Above: Master Chief, Halo 3, WallpaperMicrosoft shares soared to a six-year high in New York last night, after the software giant lifted its profits for the full-year, off the back of record quarterly revenue growth.
The group reported a 27pc rise in revenue to $13.76bn (£6.71bn) for the three months to the end of September – the fastest growth of any first quarter since 1999, driven by strong demand for video game Halo 3, and Windows Vista.
Master Chief, one of the game's key characters
Halo 3 has enjoyed phenomenal success, becoming the fastest-selling video game in history earlier this month, after notching up $300m worth of sales in its first week.
Meanwhile, the development of Vista has been a torturous five-year project, costing Microsoft $6bn and arriving a year late.
However, Kevin Johnson, president of the platform and services division at Microsoft, said yesterday: "Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to build with double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and with the vast majority of consumers purchasing premium editions."
Microsoft's business division, and its server and tool arm saw combined revenue climb 20pc, thanks to robust demand for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Server and SQL Server – as well as Vista.
Overall, first-quarter sales beat market expectations by more than $1bn. Chris Liddell, chief financial officer, said: "The fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999. Operating income growth of over 30pc also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future."
Looking ahead, the group said it expects profits of $1.78 to $1.81 a share for the full-year, on sales of $58.8bn to $59.7bn.
The group's shares jumped as much as 13pc to $36.02 yesterday – a price last seen in July 2001.
Earlier this week, Microsoft saw off competition from rival Google to secure a stake in Facebook, in a deal which values the social networking site at $15bn.
Source: The Telegraph