Oracle announces first dividend in 23 years

Quarterly income at the software giant fell just one per cent from a year earlier to $1.3bn

Ellison: "Remarkable achievement"

Business software giant Oracle has announced it will pay its first dividend to shareholders in 23 years as a public company after avoiding the worst effects of the global downturn.

Oracle said it would pay a dividend of five cents per share, or 20 cents annually.

Quarterly income fell at the firm just one per cent from a year earlier to $1.3bn (£0.9bn).

Oracle said its profit would have grown 11 per cent if the US dollar had not strengthened so much in recent months.

"This is a remarkable achievement in the face of the serious slowdown in the world economy," said Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison.

The database and middleware markets in which Oracle specialises are a core part of most firms' IT operations and thus less likely to face heavy budget cuts.

Shares in Oracle rose seven per cent in after-hours trading on the news.