Software giant Microsoft this morning reported third-quarter revenues of US$10.9bn, up 13pc on the year. The company predicted even stronger double-digit revenue growth in the next fiscal year.
Microsoft said that operating income for the quarter was US$3.8bn, a 17pc increase on the year. The company reported a profit of US$2.9bn for the quarter, up from US$2.5bn a year ago.
“We are pleased with the increasing pace of revenue growth throughout this fiscal year fuelled by strong demand for our new consumer and business offerings,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft.
“We are now accelerating our investments in the business to drive future growth, which is reflected in our financial guidance. We believe the next fiscal year will deliver even stronger double-digit revenue growth than this year. Given our confidence in the future, we have also continued our momentum on buyback execution, acquiring $4.9bn of our stock during the quarter,” Liddel said.
Home and entertainment revenue was up more than 80pc due to strong demand for the Xbox 360 system. Microsoft Business Solutions delivered 21pc revenue growth due to continued customer interest in the Microsoft Dynamics line of business management solutions.
The quarter also marked the 15th consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth for Microsoft’s Server and Tools division. “The Windows Server platform value proposition is truly resonating with customers, as shown by growth in Microsoft SQL Server revenue of over 30pc this quarter,” said Kevin Johnson, co-president, Platforms & Services Division.
“Enterprise customers are increasingly selecting SQL Server to run their mission-critical applications because of its high performance, security and business intelligence capabilities.”
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter the company said revenues will be in the range of US$11.5bn to US$11.7bn.
By John Kennedy
