SAP SE

Earnings Release • Jan 28, 2009

News Details

Ad-hoc | 28 January 2009 06:51

SAP AG: SAP Reports Preliminary 2008 Financial Results and 2009 Business Outlook

SAP AG / Final Results/Forecast

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WALLDORF – January 28, 2009 – SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced its
preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended
December 31, 2008, and its business outlook for 2009.

2008 Preliminary Financial Results – Key Figures
• Full-year 2008 U.S. GAAP software and software-related service revenues
were €8.46 billion (2007: €7.43 billion), representing an increase of 14%
compared to 2007. Non-GAAP software and software-related service revenues,
which exclude a non-recurring deferred support revenue write-down from the
acquisition of Business Objects of €166 million, for the full-year 2008
were €8.62 billion (2007: €7.43 billion). This represents an increase of
16% (20% at constant currencies) compared to 2007.
• U.S. GAAP operating income for the 2008 full-year period was €2.84
billion (2007: €2.73 billion), which was an increase of 4% compared to
2007. The full-year Non-GAAP operating income, which excludes a
non-recurring deferred support revenue write-down from the acquisition of
Business Objects and acquisition-related charges totaling €463 million, was
€3.31 billion (2007: €2.79 billion), which was an increase of 18% (24% at
constant currencies) compared to 2007.
• The U.S. GAAP operating margin for the 2008 full-year period was 24.6%
(2007: 26.7%). The full-year Non-GAAP operating margin was 28.2% (2007:
27.3%), or 28.4% at constant currencies, representing an increase of 1.1
percentage points at constant currencies.

Business Environment and Cost Containment Measures for 2009
The Company expects the 2009 operating environment to remain challenging.
In addition, 2009 will no longer include the positive effects from the
acquisition of Business Objects, and the 2009 first-half results will be a
difficult comparison to the strong results reported in the first half of
2008, which was prior to the economic crisis that disrupted the global
markets in the third quarter of 2008.

SAP will continue with its cost saving measures initiated in October 2008
and will take further steps to reduce expenses. SAP will continue to
maintain tight cost controls on all variable expenses, including
third-party related costs, as well as capital expenditures. Additionally,
to enable the Company to adapt its size to today’s market conditions and
the broader impact of the global recession, SAP intends to reduce its
workforce globally to 48,500 positions by year-end 2009, taking full
advantage of attrition as a factor in reaching this goal. The Company
expects the reduction of positions to provide €300 million to €350 million
in annual cost savings beginning in 2010.

Business Outlook
The Company provided the following outlook for the full-year 2009:
Due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the economic and business
environment, the Company will not provide a specific outlook for software
and software-related service revenues for the full-year 2009. The Company
expects its full-year 2009 Non-GAAP operating margin, which excludes a
non-recurring deferred support revenue write-down from the acquisition of
Business Objects of approximately €9 million and acquisition-related
charges, to be in the range of 24.5% – 25.5% at constant currencies. This
includes one-time restructuring charges between €200 million to €300
million expected to result from the reduction of the workforce, which
negatively impacts the Non-GAAP operating margin outlook by approximately 2
- 3 percentage points. The 2009 Non-GAAP operating margin outlook is based
on the assumption that 2009 Non-GAAP software and software-related service
revenues, which exclude a non-recurring deferred support revenue write-down
from the acquisition of Business Objects, will be flat to a decline of 1%
at constant currencies (2008: €8.623 billion).

The Company projects an effective tax rate of 29.5% - 30.5% (based on U.S.
GAAP income from continuing operations) for 2009 (2008: 30.1%).

Webcast/Supplementary Financial Information
SAP senior management will host a press conference in Frankfurt today at
10:00 AM (CET) / 9:00 AM (GMT) / 4:00 AM (Eastern) / 1:00 AM (Pacific),
followed by an investor conference at 2:00 PM (CET) / 1:00 PM (GMT) / 8:00
AM (Eastern) / 5:00 AM (Pacific). Both conferences will be web cast live on
the Company’s website at and will be
available for replay. Supplementary financial information pertaining to the
quarterly results can be found at http://www.sap.com/investor.

For more information, financial community only:
Stefan Gruber, +49 (6227) 7-44872, investor@sap.com, CET
Martin Cohen, +1 (212) 653-9619, investor@sap.com, EST

28.01.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Language: English
Issuer: SAP AG
Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 16
69190 Walldorf
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)6227 - 74 74 74
Fax: +49 (0)6227 - 75 75 75
E-mail: investor@sap.com
Internet: www.sap.com
ISIN: DE0007164600
WKN: 716460
Indices: DAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard),
Stuttgart; Freiverkehr in Hannover, Düsseldorf, Hamburg,
München; Terminbörse EUREX; Foreign Exchange(s) NYSE

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