Oracle was full of itself yesterday after announcing it would exceed financial targets for its fourth quarter.

The software giant said revenues were set to come in at $4.85bn, up 25 per cent. It had previously forecast 13 per cent to 17 per cent growth. This will deliver net income of $1.3bn, up 27 per cent, or $1.5bn non-GAAP, up 13 per cent. This means earnings per share of $0.29, compared to previous guidance of $0.26 to $0.28.

New software licences delivered a big kick to the numbers, up 32 per cent to $2.12bn, compared to earlier guidance of 8 per cent to 18 per cent growth. Oracle’s acquisition spree has helped boost revenues. Database revenues were up 18 per cent, while total app revenues were up 83 per cent. Even when the big buys of Siebel and Retek were stripped out, apps were up 56 per cent®.