SAP surprises world with eur1 billion in fourth quarter

Global software giant SAP AG yesterday amazed world markets with news that it expects its fourth quarter 2001 software license sales (closed 31 December) to exceed 1 billion euros ($888 million) – well over Wall Street’s projected eur800 million. Full figures will be released on January 23rd, but if confirmed, it means that SAP’s 2001 full-year revenues will have grown by more than 16%, with operating margins excluding stock-based compensation and TopTier acquisition charges matching the 20% levels achieved by the company for 2000. Shares rose yesterday on the announcement by nearly 19% in Frankfurt. As for the future the company expresses some caution, saying it expects the near-term market environment “to remain challenging”. However, SAP anticipates continued year on year growth of 16% as customers continue “to invest cautiously in e-business software solutions” in difficult economic conditions. Today, more than 17,000 companies in more than 120 countries run more than 44,500 installations of SAP software.