Oracle’s net income jumps 25 pct on bump from Sun Microsystems, stronger software sales

Oracle’s net jumps 25 pct on Sun, software bump

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Oracle Corp.’s net income for the most recent quarter jumped 25 percent on stronger sales of database and other business software and a bump from the acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

The results mark the third straight quarter that Oracle sales of new software licenses increased. That’s an important category that helps measure companies’ appetite for new technologies.

It was also Oracle’s first full quarter with Sun Microsystems under its belt.

Oracle, the world’s No. 1 database maker, paid $7.4 billion for the struggling maker of computer servers. Oracle has been under pressure to cut costs at Sun and prove the acquisition of its longtime partner was worthwhile. Oracle has announced two rounds of layoffs affecting Sun, but has not disclosed the number of affected workers.

Oracle’s vision is to build servers and software that work better together so it can mount a bigger challenge to IBM Corp., which is already doing the same thing.

Oracle said after the market closed Thursday that its net income was $2.4 billion, or 46 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter that ended May 31. That compares with $1.9 billion, or 38 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Oracle’s profit would have been 60 cents per share, better than the 54 cents per share Wall Street expected.

Revenue jumped 39 percent to $9.5 billion, from $6.9 billion, matching the average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Shares in Oracle, which is based in Redwood Shores, rose 44 cents, or 2 percent, to $22.66 in after-hours trading. Earlier, it fell 46 cents to close at $22.22.