Microsoft profit falls
SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. says its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 11% from a year earlier, when revenue from pre-sales of the new Windows Vista operating system pushed up results.
Microsoft said after markets closed today that net profit for the three months ended March 31 fell to $4.39 billion, or 47 cents per share, from $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a profit of 44 cents per share.
Excluding the impact of deferred Vista revenue from last year's quarter, Microsoft said earnings per share rose 14%.
Earnings were also depressed by 15 cents per share due to a fine from the European Commission.
Revenue edged up to $14.45 billion from $14.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts were looking for $14.4 billion in sales.
