Business & Money | Sunday 26 April, 2015 3:27 pm |

Business Highlights in the First Quarter 2015
SAP again delivered exceptionally strong growth in the cloud. First quarter non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew 131% year-over-year (95% at constant currencies). New cloud bookings, the key measure for SAP’s sales success in the cloud, increased 121% in the first quarter to €120 million. The Company had a very strong cloud and software revenue performance with 24% growth in non-IFRS cloud and software revenue (12% at constant currencies) to €3.66 billion.

Non-IFRS operating profit increased 15% (decrease of 2% at constant currencies) to €1.06 billion.

“We are pleased to report triple-digit growth in both cloud and our business network segment which started on a high note,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. “SAP S/4HANA saw robust early traction and is catalyzing momentum across SAP. We are a strong growth company with every region growing in double digits in cloud and software revenue this quarter. We remain ever focused on seamless execution of our consistent, customer-driven strategy.”

“SAP’s customer centricity and commitment to investing in innovation are paying off”, said Luka Mucic, CFO of SAP. “We grew our cloud and software revenue by 24% and increased our operating profit by 15% surpassing €1 billion in a first quarter for the first time as currency shifted to a tailwind.”

SAP HANA continues to be a major growth driver for the Company. This quarter the number of HANA customers surpassed 6,400, almost doubling from just one year ago. SAP S/4HANA’s robust early traction – more than 370 SAP S/4HANA customers year-to-date – was a major catalyst in HANA’s broader market adoption across all industries and regions.

SAP HANA also continues to evolve as a development platform. The HANA Cloud Platform, our Platform as a Service offering, enables organizations to extend and customize SAP applications quickly and easily in the cloud. This new offering is building significant momentum and has already attracted approximately 1,400 customers in a short period of time.

SAP Business Network is the world’s largest network of its kind. Total revenue in the SAP Business Network segment was €368 million (€308 million at constant currencies) in the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of 207% (157% at constant currencies). 1.8 million connected companies trade over $750 billion of frictionless commerce3 on this network. SAP Business Network brings together Ariba, Concur and Fieldglass into one operating unit which is reported as a separate business segment.

First Quarter 2015 Regional Revenue
SAP showed a strong performance in the EMEA region in both the core and the cloud business. Cloud traction was exceptional with cloud subscriptions and support revenue growing by 114% driven by a very strong performance in the UK. As expected the macro and political environment continued to weigh on SAP’s business in Russia and Ukraine but double-digit software licenses revenue growth in Germany pushed EMEA to a 13% increase in non-IFRS cloud and software revenue.

In the Americas region, non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew by 136%. Non-IFRS cloud and software revenue increased 34% year-over-year, driven by triple-digit growth in cloud subscriptions and support revenue in the United States. Brazil bounced back with strong double-digit software license revenue growth.

The Company had an exceptional quarter in APJ. Non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew by 137% driven by a very strong quarter in India. Non-IFRS cloud and software revenue increased by 38%. Japan stood out with strong double-digit growth in software licenses revenue.

BUSINESS OUTLOOK 2015
The Company reiterates the following 2015 outlook:

Based on the strong momentum in SAP’s cloud business the Company expects full-year 2015 non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue to be in a range of €1.95 - €2.05 billion at constant currencies (2014: €1.10 billion). The upper end of this range represents a growth rate of 86% at constant currencies. Concur and Fieldglass are expected to contribute approximately 50 percentage points to this growth.

The Company expects full year 2015 non-IFRS cloud and software revenue to increase by 8% - 10% at constant currencies (2014: €14.33 billion).

The Company expects full-year 2015 non-IFRS operating profit to be in a range of €5.6 billion - €5.9 billion at constant currencies (2014: €5.64 billion).

While the Company's full-year 2015 business outlook is at constant currencies, actual currency reported figures are expected to continue to be impacted by currency exchange rate fluctuations. If exchange rates remain at the March 2015 average rates for the rest of the year, the Company expects its non-IFRS cloud and software revenue growth rate to experience a currency benefit in a range of 8 to 11 percentage points for the full-year 2015 (10 to 13 percentage points for the second quarter 2015) and its non-IFRS operating profit growth rate at actual currencies to experience a currency benefit in a range of 10 to 13 percentage points for the full-year 2015 (12 to 15 percentage points for the second quarter 2015).