San Francisco  - Business software giant Oracle saw profits drop 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter to 1.89 billion dollars as revenues fell 5 per cent to 6.86 billion dollars.

The results beat Wall Street expectations as the company saw a boost in license sales, indicating that it might be weathering the economic storm.

Oracle's performance took a hit from the stronger dollar, and the company said that revenues would actually have risen 4 per cent if currency rates had stayed constant.

Oracle said that it had taken market share from its main rival SAP in all regions. Oracle said that its sales in Europe grew 5 per cent while SAP's dropped 27 per cent. (dpa)