Microsoft last night posted a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit, undermined by $1.2 billion (€1.33 billion) in investment losses, but said revenues were strong on healthy sales of its corporate software.

The software maker, which employs 1,600 people in Dublin, said net profits for its first quarter, to September 30th, were $1.28 billion, or 23 US cents a share, compared with $2.2 billion, or 46 cents a share a year earlier. Revenues were $6.13 billion, up from the $5.8 billion a year earlier.

The firm was expected to earn between 38 cents and 42 cents a share on revenues of between $5.9 billion and $6.5 billion, according to analysts polled by Wall Street tracking firm Thomson Financial/First Call.