Germany’s SAP shares slip as improved outlook still falls short

BERLIN: Shares in SAP fell on Wednesday, with investors disappointed that the German business software group’s revenue and profit outlook had not been lifted further.

Shares in the firm whose software is used for finance, human resources management and supply-chains were down 2% by mid morning, after an initial pre-opening rally in Frankfurt.

SAP said it expected cloud revenue to grow by 15%-18% in the year, helping overall cloud and software revenue gain by 2%-3%. Operating profit was forecast in a range from unchanged to 4% lower for 2021.

Citi analyst Amit Harchandani said revised guidance for revenue and profit was below consensus forecasts, while SAP’s leading indicator for new cloud business showed only incremental improvement.