Microsoft's quarterly profit rises 27.8 %

Microsoft says its first quarter profit grew by nearly a third as it's cloud computing services were in high demand.

Microsoft has reported a 27.8% increase in quarterly profit, lifted by its cloud computing services. (AAP)

Microsoft has reported a 27.8 per cent increase in quarterly profit, lifted by robust demand for its cloud computing services.

The company's net income rose to $US4.80 billion ($A6.42 billion), or 61 cents per share, in the third quarter ended March 31, from $US3.76 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue on an adjusted basis climbed six per cent to $US23.56 billion.

Under Chief Executive Satya Nadella, who took the helm in 2014, Microsoft has sharpened its focus on the fast-growing cloud computing unit to counter a prolonged slowdown in the PC market, which has weighed on demand for its Windows software.

The company's flagship cloud computing platform, Azure, competes with Amazon.com's Amazon Web Services, the market leader in cloud infrastructure.