Bloomberg article re SAP: quote.bloomberg.com ersion=front.cfg
This link was found by Blizzard44 on Yahoo SAP messages.
Time to buy the dip? SAP usually bounces back after a sharp selloff.
Here is the full Bloomberg text:
SAP Shares Tumble on Concern Over Dollar, Competition (Update1)
(Updates with closing share price.)
Walldorf, Germany, Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- SAP AG's shares fell as much as 14 percent, their biggest loss in almost two years, on concern the decline in the U.S. dollar and stiffer competition from Oracle Corp. and other rivals will slow growth at the world's largest maker of business management software.
SAP shares closed down 139.5 marks, or 14.4 percent, at 830 marks, and falling as low as 827.5 marks. Today's declines were the biggest since a 24 percent slide on Oct. 23, 1996, when the software maker warned it wouldn't meet its 1996 profit forecast.
Declines were triggered partly by a fall in the dollar, which slipped more than a pfennig against the deutsche mark, traders said. A weak dollar hurts German exporters like SAP because it makes their goods more expensive abroad and reduces the value of foreign earnings when they are converted to the German currency.
Compounding the declines, Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison said the No. 1 database software maker is aiming to overtake SAP as the world's largest maker of business management software within five years, the Wall Street Journal reported. His remarks prompted concern that SAP will face growing challenges, especially as the German company moves to expand its software product portfolio, traders and analysts said. ''When it is so clear that a company like Oracle is targeting you, it definitely doesn't help,'' said Jochen Klusmann, an analyst at Bank Julius Baer in Frankfurt.
SAP's shares have fallen more than 30 percent after reaching an all-time high of 1,325 marks on July 31 on worldwide market turmoil and a weaker dollar. The dollar has fallen more than five percent against the mark in the same period.
Third-Quarter Earnings
The weaker dollar has fueled speculation that SAP's earnings may be worse than expected when it reports third- quarter figures in October, traders said. The company has repeatedly warned earnings growth would slow in the second half of 1998, though it remains on target for a 30 to 35 percent increase in full-year pretax profit. ''SAP's image as a great stock market performer is beginning to be undermined,'' Klusmann said.
SAP spokesman Stefan Gruber said it's too early to comment on the company's third-quarter earnings. The company will release sales and earnings figures for the quarter on Oct. 20 |
