Microsoft reports first loss as public company

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft says an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business led to its first quarterly loss as a public company. It had warned that it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn’t yielded the returns envisioned by management. The non-cash adjustment is something companies do when the value of their assets declines. Microsoft Corp. paid $6.3 billion for aQuantive, only to see rival Google Inc. expand its share of the online ad market. The charge led to a $492 million loss in the April-June quarter, or 6 cents a share. That compares with earnings of $5.9 billion, or 69 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 4 percent to $18.06 billion.