Microsoft’s Profits Hurt by European Energy Crisis, CFO Says

Rising energy prices in Europe are eroding profitability at Microsoft Corp., which is paying more to deliver cloud-computing services to customers in the region, the software giant’s chief financial officer said.

The company on Tuesday posted its weakest quarterly revenue growth in five years, sending shares down more than 4%. In an interview after the company released fiscal first-quarter results. CFO Amy Hood said Microsoft was seeing a steeper-than-expected jump in expenses to power, heat and cool the company’s servers and data centers across Europe. On a conference call later, she estimated the company will pay $800 million in extra energy costs this fiscal year.