The Tokyo based division blamed the poor results on continued ultra-conservative IT spending habits in the region. To rub salt in the wound, the Japanese unit does not envisage any significant improvement in the second half of a fiscal year that has seen a 34% decline in overall license revenues, with particularly sluggish demand for its mainline database management software products.
For H1, Oracle Japan posted a parent-only net profit of $51.46m (JPY6.08bn) for the half, against revenue of $333m (JPY39.35bn) – down 10% from a year ago. The drop is not unexpected. Early in the fiscal year, the division expected its net profit to fall by around 40% to $9.2m (JPY10.9bn) for the full year to May, on revenues of $689m (JPY81.5bn) – down 5.6%. The expected decline in the full year profit market would represent the second consecutive annual fall in earnings; last year the division reported its first ever year-over-year drop in profits since its inception.
The weak results came after parent company Oracle Corp posted quarterly earnings and revenues on December 18 that beat its own conservative forecasts. The Redwood Shores, California based company said it believed it would return to growth.
In a separate announcement, Oracle also unveiled a three-year business plan to improve profitability through operational cost cuts, a focus on business in China and service operations, and other steps to breathe life into its Asia Pacific operations.
Source: Computerwire
