Cloud computing has added a silver lining to Microsoft Corporation profits (NASDAQ:MSFT).
The software giant's cloud computing arm Azure boosted divisional revenue by 7% to US$6.7bn. Overall group adjusted revenue rose US$420mln to US$22.6bn.
Microsoft increased quarterly group profit to US$3.1bn (£2.4bn) in the three months to June from a US$3.2bn loss in the same period a year ago.
The loss at the time was due to charges taken on writing down the value of mobile phone assets acquired from Finnish group Nokia.
The company has been expanding its presence in cloud computing to make up for a slowdown in computer sales.
Chief executive Satya Nadella said: "The Microsoft Cloud is seeing significant customer momentum and we're well positioned to reach new opportunities."
Microsoft's hardware business faced problems in the quarter with revenue from mobile devices dropping 35%, largely caused by a 70% fall in mobile sales. Tablet and hybrid laptop sales rose 9%.