Software maker SAP showed long-awaited signs of a European recovery in results this morning and said it saw software sales up 10 per cent and higher profit margins for 2004.
Second-quarter software sales grew 2 per cent in Europe, while the United States continued to be the company's growth driver with a 63 per cent increase in software revenues.
The Americas account for around one-third of sales for SAP - the world's biggest maker of business software - with Europe, the Middle East and Africa representing more than half.
SAP repeated it expected its pro-forma operating profit margin, excluding stock-based compensation and acquisition-related charges, to rise by around one percentage point this year, which would take it to 28 per cent.
Total software revenues in the second quarter were up 15 percent at €497 million ($611 million), slightly above the €495 million SAP announced two weeks ago in a preliminary report on second-quarter performance, which it gave after a rash of profit warnings from rivals.
SAP shares traded 2.4 per cent lower on electronic brokerage Instinet before the opening of the Frankfurt stock exchange at 7 a.m.