Europe's biggest software company SAP today said it could top full-year financial targets in the fourth quarter, its most important period of the year.
The company today confirmed the strong third-quarter results it pre-announced last week.
SAP posted a 19% rise in third-quarter operating profit, excluding special items, to €1.62 billion as revenue rose 17% to €4.12 billion. In constant-currency terms, revenue rose 10%.
SAP, whose customers include many of the world's biggest multinationals, specialises in business applications ranging from accounting to human resources to supply-chain management.
This focus on helping companies run far-flung business operations, together with multi-year sales contracts, helps insulate SAP from short-term macroeconomic swings.
"The reason why we didn't raise the guidance is because it is an annual guidance (target) and the biggest part of the annual operating plan is still to be determined based on our fourth-quarter execution," SAPs chief executive Bill McDermott said.
"We are feeling good. We certainly have a chance to outrun it and that is why we firmly reiterated," he added.
The German company is targeting an increase in cloud and software revenue of 8-10% in constant currencies during 2015, excluding the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations.
SAP's cloud and software revenue were already up by 11% at €11.85 billion during the first nine months of 2015.
Analysts say the swing factor in the fourth quarter will be how sales of SAP's classic packaged software perform, which remains the mainstay of its business.
The final quarter of the year is traditionally the software company's strongest period as companies renew existing software licences but this factor could prove volatile against a backdrop of economic uncertainty.
SAP's third-quarter results were driven by strong growth in North America and Europe, especially France and Germany, while weakness in certain emerging markets including China and Brazil was offset by strength in India and elsewhere in Latin America.
The company said it expects operating profit of €5.6-5.9 billion, which would be flat to as much as 5% up from the previous year figure.
