Oracle profit rises 28%, beats Wall Street expectations

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- The business software maker's net income for the three months ended Aug. 31 rose to $1.08 billion, or 21 cents a share, from $840 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding expenses for employee stock options and acquisitions, Oracle posted earnings of 29 cents a share, two cents better than analysts had expected, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue increased 18% to $5.33 billion.

New software license sales, a measure closely watched by investors, increased 14%, within the 10% to 20% range Oracle had predicted. The Redwood Shores, California-based company said changes in foreign exchange rates accounted for 4 percentage points of the increase, less than the 5 percentage points it had originally expected.

Revenue from software license updates and product support increased 23% to $2.94 billion.

The report appeared to satisfy investors who had feared the weakened economy would dampen demand for the business software maker's products.

Shares of Oracle gained 47 cents, or 2.5%, to $19.22 in after-hours trading.