our total operating expense growth of 5 percentage points during fiscal 2009. Excluding the effect of currency rate fluctuations, the increase in operating expenses in fiscal 2009 is primarily due to higher salary expenses associated with increased headcount levels from acquisitions (primarily BEA) and higher amortization of intangible assets resulting from our acquisitions (primarily BEA). In addition, acquisition related and other expenses increased during fiscal 2009 due to a $57 million gain on property sale recognized in fiscal 2008, which decreased our net operating expenses in that period. These increases were partially offset by constant currency decreases in our variable compensation expenses.

Currency variances resulted in a reduction of 9 percentage points to our total operating margin growth during fiscal 2009. On a constant currency basis, total operating margin and total operating margin as a percentage of total revenues increased during fiscal 2009 as the growth rate of our total revenues exceeded the growth rate of our total operating expenses. The growth rate in our total operating expenses was significantly impacted by the growth rate in our intangible asset amortization, which was primarily due to intangible assets acquired as a part of the BEA transaction, and to a lesser extent, our restructuring expenses growth.

Supplemental Disclosure Related to Certain Charges and Gains and Estimated Sun Margin Contribution

To supplement our consolidated financial information we believe the following information is helpful to an overall understanding of our past financial performance and prospects for the future. You should review the introduction under “Impact of Acquisitions” (above) for a discussion of the inherent limitations in comparing pre- and post-acquisition information.

Our operating results include the following business combination accounting adjustments and expenses related to acquisitions as well as certain other significant expense and income items:

Software Business

Our software business consists of our new software licenses segment and software license updates and product support segment.

New Software Licenses:     New software license revenues represent fees earned from granting customers licenses to use our database and middleware as well as our application software products. We continue to place significant emphasis, both domestically and internationally, on direct sales through our own sales force. We also continue to market our products through indirect channels. Sales and marketing expenses are largely personnel related and include commissions earned by our sales force for the sale of our software products, and also include marketing program costs and amortization of intangible assets.

Fiscal 2010 Compared to Fiscal 2009:     Excluding the effect of favorable foreign currency rate fluctuations of 2 percentage points, total new software license revenues increased by 4% in fiscal 2010 due to growth in the Americas region and incremental revenues from our acquisitions.

In constant currency, database and middleware revenues and applications revenues increased by 4% and 5% in fiscal 2010, respectively,