Revenue from Microsoft Business solutions – which includes accounting software acquisitions Great Plains and Navision - has grown by more than 20% in the first quarter of the year after the software giant release its quarterly earnings.

For the third quarter, revenue climbed to $216m (£120m) compared with $179m (£99m) for the same quarter in 2005, while for the last nine months to 31 March 2006, revenue was $639m (£354m)

Overall, Microsoft revealed third-quarter revenue of $10.9bn (£6bn) a 13% increase over the same quarter of the prior year.

‘We are pleased with the increasing pace of revenue growth throughout this fiscal year fuelled by strong demand for our new consumer and business offerings,’ said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft.