The total revenue for the reported quarter of the German software major was down by 6% to €7.53bn compared to Q3 2019
Headquarters of SAP in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg. (Credit: SAP SE)
SAP has reported a profit after tax of €1.93bn for the fourth quarter of 2020, an 18% increase compared to a profit after tax of €1.63bn made in the same quarter of 2019.
For the third quarter of 2020, the Germany-based software major made a profit after tax of €1.65bn.
The diluted earnings per share for the company in Q4 2020 was up by 19% to €1.62 from €1.36 reported in Q4 2019.
SAP’s total revenue for the reported quarter was down by 6% to €7.53bn compared to €8.04bn made in Q4 2019.
Its cloud revenue for Q4 2020 was up by 8% to €2.04bn from €1.89bn made in the same quarter of the previous year. However, the Q4 2020 revenue for software licenses and support was down by 8% at €4.53bn compared to its Q3 2020 revenue.
SAP said that its Q4 2020 cloud revenue continued to be affected by lower pay as-you-go transactional revenue. This was primarily driven by the performance of its Concur segment due to reduced business travel related to the Covid-19 pandemic, said the company.
Concur, which is an online and mobile business travel and expense management software solution, saw its revenue come down by 20% to €341m year-over-year.
SAP said that continued high demand for e-commerce, Business Technology Platform, and Qualtrics solutions and others gave a strong finish to the year for its cloud business.
For the full year 2020 (FY20), the cloud business reported revenue of €8.08bn, which is an increase of 17% compared to the €6.93bn reported for the previous year.
For FY20, SAP registered a profit after tax of €5.28bn, an increase of 57% compared to €3.37bn made in the previous year.
The diluted earnings per share for FY20 surged by 56% to €4.35 from €2.78 reported in FY19.
SAP CFO Luka Mucic said: “In a uniquely challenging environment, 2020 was a record year for cash flow in every single quarter and the full year. Our better-than-anticipated top-line performance combined with our quick response on the cost side drove strong operating profit.
“SAP’s expedited shift to the cloud will drive long-term, sustainable growth while significantly increasing the resiliency and predictability of our business.”
Last month, the German company launched a new business transformation service called RISE with SAP for helping organisations transform into intelligent enterprises.
SAP CEO Christian Klein said: “We are reinventing how businesses run by accelerating our customers’ transformation in the cloud. Our strong finish to the year and the launch of RISE with SAP, our new holistic business transformation offering, position us well to meet our new outlook targets.”