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Profits at Microsoft for the key second quarter, which took in both Thanksgiving and Christmas, soared 79 per cent boosted by sales of Vista and its Xbox 360 console.
The Redmond-based firm’s net profit for October to December was $4.7 billion (£2.4 billion), compared with $2.6 billion (£1.31 billion) in 2006. However, the rise is exaggerated from 2006’s figure due to the delays to Vista.
The profits are ahead of analyst targets, with Microsoft’s revenues for the last quarter growing by 30 per cent to $16.37 billion (£8.26 billion).
The company cited its games and client divisions as the reason for the growth.
Revenues at its Home and Entertainment division rose 3.1 per cent to $3.06 billion (£1.5 billion), with the Xbox 360 and Halo 3 performing particularly well. Shipments of Vista also performed well, boosted by double-digit rises in global computer sales.
