Solid results for fiscal 2004

With performance for fiscal year 2004 demonstrating solid growth, Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) looks forward to fiscal 2005 with an unparalleled portfolio of innovative offerings that help customers derive more value from their information assets, and reduce costs.

Throughout fiscal 2004, Oracle demonstrated continued momentum across key industry sectors and public institutions in the region as organisations selected Oracle offerings, over those of its competitors, to automate business processes and to consolidate and simplify IT infrastructures for greater efficiencies.

"We are pleased to see strong performance in the region over the last year, with revenues up 13% to $3.7 billion year on year and up 13% to $1.1 billion in Q4," said Sergio Giacoletto, Executive Vice-President, Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa. "With the economy gently picking up in most of EMEA, our innovative products and services such as Oracle Grid technologies, wireless solutions and Oracle Sensor-Based Services will help organisations pursue their growth strategies using superior information management and business intelligence tools."

Giacoletto added: "Another advantage unique to this region is the opportunity for growth in the 10 new member states of the European Union, who are putting in place the latest infrastructure to drive the accelerated development of their economies. We are investing to increase the innovation output from Europe, with the opening of expertise centres in Prague, Warsaw, Budapest and Bucharest, with varying remits to design and build mobile applications and develop business intelligence solutions supporting our customers and partners.

Oracle EMEA`s success was recognised in the many prestigious awards received throughout fiscal 2004 including Most Innovative Foreign IT Company (Poland); Best Enterprise Database (Germany); Best Application Solution (Spain); and Best in E-Government (Bahrain). A fuller list of awards is included at the end of this release.

Highlights of fiscal 2004

* Oracle launched Oracle 10g Grid Computing - marking the evolution from Internet to grid-based architectures.

* Oracle launched Oracle Information Architecture - a centralised data repository used to identify and reconcile duplicate business entities across multiple source systems.

* Oracle introduced Oracle Sensor-Based Services, a comprehensive set of capabilities to capture, manage, analyse, and respond to data from sensors, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to allow companies to quickly and easily integrate sensor-based information into their enterprise systems.

* Oracle introduced Oracle Standard Edition One, a single or two processor version of the Oracle Standard Edition Database at a cost-effective price level.

Many organisations in EMEA adopted or expanded implementations of Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, Oracle Collaboration Suite and Oracle Real Application Clusters in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 across a wide range of industries. Customer examples include:

Public services

Ministry for Communications and Information Technology (Egypt), Ministry of Industry (Egypt), Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (Austria), IASA (Austria), Social Insurance (Austria), Landesregierung NO (Austria), Government Information Management Unit (Finland), Finnish Police (Finland), Ministry of Traffic and Communications (Finland), Turkish Pension Fund (Turkey), Hessische Zentrale fur Datenverarbeitung (Germany), APEH Office of Tax & Financial Control (Hungary), Ministry for Central Infrastructures (Italy), INAIL (Italy), Agricultural Ministry (Italy), Healthcare Ministry (Italy), Malmo Stad - City of Malmo (Sweden), ADMB (Belgium), Sohihull Metropolitan Borough Council (UK), Gemeente Tilburg (Netherlands), UK Board of the Inland Revenue.

Financial services

Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Capital-Insurance (Russia), Alfa-Insurance (Russia), Bank Misr (Egypt), PBZ American Express (Croatia), Mapfre (Spain), SCH (Spain), Ukrsotsbank (Ukraine), Wesbank (South Africa), Eurobank Cards (Greece), Agricultural Bank of Greece, Romanian National Bank, Sparebanken Vest (Norway), K&H (Hungary), Clal Insurance (Israel), BPU Banca Group (Italy), Ingosstrakh (Russia), BGBOND (Israel).

Telecommunications

Saudi Telecom Company, Svyaz-Komi (Russia), Rostelecom (Russia), Vodaphone (Spain), Telefonica International (Spain), Turkish Telecom (Turkey), Romtelecom (Romania), MobiFon (Romania), PT Comunicacoes (Portugal), Cellcom (Israel), Elgadcom (Israel), Vodaphone (Italy), TeliaSonera (Sweden), France Telecom.

