The Oracle cash machine churned out a good first quarter, wringing an extra 28 per cent in net income to $440m on sales up just 2 per cent to $2.1bn, compared with last year's Q1.

But the revenue bag was mixed with new software license sales falling seven per cent to $525m, while the post-sales business, software updates and product support grew 14 per cent to $1.034bn. Operating margins held steady at 30 per cent (Q1 2002; 29 per cent) and the company generated $1.25bn operating cashflow in the quarter.

Oracle forecasts it will return to new license growth and continue to grow revenues in Q2 led by North America. In a statement, CEO Larry Ellison said the company is "very excited" about 10g, the LinuxyGriddy version of its database, announced this week. ®