Unix-owner Santa Crux Operation Inc turned in a third quarter profit, but nine month losses last week, due to the cost of acquiring UnixWare from Novell Inc this year. SCO took a $38.4m one-off hit for the acquisition in its figures for the three-quarters, driving the company into the red with net losses of $26.5m, up from $3.5m losses a year before, which were hit by a $14.1m charge for the acquisition of Visionware Ltd. SCO continues to collect royalties from OEMs that it passes on to Novell, which contributes a fair bit to expenses. Nine-month revenues were flat year-on-year at $152.7m. Alok Mohan, president and CEO expressed himself pleased with the progress we’ve been making, which is just about as excited as anyone could get about the figures. Third quarter net income was up 174% to $3.3m, on revenues that rose 6% to $54.0m. The company has reduced inventory in its channels, which was causing problems, cut sales and marketing expenses, while research and development continues to rise. Cash at the nine months was down slightly at $29.1m. The nine month figures benefited from a small tax credit of $114,000 this year, against a tax charge of $3.0m last year.