Oracle Corp.’s sales force pulled off a big feat in the business software maker’s latest quarter, sustaining a healthy clip of contract signings amid a dreary time for technology spending.
The efforts helped push Oracle’s sales and profit above Wall Street’s forecasts. Oracle also surprised investors by declaring its first dividend, a rare sign of confidence that comes as other bellwethers are cutting or suspending their dividends to save money.
Oracle’s shares jumped $1.11, or 7 percent, to $16.94 in after-hours trading Wednesday after Oracle reported its results. The stock had gained 43 cents, or 2.8 percent, to close the regular trading session at $15.83.
Oracle’s chief executive, Larry Ellison, called the numbers a “tremendous achievement in the face of the serious slowdown in the world economy.”
In Oracle’s fiscal third quarter, which covers December-February, Oracle said it earned $1.33 billion, or 26 cents per share, versus $1.34 billion, also 26 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Subtracting out one-time charges, profit was 35 cents per share. That was 3 cents better than the average estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters on that same basis.
Sales were $5.45 billion, a 2 percent increase over last year, though Oracle said revenue would have jumped 11 percent without the effect of a stronger dollar, which meant deals done in other currencies weren’t worth as much in dollars.
Analysts had predicted $5.42 billion in sales.
A closely watched number for Oracle is its sales of new software licenses, which is significant because it correlates to how much in support fees Oracle can hope to rake in the future from those contracts.
Sales of new software licenses fell 6 percent to $1.5 billion, which was within the company’s guidance. Some analysts had projected a far worse decline.
Oracle’s customers spent more in other areas, however. Sales from software license updates and product…