SAP forecasts flat 2021 revenue after fourth-quarter recovery

Business software group SAP forecast flat revenue and a decline in operating profit in 2021, as it released preliminary annual results that came at the high end of guidance slashed last autumn.

Walldorf-based SAP said it expected adjusted revenue, at constant currency, to be flat to up 2% this year, while adjusted operating profit was seen falling by 1%-6%.

CEO Christian Klein abandoned his medium-term profit targets last October and said SAP would go all-in on its shift to cloud computing, cautioning that business would take longer than expected to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

That announcement sparked the biggest drop in SAP shares in a generation, causing the leading provider of enterprise software to lose its mantle as Europe’s most valuable technology company.