SAP, the Germany-based business-software company, on Wednesday said pshaw to the struggling global economy.
In its quarterly financial report, SAP said net profit more than doubled, from €501 million in the year-ago quarter to €1.25 billion ($1.74 billion U.S.) in the most recent three months ending Sept. 30. A little more than half of the increase was due to stipulations from copyright litigation with rival Oracle. But beyond the one-time payout, SAP is bullish on the future.
“SAP’s third quarter software revenue grew at its fastest rate in a decade because customers are shifting their investments to software that helps them grow and innovate. Our core solutions together with our industry-leading innovation in mobility, in-memory computing and cloud deliver exceptional value to our customers across all regions and industries," said Bill McDermott, co-CEO of SAP. “This is a growth company executing on a powerful vision."
“Our strong performance and market share gains clearly show that our customer-focused innovation strategy is winning," said Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEO of SAP. “Delivering innovations in non-disruptive steps reduces the costs for our customers so they can invest in our breakthrough technologies to speed up decisions, strengthen customer relationships and drive growth. When our customers win, we win."
License sales – another important figure – were up 28 percent in the quarter. Once 2011 is in the rearview mirror, SAP predicts its software and software-related service revenues will have jumped between 10 and 14 percent for the year.
SAP stock closed up slightly on Wednesday after the release of the report that beat analysts’ expectations.
