Microsoft quarterly profit soars on cloud services

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Microsoft on Wednesday said its profit in the recently ended quarter soared on the back of revenue from services hosted in the Internet cloud and its career-focused social networking platform LinkedIn.

The Redmond, Washington based technology giant reported net income of 8.8 billion US dollars on revenue of 29.1 billion US dollars in the quarter that ended on September 30, up 34 percent and 19 percent respectively from the same period a year earlier.

Shares were up 1.6 percent to 104 US dollars in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings figures for the first quarter of its fiscal year.

"We are off to a great start in fiscal 2019, a result of our innovation and the trust customers are placing in us to power their digital transformation," Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a release.

Nadella has led a transformation at Microsoft from a company focused on software installed on machines in homes and businesses to making money from services hosted on the Internet and available from a broad array of devices regardless of who makes them.

"Our record results for Q1 reflect our commitment to long-term strategic investments and consistent execution to drive revenue growth and operating margin expansion," said Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood.

"We see continued demand for our cloud offerings, reflected in our commercial cloud revenue of 8.5 billion US dollars, up 47 percent year-over-year."

Money taken in by a productivity and business processes unit rose to 9.8 billion US dollars, including strong growth in cloud-based office productivity products aimed at consumers and companies, according to Microsoft.

LinkedIn revenue grew 33 percent in the quarter, with the career-oriented networking service boasting record levels of engagement by users.

Source(s): AFP