Xbox back in the red in latest Microsoft figures

Software giant Microsoft has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2005, revealing that while the company overall saw solid profit growth, the Xbox division slipped back into the red with a $164 million operating loss.

Revenues in the Home and Entertainment Division, which primarily houses the Xbox project, actually grew year on year - rising to $583 million from $519 million in the same quarter last year.

The operating loss in the division also dropped year on year, falling to $164 million from $204 million, which could be seen as very positive - but can equally be interpreted in light of the fact that the previous quarter, ended on December 31st, saw the division post its first quarterly profit since the launch of Xbox.

That profit, $84 million on revenues of $1.27 billion, was largely driven by sales of Halo 2, while the first calendar quarter of 2005 has been much quieter for Microsoft on the software front. The firm will undoubtedly be hoping that the current quarter will be healthier, however, thanks to the launches of Jade Empire and Forza Motorsport.

In terms of Microsoft's overall performance, a little hit from the Xbox division certainly hasn't made any dent in the giant's progress. Overall revenues of $9.62 billion were reported for the quarter (up from $9.17 billion last year), with a gigantic operating income of $3.3 billion (up from $1.3 billion).