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Oracle hardware sales plunge 24 percent

US-ORACLE-RESULTS:Oracle hardware sales plunge 24 percent

BOSTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp reported that quarterly hardware sales tumbled 24 percent from a year earlier as the technology giant continued its struggle to turn around the computer division it acquired with its purchase of Sun Microsystems.

The company run by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison reported on Thursday that hardware product sales fell to $779 million in its fiscal first quarter ended Aug 31. It had forecast a decline of 7 to 17 percent.

Oracle also reported that new software sales rose 6 percent from a year earlier to $1.6 billion, in line with its own forecasts.

Oracle met that key revenue target after reorganizing its sales operation in the United States, its biggest market, following the departure of Executive Vice President for North American sales and consulting Keith Block.

The world's No. 3 software maker had forecast that new software sales would climb between 0 to 10 percent from a year earlier when it last reported earnings on June 18.

Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.

Oracle posted first-quarter profit, excluding items, of 53 cents per share, matching the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Oracle shares were barely changed in extended trade after closing at $32.26 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Richard Chang)

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