Microsoft Corp reported a 3.6 percent rise in fiscal second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by growth in its fast-growing cloud computing business, but it saw a slight decline in margins in the unit that includes its flagship cloud platform Azure. Since taking charge in 2014, Chief Executive Satya Nadella has steered the company toward cloud services and mobile applications and away from its slowing traditional software business. Gross margins for Microsoft's so-called "commercial cloud" business, which includes Azure and versions of its online Office 365 product sold to businesses, were 48 percent, said Chris Suh, head of Microsoft's investor relations.