Software manufacturer
SAP deserves better than expected
Good numbers: Europe’s largest software manufacturer SAP increases the business outlook. Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The online software business is growing rapidly. This is one of the reasons why the industry giant SAP can come up with good numbers. The people of Walldorf are more confident for the year as a whole.
Europe’s largest software manufacturer SAP has earned significantly more than expected and has increased its business outlook. The operating result before interest and taxes adjusted for special effects rose in the second quarter by two percent to 2.1 billion euros, as the Dax heavyweight announced on Tuesday evening in Walldorf.
Experts had expected a noticeable decline. The group sees itself as the world market leader in software for managing companies.
Because the software for use via the network (cloud software) continues to be well received by customers and new product initiatives are also bearing fruit, sales rose by five percent to 6.84 billion euros compared to the weak prior-year quarter. Experts had expected a significantly weaker increase. The Walldorf share rose significantly on Wednesday.
The bottom line was that at 1.42 billion euros, 14 percent less net profit was left than in the same period of the previous year. Above all, more money was needed for share-based compensation for employees.
“We are experiencing record demand for our applications and our platform,” said SAP CEO Christian Klein. “This has led to a significant acceleration in our cloud growth.”
Klein raised the financial forecast for the current year. In the cloud business, the group is expecting currency-adjusted sales growth of 16 to 19 percent this year. Most recently, 15 to 18 percent were on schedule. In the case of currency-adjusted figures, exchange rate fluctuations with other currencies are hidden. Adjusted operating profit is now expected to decrease by a maximum of two percent after adjusting for currency effects instead of four percent.