SAP AG was pleased with its growth in the first nine months of the year, but its figures disappointed analysts and the markets, and the company warned that the fourth quarter growth rate would not match that of a year ago, which it described as exceptionally strong. Profits from operations in the nine months to September 30 were up 47% to the equivalent of $270.8m, on turnover that rose 57% at $1,259.1m. The company said currency fluctuations cost it $17.6m in reduced profits. SAP announced that it had signed an agreement with Bedford, Massachusetts-based Computervision Corp for the latter to develop an interface between its Optegra data management software and SAP’s R/3 business application. SAP will act as a consultant under the deal. Around 70%, or $879m of SAP’s turnover in the period came from software product sales, a rise of 60% on last time, and consulting turnover rose 42% to $243m and training sales were up 71% at $116m.
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