Oracle EMEA reports increased revenues for Q2 2005, over same period last year

Oracle Corporation today reported increased total revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2005 for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region with 21% growth, compared to the second quarter last year.

Oracle saw solid demand for both its technology and applications products across key industries, particularly public sector, healthcare, financial services and telecommunications. Notable during the quarter was a 67% increase in applications new software licence revenues as customers throughout the region selected Oracle applications over those of other vendors.

"In applications we are seeing strategic decisions to standardise on Oracle on an organisation-wide basis and this has helped produce a substantial increase in those revenues," said Sergio Giacoletto, Executive Vice-President, Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"Additionally, it is clear that consolidation and centralisation of systems is emerging as the dominant trend, as customers seek to have better information. Cost savings remain a key priority for customers and this is driving the uptake of grid technologies."

Many organisations in EMEA adopted or expanded implementations of Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, Oracle Collaboration Suite, Oracle Real Application Clusters and Oracle Grid technologies in the second quarter of fiscal 2005 across a wide range of industries.

Customer examples include:

Financial services: Erste Bank Group (Austria), Raiffeisen Central Bank (Austria), Fortis Bank (Belgium), Altaiskiy SB RF (CIS), Croatia Osiguranje (Croatia), Alka (Denmark), JN-Data/Nykredit (Denmark), CNP Insurance (France), Gesellschaft f"ur angewandte Versicherungs-Informatik (Germany), Egnatia Bank (Greece), OTP (Hungary), FEXCO (Ireland), PZU SA (Poland), CGD (Portugal), Bank Post (Romania) and EFG Eurobank AD Beograd (Serbia).

Public services: Ministry of Finance and National Economy (Bahrain), National Health Insurance Fund (Bulgaria), Social Fund For Development (Egypt), Th"uringer Finanzministerium (Germany), Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard (Hungary), Ministry of Defence - Army of Carabinieri (Italy), Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Saudi Arabia), Department of Health - NHS Shared Business Services Ltd (UK), Ministry of Defence (UK), Manchester University (UK) and Office for National Statistics (UK).

Telecommunications: Telekom Austria, Vimpelcom (CIS), Megafon (CIS), T-Mobile Hrvatska (Croatia), Telecom Egypt, Eircom Limited (Ireland), Telecom Italia Mobile S.p.A. (Italy), Etisalat (Saudi Arabia) and Swisscom IT Services AG (Switzerland).

Travel and transportation: Hrvatske autoceste (Croatia), Finnish Maritime Administration, Silverstar Srl (Italy), Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines AS (Norway), Qatar Airways (Qatar), Interbrands (Romania) and Turkish State Airport Authority.

Energy and utilities: Wien IT Vienna (Austria), Gestore Mercato Elettrico (Italy), ACE (Portugal), Lusit^ania (Portugal) and Romgaz SA (Romania).

Other industries:
Commercial - Betfair (UK), William Hill Plc (UK);
Consumer - Philip Morris International Management SA (Switzerland);
Manufacturing - Unichain A/S (Denmark), IER (France), SCM Group S.p.A. (Italy), Ceramika Nowa Gala (Poland);
Media - Dubbenoje AB (Sweden);
Process - Eurochim (CIS), Biomark Holding (Hungary);
Professional Business Services - Kind & Gezin (Belgium);
Retail - Fourcroy (Belgium), Conad Centro Nord S.c.a r.l./ Conad Romagna Marche S.c.a r.l. (Italy), RUCH SA (Poland) and Charles V"ogele AG (Switzerland);

Oracle received positive endorsement from industry analysts and awarding bodies throughout the first half of fiscal 2005. Oracle`s technological superiority was publicly recognised in a number of honours, awards and surveys from independent sources in different countries, for example:

* Database product of the Year 2004 - Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition: DBsvet.cz (Czech Republic)

* Best Database: Tietokone magazine (Finland)

* Best Business Portal Solution: Oracle Application Server 10g Portal (Spain)

* Most committed provider of work-related learning to local schools: Central Berkshire Education Business Partnership (UK)