Siebel Systems has posted third-quarter earnings down 48 per cent and at the low end of Wall Street's reduced expectations as key software licence revenue tumbled.

Siebel's total revenue fell to $428.5 million (€475 million) from $496.5 million in the third quarter of last year - the first such year-over-year decline in the company's eight-year history.

The company employs close to 100 people in Dublin.