Oracle Systems Corp caused its fans severe concern this week when it announced third quarter profits up only 1.3% at $24.3m on turnover that rose 54% at $236.4m – and then came out with the lame explanation that the brake resulted from an accounting anomaly – $15m of business that should have been booked in the current quarter had been credited to the third, and that stripping it out represented a direct charge to the bottom line. It says that it expects to be back on plan this quarter, but the explanation implies that once it has hit target each quarter, Oracle sits around and stops selling until the next one. The news was a shock because profits rose by 66% in the second quarter, and by 65% and 84% in the four periods of last fiscal.
