Write-down Triggers Quarterly Loss

A US$6.19 billion loss on a 2007 acquisition generated a US$492 overall loss in Microsoft’s fourth fiscal 2012 quarter (ended June 30, 2012), its first loss as a public company. Operating income also fell substantially, to US$192 million from US$6.17 billion. However, the company expanded sales to business customers on multiyear license agreements, which bodes well for future revenue. Microsoft also gave rough guidance for its upcoming fiscal year, but it has not yet told investors how they will be affected by its planned tablet hardware business.

(For an overview of Microsoft’s recent financial performance, see the chart “Financials for the Last Five Quarters“.)

Strong Sales to Companies, Consumer Businesses Struggle

Microsoft reports its financial results and gives financial guidance to investors in five divisions. (For a chart detailing the results of each division, see “Revenue and Profit (Loss) by Business Segment“.)

Business Division Sees Server, PC Growth

The Business division, Microsoft’s largest by revenue and income, includes Office; business servers such as Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and Dynamics CRM; and the Office 365 cloud applications. The division increased revenue 7% from the same quarter last year to US$6.29 billion, with an operating profit of US$4.10 billion, up 9%.