Business Briefing

EARNINGS

Oracle’s profit falls, sales rise

Oracle Corp. reported third-quarter profit that met analysts’ estimates after customers bought programs they had delayed buying during the recession.

Profit before acquisition and some other costs was 38 cents a share, matching analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Including deferred revenue from Sun Microsystems Inc., which Oracle acquired in January, sales were $6.47 billion. Analysts estimated $6.32 billion.

Net income fell to $1.19 billion, or 23 cents a share, from $1.33 billion, or 26 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 17% to $6.4 billion.

Best Buy profit jumps 37%

Best Buy Co. said better sales of notebook computers and flat-panel TVs helped fourth-quarter earnings rise 37%.

The electronics chain said quarterly profit rose to $779 million, or $1.82 a share. Revenue increased 12% to $16.55 billion. Analysts predicted a profit of $1.79 on revenue of $16.08 billion.

The company expects a profit of $3.45 to $3.60 a share in the fiscal year ending next February -- better than the $3.37 that analysts predict.

THE ECONOMY

Jobless claims hit 6-week low

Initial jobless claims fell to the lowest level in six weeks.

First-time jobless applications declined by 14,000 to 442,000 last week, lower than anticipated, Labor Department figures showed. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance dropped, and those getting extended benefits also fell.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, fell to 453,750 last week, the lowest level since September 2008.

DEBT

Dubai World to get cash infusion

Dubai’s government said it would pump up to $9.5 billion into Dubai World, outlining a long-awaited restructuring plan aimed at rescuing its debt-saddled chief conglomerate and recapturing the emirate’s image as a business-friendly oasis in the oil-rich gulf.

The proposal, which still needs approval from creditors, is key in clarifying the options for scores of lenders owed the majority of the $26 billion in debt that Dubai World in November said it was seeking to restructure.

COURTS

ID thief gets 20-year sentence

A Miami man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for charges linked to computer hacking in what prosecutors called the largest identity-theft case in U.S. history.

Albert Gonzalez, 28, admitted last year that he led an international ring that stole 40 million credit- and debit-card records from U.S. retailers including TJX Cos., OfficeMax Inc. and BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc.

Madoff exec pleads not guilty

Bernard M. Madoff’s ex-operations chief pleaded not guilty to helping to run a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors and illegally infused $750 million into parts of a business that Madoff insisted was legitimate.

Daniel Bonventre, 63, is the sixth person charged in the largest-ever U.S. Ponzi scheme. Also pleading not guilty were two computer operators who worked for Madoff and were previously indicted, Jerome O’Hara and George Perez.

-- times wire reports