GOVERNMENT

Oracle late Tuesday said Q1 profit rose 29% and revenue jumped 30% as the company benefited from Chief Executive Larry Ellison's $20 billion acquisition spree. Boosted by strong growth in sales of its acquired business applications, the results topped Wall Street expectations and sent Oracle shares more than 13% higher in after-hours trading. Oracle's latest results followed a similarly strong showing for the preceding quarter, adding to optimism surrounding its business. Oracle said fiscal first-quarter net income rose to $670 million, or 13 cents a share, from $519 million, or 10 cents, a year ago. The company's profit before the impact of stock-option expenses and other one-time items rose 26% to 18 cents a share. That topped the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who expected a profit of 16 cents a share on the same basis. In the year-earlier quarter, Oracle posted a profit before items of 14 cents a share. Revenue for the three-month period ended Aug. 31 climbed to $3.59 billion, up from $2.77 billion and above analysts' expectations for $3.47 billion in sales. Ellison has been snapping up rivals in multibillion-dollar deals to boost sales of Oracle's business applications amid slowing growth in its biggest business of selling database software. The spree is aimed at taking business away from Oracle's biggest rival, Germany's SAP. "We exceeded our guidance on every metric and delivered strong revenue growth across all product lines and geographies," Oracle Chief Financial Officer Safra Catz said. The results come as investors are beginning to embrace the company's decision to spend some $20 billion over the past three years to push into the market for business applications as its core database software market matures.