Oracle posted results on Monday showing strong second-quarter revenue growth on the back of a 27 per cent boost in new application licence sales.

The company reported total sales up eight per cent to $2.5bn, while net income grew 15 per cent to $617m compared to the second quarter last year.

New software licence sales were up 13 per cent to $849m. Software licence updates and product support revenues were up 17 per cent to $1.1bn.

Second-quarter operating margin was reported as 37 per cent. Operating cash flow in the first half of the fiscal year was $1.6bn.

Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle, claimed his company's figures had exceeded those of takeover target PeopleSoft as well as the industry at large.

"Our applications growth of 27 per cent exceeded the growth rates of many of our competitors, including SAP, PeopleSoft, Lawson and Siebel, in their most recently reported quarters," he said.

"New licence sales at the combined PeopleSoft and JD Edwards company declined 18 per cent as compared to their results when they were operating as separate companies."

Ellison claimed that the firm's outsourcing business had seen strong growth, albeit from a low base.

"But the very fastest growing part of our applications business is outsourcing, which increased 82 per cent in the quarter," he said.

Jeff Henley, chief financial officer at Oracle, added: "The growth was also balanced. All major software product categories and geographic regions posted growth."