Oracle(ORCL.O)says Q4 result tricky to predict-paper
5/16/01 10:28 PM ET
SYDNEY, May 17 (Reuters) - Software giant Oracle Corp's
chief financial officer Jeff Henley said weak demand gave
analysts reason to be cautious about its fourth quarter
results, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday.
"... our results reflect the economy, and so we think in
the short term we've been pessimistic for a while," Henley said
in an interview broadcast on the newspaper's website.
"Once we had our third quarter which ended in February
which was quite a disappointment, I think we said we figured
things would get worse before they get better, so that's what I
think we're up against," he said.
Henley said he expected to see demand head back towards
normal levels towards the end of the year as the U.S. economy
started to recover.
The world's No.2 software group has been subjected to a
round of earnings downgrades in recent months, with some
analysts suggesting Oracle's fourth quarter estimates were
overly aggressive and would be scaled back.
"It's very difficult, as we've said since the start of the
quarter to know what we'll do," said Henley when asked if
predictions Oracle would revise its estimates were well
founded.
Demand had slowed suddenly over the last few weeks of the
March quarter and had yet to rebound, he said, noting it was
difficult to predict how many deals currently in the pipeline
would be converted into sales.
"We certainly told people, we talked about 15 cents for the
quarter. We said it could be worse, it could be better - we
don't know," he said.
The Redwood Shores, California-based group posted third
quarter earnings of US$583 million or 10 cents a share, but has
cautioned the outlook for the fourth quarter, which
traditionally generates around a third of its total sales, was
difficult.
Shares in Oracle, which have oscillated between US$13.00
and US$46.47 over the year, closed the New York session up 47
cents at US$16.40.
Henley conceded Oracle may have lost some share of the
database software market to rivals International Business
Machings Corp (IBM.N)and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), and said the
firm would make a concerted effort to step up its database
software marketing. |
