Microsoft reports first quarterly loss
A $6.2 billion charge from the purchase of an online ad service leads to the tech giant's first quarterly loss as a public company.
By John Davenport Jul 19, 2012 4:19PM
By The Associated Press
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft says an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business led to its first quarterly loss as a public company.
It had warned that it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn’t yielded the returns envisioned by management. The non-cash adjustment is something companies do when the value of their assets decline. Microsoft Corp. paid $6.3 billion for aQuantive, only to see rival Google Inc. expand its share of the online ad market.
The charge led to a $492 million loss in the April-June quarter, or 6 cents a share. That compares with earnings of $5.9 billion, or 69 cents, a year ago.
Revenue rose 4% to $18.06 billion.