Microsoft Q1 profit doubles to $2.73 billion, 50 cents a share

Oregon: For the three months ended 30 September 2002, the Redmond-based software maker had a profit of $2.73 billion, or 50 cents a share, compared to net earnings of $1.28 billion, or 23 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

The results included one-time charges of $291 million, or 5 cents a share, related to weakness in Microsoft’s investments. A year earlier, Microsoft wrote down $1.2 billion on investments. Microsoft’s fiscal first-quarter revenue totalled $7.75 billion, up 27 per cent from $6.1 billion in sales a year ago.

The company surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had a consensus estimate of 43 cents a share on revenue of $7.1 billion.

Microsoft cited a higher-than-expected enrolment in new, subscription-like licensing plans that require companies to sign multiyear agreements and pay annual fees in return for rights to software upgrades. The new plans also eliminate many discounts that companies could receive when they chose to upgrade.