Microsoft has suffered its first quarterly loss in 26 years following an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business.
The software company had warned that it was taking a $6.2bn (£3.9bn) charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn't yielded the returns envisioned by management, AP reports.
Microsoft paid $6.3 billion for aQuantive, only to see rival Google expanding its share of the online ad market.
The charge led to a $492m loss in the April to June quarter, or 6 cents a share. That compares with earnings of $5.9bn, or 69 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 4pc to $18.06bn.
Courtesy- Telegraph Group