Travel and transportation

Vialtis (France), Damietta Port (Egypt), Hrvatske Ceste (Croatia), Arabian Automobile "Nissan" (UAE), Abdulah Abdulghania Company "Toyota" (Qatar), Gulf Air (Bahrain), Emirate Airlines (UAE), Vienna Airport (Austria), Civil Aviation Authority (Greece), Anek Lines (Greece), Romanian Freight Railways, Romanian Passenger Railways, TUI Info Tec GmbH (Germany), Jerbaneverket (Norway), DSB (Denmark), ZIM (Israel), Post Italiane (Italy), Societe Autostrade (Italy), Autobinck (Netherlands), Casema (Netherlands), Toyota (Belgium), DHL (Belgium).

Healthcare and life sciences CHU Liege University Hospital (Belgium), CHU Montpelier Hospital Group (France), Sanofi (France), Protek (Russia), IGIF (Portugal), Hexal A/S (Denmark), National Health Service (UK), VZP (Czech General Health Insurance)

Manufacturing

Airbus (France), Agfa (Belgium), Engel GesmbH (Austria), Khartsyzsk Pipe Works (Ukraine), GD (Italy), Kon.Theodorus Niemeyer ((Netherlands).

Other industries

Energy and Utilities - Poweo (France), RomGaz (Romania), ENEL (Italy), NUON (Netherlands); Retail - Eroski (Spain), IC (Denmark), Finiper (Italy), PAM (Italy), MIR (Russia); Foodstuffs- Lebedyansky Juice Plant (Russia), Lavazzo (Italy); Media - ORF (Austria), Future Publishing (UK), Ziua (Romania); Chemicals- Zaporozhcoke (Ukraine), Sapio (Italy); Aerospace & Defence - Greek Army (Greece), Eurocontrol (Belgium), OGMA (Portugal); CPG - Savola (Saudi Arabia); Education - Ugent Flemish University (Belgium), VSKO (Belgium), Fources (Netherlands); Construction - Skanska (Sweden), Gerustbau Merkel GmbH (Germany); Law - Szalma & Partner (Hungary); Electronics/Hi-Tech Industry - Pace Micro Technology (UK), Thales (France), ST Micro Electronics (France), Sisal (Italy), GDM Electronics (Belgium); Printing - Cartiere Burgo (Italy); Professional Business Services - Ochranny svaz autorsky (Czech Republic).

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Oracle received positive endorsement from industry analysts and awarding bodies throughout fiscal 2004. Forrester Research (June 2003 Forrester Wave Report, Grading Order Fulfilment Solutions) rated Oracle as a leader in order fulfilment applications, and a study by AMR Research (The Procurement and Sourcing Application Spending Report, 2003-2004), which interviewed 499 enterprises spanning multiple industries, found that Oracle is a top choice for companies that plan to use procurement and sourcing software. Oracle`s technological superiority was publicly recognised in a number of honours, awards and surveys from independent sources including:

Oracle Corporation

* Most Innovative Foreign IT Company: Rzeczpospolita (Poland)

* Best in E-Government: Ministry of Commerce (Bahrain)

Oracle Database

* Best Enterprise Database: Java Magazin Reader`s Choice Award 2004 (Germany)

* Database Developers` Award: PC Magazine Middle East (Middle East)

* Database Product of 2003 - Reader`s Choice: Databazovy svet (Czech Republic)

* My Portal Example of Excellence in Public Administration, Regione Veneto: National Association of Italian Municipalities, Union of Italian Provinces, National Union of Municipalities, Communities and Mountain Territory (Italy)

Oracle jDeveloper

* Webservices Award: COMDEX and World Organisation of Webmasters (Sweden)

Oracle E-Business Suite

* Best Applications Solution 2004: Byte Magazine (Spain)

* Best Financials Solution: PricewaterhouseCoopers (Netherlands)

* Best Public iProcurement Solution 2004: www.ehandelsprisen.dk Oracle customers won first and second prizes - Danish Broadcasting Corporation and City of Copenhagen

* Commitment to E-Commerce: CPI / IDG (Middle East)

* Best Warehouse Management Solution: Warehouse Logistics (Netherlands)

* Best of ROCS Business and Services Category: IDG (Romania)

* Best Choice for Professional Services Automation: PSOPRO Annual benchmark (Netherlands)

* Most Complete Package for Wholesale: IPL Consultants (Netherlands)

* Best eProduct / Services in 2003: eFinance (Romania)