SAP'sfirst quarter financial resultsreleased yesterday
confirm that large software suppliers are not immune from the
effects of the economic downturn.
Although total revenue was only 3% down from the same period
last year at €2,397m, software revenues fell 33% from €622m in Q1
2008 to €418m.
Net income of €204m was also down from €242m a year ago, but SAP
managed to keep software and software-related service revenue
almost unchanged at €1,740m.
The results were below forecasts of profits of €261m on revenue
of €2,550m, but analysts said SAP's first-quarter results a year
ago were boosted by the acquisition of Business Objects.
"While visibility for software revenues remains limited, we
continue to take the necessary steps to protect our margin in this
tough operating environment," said Léo Apotheker, co-CEO of
SAP.
In a separate announcement, SAP said it had
agreed to provide benchmarking and key performance indicators
(KPIs) for its maintenance programme.
The agreement was reached after months of negotiation between
SAP and the SAP User Group Executive Network (Sugen), a global
federation of 12 user groups.
The move has been
welcomed by the SAP UK & Ireland User Group, which said
decision reflects the influence of user groups.
Negotiations between SAP and Sugen began late last year after a
strong reaction to SAP's mid-year announcement that all customers
would be
transferred to a more expensive support programme.
