Oracle profit rises 4 pct, matching Street views, despite 5 percent sales drop

Oracle net rises 4 pct, matching Street views

SAN FRANCISCO — Oracle Corp. says its quarterly profit rose 4 percent despite a 5 percent drop in sales.

The business software maker’s results reflect a familiar pattern that has emerged during the recession. Sales of new software licenses fell, while contracts for upgrades and software maintenance were up. Existing Oracle customers usually pay Oracle to do the follow-up work on their software.

Net income was $1.12 billion, or 22 cents per share, versus $1.08 billion, or 21 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, profit was 30 cents per share, matching Wall Street’s forecasts.

Sales fell 5 percent to $5.05 billion, short of analysts’ expectations for $5.25 billion.