Oracle profits rocket 20 per cent

Oracle released some very healthy financial results on Thursday ahead of its OpenWorld 2010 user event in San Francisco.

The database and enterprise apps firm announced profits of $1.35bn (£863m) for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 covering June to August. This was up by 20 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Revenues have also grown impressively, with Oracle reporting a 48 per cent rise in sales to $7.5bn (£4.8bn).

The Oracle Q1 2011 results (PDF) highlight the potential for growth in the software market. Revenue from new software licences grew by a quarter to $1.3bn (£831m), while software update and support revenue grew by 11 per cent to $3.5bn (£2.24bn).

Operating cash flow was $8.8bn (£5.63bn) on a trailing 12-month basis.

The Sun acquisition and Exadata database appliance, which combines Oracle storage software and Sun hardware, were both picked out as highlights of the quarter.

"Our software business grew strongly in all regions, with new licence sales up 25 per cent," said Oracle co-president Safra Catz. "Our hardware business also grew faster than we expected, with Sun Solaris servers and Exadata leading the way."

Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison added that the Exadata business is now worth more than $1.5bn (£959m) for the fiscal year for Oracle.

New Oracle co-president and recently departed HP chief executive Mark Hurd also played a part in the results announcement, revealing that two new high-end systems combining Sun hardware and Oracle software will be announced at the OpenWorld show.

"We will invest over $4bn [£2.55bn] in research and development this year, so our already robust product portfolio is only going to get stronger," he said.

V3.co.uk will be attending OpenWorld in San Francisco next week, so you can keep up with all the latest news and analysis from the show, as well as live blogging from the keynote speeches starting Sunday evening, at our dedicated OpenWorld page and OpenWorld blog.