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Microsoft declares record revenue, US$12.3bn profit

Microsoft Corp, the world's biggest software maker, on Thursday reported record revenue of US$39.8 billion in fiscal year 2005, along with profit of US$12.3 billion.

Revenue was 8 percent higher than the year before, while profit was up 50 percent, the company said in a release after the US markets closed. The per-share profit rose to US$1.12 compared with US$0.75 last year.

The 8 percent increase in revenue was the slowest ever at the company, which had an annual average of 38 percent in the 1990s.

In Microsoft's fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30, the company's sales rose 9.4 percent to US$10.2 billion. Net income for the quarter increased to US$3.7 billion, or US$0.34 a share, from US$2.69 billion, or US$0.25, a year earlier.

Sales will rise to US$43.7 billion to US$44.5 billion this fiscal year, the company projected. The company raised its earnings estimate for the year to US$1.27 to US$1.32, from an April forecast of US$1.26 to US$1.30.

Meanwhile, Google Inc saw its quarterly profit quadruple on Thursday, but its shares plunged by more than 6 percent in after-hours trading as investors were spooked about an apparent slowdown in the company's growth rate.

The world's most popular search engine said that net income rose to US$342.8 million, or US$1.19 a share, from US$79.1 million, or US$0.30, a year earlier. Sales almost doubled to US$1.38 billion, the Silicon Valley company said. Excluding fees passed on to other Web sites for displaying ads, sales were US$890 million.

The company's share price has more than tripled since its initial public offering last August but fell below US$300 dollars after chief financial officer George Reyes warned analysts in a conference call that as the company continues to expand its rate of growth will likely slow.
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