SAPの中小規模企業向けのSaaS/ERPソリューション、初年度と比較して２１．９％の収益下降、Business ByDesignに対する開発投資を抑制する事によってマージンを修正予定、と発表
Slowdown Fears Sock SAP
German software company SAP sparked fears that it was succumbing to an industry-wide slowdown on Wednesday, after reporting a worse-than-expected performance for the first quarter.
Although the company cited specific issues with its Business ByDesign software range, which has eaten up 40 million euros ($62.2 million) in extra investment over the past three months, the fact that SAP (nyse: SAP - news - people ) missed both sales and profit forecasts for the quarter suggested that a weaker macroeconomic environment was taking effect.
Shares in SAP fell 1.50 euros ($2.33), or 4.5%, to 31.55 euros ($49.06), during midday trading in Frankfurt. The company said quarterly profits had fallen 21.9%, over the year, down to 242 million euros ($376.3 million), while a 13.8% rise in overall sales failed to match the hoped-for increase of 18.5%.
"Not a great set of numbers," said Gerardus Vos, analyst with Citigroup, "and the United States weakness may cause concern in the market."
SAP said that American sales had fallen by 1.6%, on a constant currency basis, to 244 million euros ($379.4 million). SAP's American rival Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) also missed analyst estimates last month, sparking fears that the German software firm would also suffer. (See "SAP Sinks On Oracle Woes")
SAP is attempting to boost its profitability by reducing investment in Business ByDesign, its range of products tailored to the small-to-medium enterprise market. The company said on Wednesday that it would cut spending by approximately 100 million euros ($155.5 million) in 2008, which it hopes will boost its operating margin to 28.5%-29.0%, from a previous forecast of 27.5%-28.0%.
"The raised margin outlook has likely two sides," said Ulrich Trabert, analyst with Bankhaus Metzler. "The negative side is that they reduced the investment into Business by Design. The positive side is SAP still has buffers to counter potential outside margin pressure."
A spokesman for SAP was unavailable for comment, but the company said that its Business ByDesign sales and customer targets would take 12-18 months longer to achieve. The firm had initially predicted the product range would earn $1 billion in sales and reach 10,000 customers by 2010.
