“SAP AG (SAP), the largest maker of business-management software, reported first-quarter software sales that trailed analysts’ estimates after the company failed to close contracts in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sales of new software licenses, an indicator of future revenue, rose 3 percent to 657 million euros ($859 million), Walldorf, Germany-based SAP said today. That was slower than the 9 percent growth in the previous quarter and fell short of the 726 million-euro median of estimatescompiled by Bloomberg.
Operating profit adjusted for some items rose 8 percent to 901 million euros, also missing estimates. SAP joins other software makers in reporting slowing traditional license sales. Oracle Corp. on March 20 reported revenue and profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates as demand for Web-based programs hurt sales of its hardware and on-premise software.
“Still a notch better than Oracle’s straight miss and negative newsflow from other IT bellwethers,” Thomas Becker, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said in a note. “Not a great quarter either, but Q1 is always the smallest quarter and does not establish a trend.”
SAP shares declined the most since Jan. 15, dropping as much as 3.5 percent to 57.55 euros and trading at 58.07 euros as of 9:35 a.m. in Frankfurt today. The stock has gained 18 percent in the past 12 months, valuing the company at 71.4 billion euros.
