A bubbling set of figures has persuaded SAP AG to break with tradition and rush out a snapshot of its annual results a couple of months before it reports proper – a dance-of-the-seven-veils practice common among German companies but new to SAP. Full figures are due in April, but Reuters notes that SAP’s shares surged 20% following the announcement of net profits up 15% and turnover up 32%. The figures come on the back of a grim 24% fall in profits last year which was mainly due to cost of the research into, and development of, its R/3 client-server financial suite. With development spending back to manageable levels, sales of R/3 have taken off – in June, the company had 250 customers for the package, now it has over 1,012. The vast majority of these are new SAP sites, says UK marketing manager Trevor Saloman: only a few are moving from the older R/2 mainframe-based product. There is no breakdown to indicate whether R/3 has now overtaken R/2 as the main money-spinner, but their combined sales totalled the equivalent of $413.1m this year and Saloman says that the R/3 development costs, of some $300m have been recouped in the first 18 months of sales. Saloman attributes the disproportionate 48% jump in pre-tax profits to a change in SAP’s tax arrangements. Previously the money went through Switzerland, now tax is paid in Germany. SAP’s UK arm saw sales up 46% at 10.1m. For SAP as a whole consultancy did $174m, training 60m.
