SAN FRANCISCO: Oracle, one of the worlds top three software makers, said Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit had risen 23 percent, buoyed by recent acquisitions.

Net income rose to $1.6 billion from $1.3 billion a year earlier, Oracle said in a statement. Sales rose 20 percent to $5.83 billion in the quarter that ended May 31.

Oracle, based in Redwood City, California, increased its customer pool last quarter with four acquisitions, including the $3.3 billion purchase of Hyperion Solutions. Ranked third behind Microsoft and International Business Machines in global software sales, Oracle has spent more than $20 billion buying rivals since 2005, making it the most acquisitive company in the industry.

“The juggernaut continues,” said Sarah Friar, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. “This company continues to execute well.”

Profit, excluding acquisition expenses and other costs, was 37 cents a share, beating the 35-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Oracle had forecast profit of 34 cents a share, after 29 cents a year earlier. Oracle typically reports its biggest profit and sales in its fourth quarter.

The shares fell 32 cents to $19.16 on the Nasdaq exchange in New York. They have advanced 12 percent this year.

Acquisitions have propelled Oracle beyond its original database programs into business-management applications and middleware, software that connects servers. Oracle has purchased 31 companies since January 2005, including PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems.

LONDON: BAE Systems, the biggest British weapons maker, said Friday that it recognized concerns about how it conducted business and that it expected a review by an ethics committee to reassure clients, investors and employees.

BAE hired Harry Woolf, the former lord chief justice of England and Wales, to be the chairman the four-member committee, which will review current BAE policies, procedures and compliance with ethical business policies and anti-corruption legislation.

The step followed earlier allegations of corruption in the so-called Al Yamamah arms deal negotiated with Saudi Arabia in 1985, which have been investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. In December, the inquiry was abruptly canceled after Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the investigation would threaten British jobs and damage diplomatic and intelligence ties with Saudi Arabia. But last week British media reports about the allegations revived calls among some lawmakers to restart the investigation.

Dick Olver, the BAE chairman, said Friday in London that the committee would have access to any information it needed to review how BAE conducts business but would not aim to duplicate work done by the Serious Fraud Office. He declined to answer questions about the Saudi arms deal and said it would be “unwise for us to delve around into anything the SFO is doing.”

The groups report will be made public, and the company has pledged to follow its recommendations, Olver said.

Woolf said that those who criticized how BAE had conducted business in the past were to be assured about the standards of the business now.

Woolf will be joined by Philippa Foster Back, director of the Institute of Business Ethics in London, and David Walker, former chairman of Morgan Stanley in Europe and head of a task force to draw up a code of conduct for private equity firms. Woolf has not yet named the fourth member of the committee.

BAE will pay Woolf 6,000, or $11,825, per day for his work, which he will conduct two days a week during the next six to nine months, he said.

British news reports last week alleged that BAE paid more than $2 billion into bank accounts in Washington operated by Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia as part of the arms deal. Bandar denied the reports and said Monday that the allegations were “untrue” and “grotesque in their absurdity.”

BAE had denied allegations of wrongdoing in relation to the Al Yamamah deal, saying it was a government-to-government agreement.

Morale among NHS staff is so low that three out of five workers have thought of quitting their jobs, an independent survey of 24,000 employees by Income Data Services reveals.

Three out of five staff said they had been bullied by patients or carers and two out of five said they had been subjected to violence or abuse at work. The worst affected were ambulance workers; four out of five said they had faced abuse and violence from people they were trying to help.

Ethnic minority staff suffered disproportionately from harassment and bullying by other staff and management, with nearly one in five saying they were subject to unjustified criticism, malicious complaints and unfair performance reviews.

The biggest reasons for wanting to quit the NHS were low levels of pay, unfair grading, feeling undervalued because of the way NHS managers treated them and the continual restructuring of health and primary care trusts. More than half those wanting to quit would like a job outside the NHS while more than a third considered leaving to take a job in private hospitals and clinics.

The survey, commissioned by 14 trade unions representing 1.1 million staff - from nurses and midwives to radiographers and porters - is being sent to the independent pay review body as part of the unions’ case for a “substantially above inflation” increase in next year’s pay round.

It comes after union anger at the government’s intervention this year to implement a 2.5% pay award in England in two stages. The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland defied the Treasury and awarded staff the full sum.

A threatened national strike in England was only averted when Alan Johnson, the health secretary, intervened and restructured the English pay deal to ensure the lowest paid got substantially higher rises.

At a press conference yesterday, unions warned Gordon Brown not to repeat the staging of any pay award next year. The unions representing midwives and radiographers warned of industrial action if the prime minister intervened again.

Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison, the biggest public sector union in the NHS, warned: “This year, the government has scored an own goal when it comes to nurses’ and health workers’ pay. It is a disgrace that 60% are looking for work outside the NHS and the lesson to government is clear - NHS staff are angry.

“This year, we need a substantial, above-inflation pay rise just to put health workers back on an even keel. They are faced with mounting gas, water, electricity and housing bills. They cannot afford to take another pay cut. We are putting the government on notice that health workers want a fair deal.”

In evidence to the pay review body, the union cited huge rises in housing costs, which had put homes in all London boroughs and major towns in the West Country out of the reach of NHS workers. Big rises in mortgages, childcare costs, fares and petrol have also contributed to demands for a large pay rise.

Highest turnover of staff in 2005 and 2006 - the latest figures available - was among midwives, support workers, trainee scientists and senior managers.

Warren Town, head of industrial relations at the Society of Radiographers, said yesterday that he expected a big increase in the number of staff leaving, with some departments losing up to 50% of staff in key areas such as cancer treatment.