San Francisco - Business software maker reported a 5-per- cent decline in quarterly revenue Wednesday as businesses held off on buying new software.

The Silicon Valley company said its sales dropped to 5.1 billion dollars, but the company managed to increase profits by 8 per cent to 1.1 billion dollars, compared to 1.07 billion dollars in the year-ago quarter.

The company said that sales of new software sank 17 per cent to 1 billion dollars, but were offset by a rise in software updates and product-support revenues of 6 per cent to 3.1 billion dollars.

Oracle President Safra Catz said the company was able to increase profit despite weak sales by "substantially" improving its operating margins.

"Our operating model continues to drive earnings for our stockholders," she said in a statement. (dpa)