Port of Oakland gets federal security grants

The Port of Oakland has received $3.5 million in federal grants for port security, the transportation hub disclosed Friday.

The grants will enable the Oakland port to undertake three key projects with a total combined budget of $4.7 million.

The projects include digital, communications, computer and fiber-optics upgrades on multiple fronts for port operations and facilities.

"The Port of Oakland is a vital link for moving goods to the nation's consumers and in transporting U.S.-made products overseas for export," Oakland port board President Pamela Calloway said. "Improving our seaport security protects our workers, visitors and neighbors as well as the economic vitality of our region, state and nation."

The Oakland shipping complex is the nation's fifth-busiest container port.

Robert Half settles employee lawsuits

Menlo Park-based Robert Half International said Friday that it will take a second-quarter after-tax charge of $11.4 million related to the settlement of a trio of lawsuits filed by groups of its employees, according to a new regulatory filing.

The employment services provider said the case was set for mediation, but the parties reached a deal this week to settle the claims, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows. Court approval is still required for a formal settlement.

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Robert Half said that in recent years, it has changed its employment agreements to prevent similar lawsuits in the future.

Combined with a one-time tax expense reduction, Robert Half said it expects the settlement to reduce its second-quarter profit by $8.1 million, or 6 cents a share. Wall Street predicted that Robert Half will earn a profit of 36 cents a share for the April-June quarter.

Informatica stock plunges on forecast

Redwood City-based Informatica plunged nearly 28 percent Friday after the data-integration company said its second-quarter results would miss expectations.

Informatica said second-quarter sales would range from $188 million to $190 million. Per-share profits are expected to range from 27 cents to 28 cents, excluding one-time items. That's down from a year-ago profit of 33 cents.

Analysts had expected sales of $217 million and profit of 37 cents.

The company's stock fell $11.98, or 27.6 percent, to finish at $31.39.

-- Staff