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Oracle Q1 Profit Up, Revenue Outlook Disappoints

By Reuters
Published | Updated

SAN FRANCISCO – Oracle Corp.(ORCL) Thursday posted a quarterly profit before items that rose sharply, driven by its purchase of PeopleSoft (search), but its revenue forecast was at the low end of expectations, pressuring the stock in extended trade.

New sales of its mainstay database software rose 1 percent from a year-ago, which Oracle said was a strong period. The stock fell nearly 5 percent after Oracle, which is buying rival Siebel Systems for nearly $6 billion, published its results.

Oracle, which is buying rival Siebel Systems (SEBL) for nearly $6 billion, to better compete against German rival SAP AG (search).

Oracle said net income for its first fiscal quarter ended Aug. 31 rose to $519 million, or 10 cents per share, from $509 million, or 10 cents per share, a year ago.

Net revenue rose to $2.77 billion from $2.22 billion and appeared to fall short of Wall Street expectations of $2.94 billion. Revenue that does not conform to generally accepted accounting principles was $2.91 billion, also below analysts' expectations, and below Oracle's own June forecast of $2.92 billion to $2.98 billion.

Excluding items, Oracle said it had a per-share profit of 14 cents, matching the average expectation, according to Wall Street analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

For the current second quarter, Oracle Chief Financial Officer Greg Maffei expects Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle to earn 19 cents per share before items on revenue of $3.37 billion to $3.46 billion. He also backed the June forecast for fiscal 2006 earnings per share before items of 78 cents to 81 cents.

Analysts currently expect Oracle to earn 19 cents per share, within a range of 18 cents to 21 cents, on revenue of $3.46 billion. Sales estimates ranged from $3.29 billion to $3.63 billion.

New license revenue of its applications business programs rose 84 percent, Oracle said. License revenue is closely watched by analysts and investors as it points to profit growth over time and leads to license renewals.

Shares of Oracle for nearly $6 billion, fell 4.6 percent to $12.89 in extended Inet trade. In regular trade, the stock rose 23 cents, or 1.7 percent to close at $13.52.

Oracle now trades at about 17 times its estimated fiscal 2006 earnings per share before items, compared with about 18 times for its rival Microsoft Corp (MSFT).