German software giant SAP’s revenues up 2 pct in 2021

BERLIN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) — German software giant SAP increased its total revenues by two percent year-on-year to 27.84 billion euros (31.19 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, the company said on Thursday.

SAP’s operating profit dropped by 30 percent year-on-year to 4.66 billion euros last year, “impacted by significantly higher share-based compensation expenses compared to 2020 mainly due to the (business software company) Qualtrics IPO and the appreciation of SAP’s share price during the year,” the company said.

Cloud and software revenues increased by four percent year-on-year to 24.08 billion euros, exceeding the upper end of the full-year target. Cloud revenues alone were up 17 percent to 9.42 billion euros, according to SAP.

“The magnitude of our cloud strength is evident,” said SAP’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christian Klein. “More and more companies are choosing SAP to help them transform their businesses, build resilient supply chains and become sustainable enterprises as they move to the cloud.”

In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, cloud revenues increased 27 percent with a “strong performance” in France, Germany and Switzerland, SAP noted. In the Americas region, cloud revenues were up ten percent.

In the Asia-Pacific region, cloud revenues rose by 18 percent, with Australia and New Zealand, China and Japan developing particularly strongly, according to SAP.

Also on Thursday, SAP announced its intention to acquire a majority stake in Taulia, a leading provider of working capital management solutions based in San Francisco, the United States, for an undisclosed amount. The move is “aimed at giving companies better access to liquidity and improving their cash flows.”

SAP expects its “cloud growth to continue to accelerate” in 2022, with cloud and software revenues projected to grow four to six percent at constant currency rates. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)