Microsoft suffers first sales dip

Microsoft has said sales in the first three months of 2009 fell 6% from the previous year - its first quarterly drop in 23 years as a public company.

The world's largest software maker said profit dropped by 32% to $2.98bn (£2bn). Sales slipped to $13.65bn.

Microsoft makes most of its profit selling the Windows operating system and business software such as Office.

However demand has been hit by falling sales of personal computers as consumers and businesses trim spending.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told the BBC World Service that its results had been "impacted" by the downturn in the world economy.

He also admitted the company would have had less total sales "than we would have had before the downturn". We expect the weakness to continue through at least the next quarter," said the firm's chief financial officer, Chris Liddell.

Microsoft - which became a public company in 1986 - has been looking at ways of cutting costs.

In January, it said it would cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, including 1,400 immediately.

Oil prices lower in Asian trade

Oil prices were lower in Asian trade on Friday, below USD 50 a barrel, after posting modest overnight gains, with the economic downturn remaining a concern for investors.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for June, fell 32 cents to USD 49.30 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June was down 43 cents to USD 49.68.

Analysts said the market will remain volatile as countries worldwide seek a way out of the economic slump, which has weakened energy demand and pulled down oil prices.

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday forecast a severe global contraction this year, sharply downgrading its already bleak outlook from earlier in the year.

It projected the global economy would shrink 1.3 percent in 2009, saying the financial crisis was proving more entrenched than expected.

Ford loss smaller than expected

Carmaker Ford has reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2009 and says it does not intend to take government aid.

While it still reported a loss for the quarter, of $1.4bn (£0.96bn), this was better than analysts had forecast.

The news sent Ford's shares up more than 16% in early trading.

Carmakers across the world have been struggling to cope with a massive slump in demand for cars as consumers hold back on making expensive purchases.

Two of Ford's biggest rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, have taken billions of dollars in US government aid and still face bankruptcy.

The latest results show that Ford has $21.3bn in cash and reiterate that, "based on current planning assumptions, it does not expect to seek a bridge loan from the US government".

World Bank to invest USD 45 bln in infrastructure

The World Bank said on Friday that it would invest USD 45 billion in infrastructure over the next three years to lay a foundation for a "rapid recovery" from the global economic crisis.

Robert Zoellick, president of the 185-nation development lender, said in a statement that the investments "can provide the platform for job creation, sustainable economic growth and overcoming poverty, and help jump-start a recovery from the crisis."


The World Bank said a new Infrastructure Recovery and Assets Platform (INFRA) will provide USD 45 billion in infrastructure lending over the next three years, an increase of USD 15 billion over the three years preceding the crisis.


The bank also announced an increase in its support for agriculture to USD 12 billion over the next two years, from USD four billion in 2008, "to help ensure vital food security."


"Increases over this two-year period include a near doubling in agricultural support to Africa from USD 450 million to USD 800 million, and to Latin America from USD 250 million to USD 400 million, while supporting more than USD one billion in new projects in agriculture and rural development in South Asia," it said.