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Oracle trounces estimates
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September 10, 1998: 8:46 p.m. ET
Database company earns 20 cents in first quarter, beats 16-cent projections
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Strong growth in the United States and Europe helped database giant Oracle Corp. beat first-quarter earnings estimates by 4 cents a share.
The Redwood Shores, Calif. company earned $195 million, or 20 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter ending Aug. 31. That's well above profits of $8.47 million, or 1 cent a share, in the quarter a year ago.
Those numbers handily beat First Call's analyst consensus of 16 cents a share.
Revenue grew to $1.74 billion from $1.36 billion a year ago. Database revenues grew 25 percent to $1.2 billion in the quarter. Applications and services revenue grew 37 percent to $582.4 million.
The good news sent Oracle (ORCL) shares to 24-1/2 in after-hours trading, up from their close of 22-1/8.
Oracle President and Chief Operating Officer Ray Lane called the period "a critical transition quarter."
"We continued to grow in the database business with outstanding results in the U.S. and Europe. We really focused our applications business and achieved several significant competitive wins. Our services business continues to set new records...," he said.
Revenue growth was strongest in the Americas, posting a 37 percent jump. Europe, Middle East and Africa revenue was up 33 percent. The big dip in the quarter occurred in Asia Pacific where revenues dropped 14 percent over last year.
Oracle Chief Financial Officer Jeff Henley told CNNfn's "Digital Jam" Thursday Oracle's business in Japan improved during the quarter, but the rest of Asia remained in a slump.
However, he said Oracle hopes the current downturn in Asia will turn around soon.
"We're hopeful that at some time in the not so distant future that things (in Asia) will start improving.
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Oracle Corp.
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