Microsoft India FY19 revenue up 14% to Rs 7,244 cr

Microsoft India, the local unit of US-based software major Microsoft, has posted a 14% year-on-year rise in revenue for 2018-19 to Rs 7,244 crore.

Higher sales also led to the company’s net profit improving 7% on year to Rs 386 crore but was limited by a sharp fall of 60% in other income at Rs 5.7 crore, regulatory filings show.

Despite the higher profit, the company neither increased its reserves nor declared a dividend for the parent company.

“Considering overall performance and the financial position of the company for the year ended March 31, 2019 and to conserve resources keeping in view the expansion plan of the company, the board of directors is not declaring a dividend,” an official statement said.

Microsoft India’s profitability also improved by one percentage point to 17% during the year despite higher costs.

The company sells retail software products, which contributes around 60% of its total revenues. Microsoft India pays a royalty to its US holding company for allowing the sale of retail software products. For 2018-19, the Indian subsidiary paid higher royalty of Rs 406 crore compared to Rs 357 crore a year ago.

The company’s advertisement costs halved to Rs 60 crore in the reporting year.

Other business segments include cloud-based solutions such as Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Xbox Live that provide software, services, platforms, and content. The services segment contributes 40% of the topline.