New York, Sept 13: Oracle Corp., the world's second largest software company, on Friday reported a surprise slump in quarterly sales of new software licenses, spooking investors, despite a 28 per cent jump in profit. Shares of the bellwether for business software lost 3.3 per cent in extremely heavy trade, as the weaker license sales chilled hopes that Oracle's results would be a harbinger of an incipient recovery in corporate spending.

"It does throw some cold water on the technology recovery story," Kaufman Brothers analyst Kevin Buttigieg said. "All along, the recovery was pretty uneven and I think this is a good testament to that."
Oracle, of Redwood Shores, California, had net income for its fiscal first quarter of $440 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with $342.7 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue for the period ended Aug. 31 grew just 2 per cent to $2.07 billion from $2.03 billion, falling short of its target of 4 per cent to 7 per cent growth. Bureau Report