Oracle’s hardware sales plunge

Associated Press

(File image) The Oracle headquarters in Redwood City, California.

Boston - Oracle reported that quarterly hardware sales tumbled 24 percent from a year earlier as the technology giant continued its struggle to turn around the computer division it acquired with its purchase of Sun Microsystems.

The company run by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison reported on Thursday that hardware product sales fell to $779-million in its fiscal first quarter ended August 31. It had forecast a decline of seven to 17 percent.

Oracle also reported that new software sales rose six percent from a year earlier to $1.6-billion, in line with its own forecasts.

Oracle met that key revenue target after reorganising its sales operation in the United States, its biggest market, following the departure of Executive Vice-President for North American sales and consulting Keith Block.

The world's No. 3 software maker had forecast that new software sales would climb between zero to 10 percent from a year earlier when it last reported earnings on June 18.

Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.

Oracle posted first-quarter profit, excluding items, of 53 cents per share, matching the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Oracle shares were barely changed in extended trade after closing at $32.26 on the Nasdaq. - Reuters