Technology major Oracle Corp has reported a 17% growth in its net income to $2.19 billion for the second quarter ended November 30, 2011 on account of higher sales of new software licences.

In the year-ago period, the company had a net income of $1.87 billion, Oracle said in a statement.

In the second quarter of the current fiscal.

According to media reports, Oracle's earnings fell short of market expectations for the first time in a decade due to slower demand for databases, applications and computer servers. The company's stock dropped by more than 10% on below-expected results.

During the quarter, its revenues from new software licences rose by 2% to $2 billion, while revenues from hardware fell 14% to $953 million.

"Sales of our engineered systems accelerated in Q2," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said.

Oracle has expanded its worldwide sales capacity by adding over 1,700 sales professionals in the first half ended November.

"We believe that this increase in our field organisation, combined with innovative new products like Fusion Cloud ERP and Cloud CRM, will enable solid organic growth in the second half of this year," the company's President Mark Hurd said.

Looking ahead, Oracle expects its adjusted earnings to range from 55 cents to 58 cents a share in the third quarter.