Stressing that businesses can do more with less with its technology in these exacting times, software giant Microsoft thundered home a strong first quarter with revenues of over US$15bn and an operating profit of US$6bn.
First-quarter revenues of US$15.06bn represented a 9pc increase on the same quarter a year ago. The company reported a net income of US$4.3bn.
Multi-year annuity sales grew more than 20pc from the combined businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division and Server and Tools.
“Our customers are asking how they can save money and do more with less,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help our customers save money through supplier consolidation, increased productivity and a low total cost of ownership through the depth and breadth of our product portfolio and solutions.”
Microsoft continued to add to its product and services portfolio with innovative offerings such as Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 and the first service update to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
“In a challenging economic environment, the first-quarter results exhibit the strength and diversity of our business model,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, Microsoft forecasts revenues of between US$17.3bn and US$17.8bn, and an operating income in the range of US$6.1bn and US$6.4bn.
“We feel extremely good about our relative competitive position and our ability to continue outgrowing IT spend,” Liddell noted.
“We believe our exceptionally strong cashflow, product pipeline and financial strength will allow us to weather economic conditions well.”
By John Kennedy
Pictured: Microsoft’s corporate campus, Redmond, Washington
