BERLIN (Reuters) -Shares in German software maker SAP were seen opening 1.6% lower on Wednesday after the company reported a second quarter boosted by cost cuts but held off on increasing full-year targets as hoped by some investors.
SAP reported an 83% year-on-year jump in its free cash flow, used to measure dividends to investors, to 2.36 billion euros ($2.77 billion), exceeding market expectations by about a billion.
Operating profit in the second quarter rose by around a third to 2.57 billion euros, boosted by the company’s 2024 restructuring programme, which it concluded in the first quarter.
“As we move into the second half, we remain cautiously optimistic, keeping a close eye on geopolitical developments and public sector trends,” finance chief Dominik Asam said upon releasing the quarterly results late on Tuesday.
SAP maintained its annual guidance, forecasting an operating profit in the range of 10.3 billion to 10.6 billion euros, compared to 8.15 billion a year ago.
SAP announced a 2-billion-euro pivot towards artificial intelligence last year, either retraining employees or replacing them through voluntary redundancies.
But some traders said results were still driven by SAP’s old licences business.
“The future cloud biz lagged expectations, giving the report a sour tone. Also, the outlook was just confirmed sending a somewhat cautious tone,” one local trader said.
($1 = 0.8523 euros)
(Reporting by Hakan Ersen and Rachel More, editing by Thomas Seythal)
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