SAP profits up strongly in third quarter

German software giant SAP said Friday its profits more than doubled in the third quarter thanks to strong sales and lower legal costs related to litigation with arch-rival Oracle.

SAP said in a statement its operating profit jumped by 145 percent from last year to 1.755 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in the period from July to September on a 14-percent rise in revenues to 3.4 billion euros.

"The record quarter was driven by strong results across all regions," co-chief executives, Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, were quoted as saying in a statement.

In addition, the group said it substantially reduced the provision set aside for its long-running court battle with Oracle after a judge ruled that the compensation SAP had been ordered to pay was excessive.

Third-quarter revenue from software alone rose by 28 percent from a year ago to 841 million euros, while revenues from software and software-related services grew by 16 percent to 2.69 billion euros in the three-month period.

Looking at the nine months to September as a whole, operating profit jumped by 57 percent to 3.2 billion euros and revenues were up 16 percent at 9.7 billion euros.

SAP shares rose on the better-than-expected results, gaining 2.8 percent to 41.7 euros.

(c) 2011 AFP