Briefs

Oracle Corporation, one of the world's second-biggest software companies, posted a net profit that was down from last year but in line with Wall Street estimates, as quarterly revenue.

New software sales, an important measure of performance, were listed at $1.15 billion, which was better than expected.

Shares of Oracle, which makes database and business-automation software, initially jumped more than 12 percent after the company posted its profits, but those gains were sharply cut after the chief financial officer, Jeffrey O. Henley, said the sales visibility going forward was "very limited." He said software sales for the first quarter could be down as much as 25 percent from a year ago.

Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, said its fiscal fourth-quarter net income had been $655.9 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with net income of $854.9 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier.

Total revenue in the period ended May 31 was $2.77 billion, down from $3.29 billion a year ago.

Revenue for database software was $904.3 million, down 29 percent from a year ago.

See www.oracle.com