s key rivals.

Ellison said Oracle had grown middleware license sales by 82 per cent in the third quarter. “This compares to BEA’s growth rate of 8 per cent in their most recently reported quarter,” he added. “Not only are we growing faster than BEA, we’re now larger than they are in the middleware business.”

Buoyed by its recent acquisition spree, Oracle’s new application license sales rose 57 per cent in the third quarter. Phillips said this compared to seven per cent growth for SAP in its most recent quarter.

“Although SAP is still larger than Oracle in the applications business, we are closing the gap consistently and rapidly,” Phillips claimed.

Oracle has spent around $20bn to bolster its business applications portfolio since 2004. Recent purchases include ERP giant PeopleSoft, CRM powerhouse Siebel and business intelligence stalwart Hyperion (CRN, 1 March).