SAP Raises 2018 Guidance Again on Strong Cloud Growth

   By Nathan Allen 
 

SAP SE (SAP.XE) raised its 2018 guidance for the third consecutive quarter on Thursday, after posting solid growth in its cloud business.

Net profit for the July-September period dropped slightly to 973 million euros ($1.12 billion) compared with EUR983 million a year earlier, the German software company said. However, on a non-IFRS basis, operating profit rose 6.4% to EUR1.74 billion.

Revenue climbed 8% to EUR6.02 billion from EUR5.59 billion in the same period, SAP said.

Analysts had expected net income of EUR1.03 billion on revenue of EUR6.02 billion, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus.

SAP's closely watched revenue from cloud subscriptions and support rose 39% to EUR1.30 billion, leading the company to nudge its full-year guidance upward again.

The group now expects 2018 non-IFRS revenue of between EUR25.20 billion and EUR25.50 billion, compared with a previous estimate of EUR24.98 billion to EUR25.30 billion.

Non-IFRS operating profit for 2018 is expected to be between EUR7.43 billion and EUR7.53 billion, compared with an earlier estimate of between EUR7.40 billion and EUR7.50 billion.

Write to Nathan Allen at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 18, 2018 01:20 ET (05:20 GMT)

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