Oracle posted its first USD 10 billion quarter this week when it
reported earnings for its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter, although
hardware sales were disappointing. Sparc hardware, acquired with
Sun Microsystems in 2010, has been a target for growth in 2011. It
contributed USD 1.2 billion of the total in the fourth quarter but
declined 6 percent over the same period a year ago.
Oracle had been building toward a USD 10 billion quarter all year,
with total revenues coming in at USD 7.5 billion in the first
quarter, USD 8.6 billion in the second and USD 8.8 billion in the
third. Oracle's fourth quarter is the one in which it performs some
of its steepest discounting to close sales and reach numbers
targeted for the year.
But the figures show that Oracle's application software,
middleware, and enterprise database business are pulling out of the
recession and gaining strength. Total revenues were USD 10.8
billion in the quarter, up 13 percent over the same period a year
ago. New software license revenue, while not the biggest component
of the total, demonstrated the largest growth, up 19 percent to USD
3.7 billion. Oracle's mainstream revenue is its software update and
support, which were up 15 percent and yielded USD 4 billion.
Operating income was up 32 percent to USD4.4 billion,
according to generally accepted accounting principles, thanks in
part to the completion of the Sun deal last year, which cost
Oracle USD100 million in closing costs in its fiscal 2010
fourth quarter. Oracles GAAP operating margin was 40 percent, while
GAAP net income was up 36 percent to USD 3.2 billion.
Earnings per share in the quarter were 62 cents, up 34 percent
compared to the same period the year before.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and co-presidents Safra Catz and Mark Hurd
were all on the earnings call announcing the results Thursday, a
task often fielded by Catz by herself. They noted an improvement in
sales efficiency and the addition of more than 800 new hires to the
pre-sales and sales roles. They are committed to continue to expand
the sales force in pursuit of a larger share of the total amount
spent on software by Oracle customers.
"It was a margin game for Oracle in FY 4Q11--and the company won
big," wrote Elizabeth Henlin, an analyst at Technology Business
Research, in a commentary on the quarter. "These results more than
deliver on Oracle's commitments in recent quarters (particularly
after the Sun acquisition) to run a profitable business," she
said.
Results for the year showed Oracle's core business customers
climbing out of the effects of the recession and resuming spending.
Total revenues were up 33 percent to USD 35.6 billion. New software
license revenues increased 23 percent to USD 9.2 billion. Software
license updates and support were up 13 percent to USD 14.8 billion.
Hardware system revenues were USD 4.4 billion. Ellison announced at
the start of the year that he expected Oracle to sell USD 1 billion
in hardware in the first quarter, and the firm stuck close to that
objective through successive quarters, even as software sales grew
strongly.
Operating income for the year was up 33 percent to USD 12 billion,
while operating margins were 34 percent. GAAP net income was up 39
percent to USD 8.5 billion and GAAP earnings per share were up 33
percent to USD 2.22.
"In addition to record setting software sales, our Exadata and
Exalogic systems also make a strong contribution to our growth in
Q4," said Oracle President Mark Hurd. With 1,000 Exadata machines
installed worldwide, Oracle plans to triple the number in fiscal
2012, he said in the announcement.
"In FY11, Oracle's database business experienced its fastest growth
in a decade," said Ellison. "Over the past few years, we added
features to the Oracle database for both cloud computing and
in-memory databases that led to increased sales. Lately we've been
focused on the big business opportunity present by Big Data," he
said.
Catz termed the results "strong organic growth ... with almost
no help from acquisitions."
Source:
InformationWeek USA