Microsoft has reported an 11% increase in both sales and
profits for the first quarter, ended 30 September.
Turnover was $10.81bn (£5.84bn) and operating profit was $4.47bn
(£2.41bn), giving the company an impressive operating margin of
41.3%.
“The solid revenue results for the quarter were at the top end
of our expectations and represent a very good start to the fiscal
year,” said Microsoft's chief financial officer Chris Liddell.
The results outstripped market forecasts and the company has
plenty to come, with the arrival of Windows Vista for businesses
next month and the full launch in early January. The company will
soon launch the next version of its Office collaboration suite,
Office 2007.
Server and tools revenue increased 17% over the same quarter in
the previous year, reflecting a healthy performance for offerings
such as SQL Server 2005, Windows Server, Visual Studio 2005 and
BizTalk Server, said Microsoft.
SQL Server experienced revenue growth of more than 30%, as
customers increasingly deployed SQL Server for their
mission-critical, transaction-oriented databases.
The entertainment and devices division saw revenue growth of 70%
over the previous year, driven by demand for the Xbox 360 games
console and games software. The firm said 6m Xbox 360s had so far
been sold worldwide since its launch.
Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft, said, “As we
look to the upcoming releases of Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft
Office system and Exchange Server 2007, we are excited about these
products and believe they will deliver unprecedented levels of
business value to our customers.”