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Software giant SAP sales on track
FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) -- Germany's SAP said on Thursday it was on track to lift 2002 sales slightly and hit its operating profit target after posting fourth-quarter software sales of 950 million euros ($985.3 million). Europe's biggest software maker, which had been due to report fourth-quarter results on January 30, said it expected 2002 operating profit margins, excluding acquisition expenses and stock-based compensation costs, to be up at least one percentage point over the 20 percent seen in 2001. SAP abandoned its specific 2002 revenue growth target in October after being forced repeatedly to lower it in the face of slowing demand, but the company has cut costs sharply and stuck to a forecast of 21 percent operating profit margins for 2002. The fourth quarter, traditionally SAP's strongest, saw software licence sales, a key indicator of underlying demand, slightly below the year-earlier figure of 1.03 billion euros. But they were above the highest analyst estimate seen by Reuters of 925 million euros and well ahead of an average estimate of 826 million. The group, which supplies business planning and Web-based e-business software to some 17,500 customers worldwide, has been hit by a sharp slowdown in spending on information technology. But it has also benefited from the slowdown by taking business away from key rivals as tighter budgets have forced customers to choose suppliers more carefully. SAP's arch-rival Oracle Corp last month posted a 34 percent fall in quarterly licence sales in the applications segment in which the two companies directly compete but said the slump in corporate IT spending was bottoming out. SAP shares have lost more than half their value since hitting a peak of 177.40 euros last March but the shares rallied strongly at the end of 2002, and have more than doubled in value since October. They closed at 85.90 euros on Wednesday.
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