Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said last night that its quarterly profit rose on increased sales to businesses and robust consumer demand for personal computers.
Microsoft reported a net profit of $2.6 billion (€2.2 billion), or 24 cents per share, for the first quarter to end September. compared with a profit of $2 billion, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier.
In July, Microsoft said it would begin expensing stock-based compensation. At that time, it had forecast a first-quarter profit of 23 cents per share, including 6 cents in costs for that move. It said it would also adjust past results accordingly.
Revenue rose to 8.2 billion from $7.75 billion a year earlier.
Because of the accounting change to reflect the expense of awarding options in previous quarters, analysts have said that it would be difficult to compare forecasts to actual results in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the most senior Microsoft executive based in Europe has warned that the Republic is now lagging many of its European competitors in IT.
As many European countries have moved IT up their agenda it is fair to say there are a number of areas were there could be more progress, says Mr Jean-Philippe Courtois, chief executive of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa in an interview with The Irish Times today.
He pinpoints broadband and education as the two key priority areas which require more attention by the Irish Government.
"When I am travelling from country to country in Europe, I am certainly seeing more countries accelerating in a very aggressive way their efforts to develop broadband," he says. "I am not so sure I see the same pace happening in Ireland today."
