Oracle Corp reported second-quarter net income that inched up just 4.4% year-over-year to $187.3m, on revenue that rose a respectable 23% to $1.61bn. That amounts to $0.19 in earnings per share for the Redwood Shores, California company, when the consensus on Wall Street was for $0.23 per share. Chief financial officer Jeffrey Henley cites the economic situation in the Asia- Pacific region as a significant cause of the shortfall. The relative strength of the dollar was the other scapegoat. Without the impact of currency exchange, Henley says overall revenue would have grown 29% in the quarter. For the six-month period, net income fell 33% to $195.8m on revenue that rose 26.2% to $2.98bn. The decline year-over year was due to $167.1m in acquisition charges from the Navio Communications Inc (CI No 3,164) and Treasury Services Corp (CI No 3,218) purchases. Net of the charges, Oracle says net income and earnings per share for the half-year would have been $337.1m, or $0.33 per share, increases of 15.4% and 13.8%, respectively. Oracle finished the quarter with $1.51bn in cash and short-term assets and $3.31bn in total current assets. Total current liabilities weighed in at $1.72bn. á
