Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Shares in German software and cloud computing giant SAP surged Wednesday on an optimistic outlook and soaring first-quarter revenues and profits, as the group gets a year of restructuring and job cuts underway.
The group's stock added 6.5 percent to trade at 108.42 ($121.60) euros around 9:25 am in Frankfurt (0725 GMT), making it the second-best performer on the DAX index of blue-chip firms.
Earlier Wednesday, SAP had reported net profits up 25 percent year-on-year between January and March, to 1.1 billion euros -- measured using non-IFRS standards, which exclude some costs.
In IFRS terms, the group made a loss of 108 million euros in the first three months, as costs related to a planned restructuring and the recent acquisition of California-based Qualtrics hit the books.
Executives said in January they would spend up to 950 million euros this year on the reorganisation, which will see 4,400 jobs go mostly at the Walldorf-based group's German and US operations.
By next year, bosses hope to achieve annual cost savings of 800 million euros.
"We are focused on leading a best-run SAP so we can drive a significant margin expansion in the quarters ahead," chief executive Bill McDermott said in a statement.
Also in non-IFRS terms, operating, or underlying profit added 19 percent, to almost 1.5 billion euros, while revenues grew 16 percent to 6.1 billion.
SAP said revenue from its cloud computing business grew 48 percent year-on-year, to 1.6 billion euros, although its traditional software business remained its biggest earner with 3.5 billion euros -- up six percent.
Looking ahead to the whole year, SAP lifted its forecast for non-IFRS operating profit, saying it expected year-on-year growth of up to 12.5 percent -- one point higher than previously predicted -- to as much as 8.05 billion euros.
