{"text":[[{"start":10.4,"text":"Oracle on Wednesday said it would invest $70bn in the coming year to finance its data centre build-out, as rising debt and flat revenue guidance spooked investors. "}],[{"start":21.9,"text":"The database group said capital expenditure would climb 25 per cent, up from $55.7bn in the fiscal year that ended May 31. The planned spending was broadly in line with expectations and came as Oracle said it expected to raise $40bn in debt and equity over the next 12 months. "}],[{"start":41.599999999999994,"text":"The spending figure came even as the group said that its sales forecast for the next fiscal year would remain flat at about the $90bn it guided in March. "}],[{"start":50.449999999999996,"text":"Oracle’s shares dropped as much as 8 per cent in after-hours trading following the earnings report."}],[{"start":56.599999999999994,"text":"Clay Magouyrk, Oracle’s co-CEO, said the company delivered 1.2 gigawatts of capacity in 2026 and was making “significant progress” on several large data centre projects, particularly for OpenAI. "}],[{"start":71.35,"text":"The Austin, Texas-based group has sought to demonstrate meaningful returns after signing a $300bn contract with OpenAI late last year to supply the ChatGPT maker with data centre capacity. Oracle’s commitment, which includes financing the upfront cost of construction, requires significant funding."}],[{"start":90.3,"text":"The group’s capital expenditure — largely used to finance AI data centres — rose to $16.5bn in its fiscal fourth quarter, taking its full-year spend to $55.7bn, above the $50bn it previously guided. "}],[{"start":105.95,"text":"Oracle has raised billions in debt to help finance its AI infrastructure build-out, including $25bn in February, after it pledged to preserve its investment-grade credit rating."}],[{"start":117.60000000000001,"text":"The company’s shares were down nearly 40 per cent from their peak in the autumn ahead of Wednesday’s earnings release."}],[{"start":124.05000000000001,"text":"They fell despite the company posting better than expected revenues of $19.2bn in the fourth quarter. Full-year revenues of $67.4bn also exceeded expectations."}],[{"start":136.70000000000002,"text":"“AI infrastructure makes [the] existing cloud infrastructure market seem small,” Magouyrk said. “Everything we see shows that this market size is trillions of dollars per year.” "}],[{"start":148.35000000000002,"text":"Oracle has been grappling to balance the cost of building out data centres with investors’ demands for a higher-than-usual premium on its projects. It has also experienced pushback in some areas such as Saline Township, Michigan, leading to project delays."}],[{"start":164.25000000000003,"text":"Investors have questioned whether Oracle can provide suitable guarantees that it will repay its debts given its reliance on a handful of customers to fulfil its vast lease commitments, the FT previously reported. "}],[{"start":175.35000000000002,"text":"The company has turned to customers to help finance the chips that will be installed in its data centres, helping reduce its debt burden. It said that pre-paid and customer-supplied hardware contracts now totalled $75bn. "}],[{"start":188.60000000000002,"text":"Oracle has also made significant lay-offs in the past quarter, shedding more than 30,000 roles in a move to reduce costs and free up cash for AI investments. It previously told investors that coding tools would enable it to make do with fewer developers, stating the technology was helping it increase its output."}],[{"start":206.15000000000003,"text":"The company said it had about $638bn in total bookings for future revenue, known as remaining performance obligations."}],[{"start":214.35000000000002,"text":"Oracle in April appointed former Schneider Electric executive Hilary Maxson as chief financial officer. She joined several months after the company appointed Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as co-CEOs, leading the group’s data centre and applications businesses, respectively."}],[{"start":229.85000000000002,"text":"The company also on Wednesday was awarded a nearly $400mn contract with the US government to deliver an HR platform for various federal agencies. "}],[{"start":246.3,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781144008_3158.mp3"}