ACADEMIA

Shares of business-software maker SAP AG rallied as much as 9% in Frankfurt on Wednesday after profit rose 14% on increased U.S. business and the outlook for 2006 was stronger than expected. SAP reported a 14% rise in fourth-quarter net profit to 619 million euros, with revenue up 15% to 2.75 billion euros, led by 30% growth in the Americas. The rival to Oracle and Microsoft said license sales rose 18% in the period. It raised its worldwide market share to 62%, up two percentage points from the third quarter, and increased its U.S. market share to 47%, up three percentage points from the third quarter. In early January, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP had already reported its software revenue and guided toward the upper end of fourth-quarter earnings per share. That guidance left analysts scrambling to lift stock price targets and recommendations. "2005 was an excellent year for SAP," said Henning Kagermann, CEO of SAP. "We accelerated peer group share gains as well as the adoption of our Enterprise Services Architecture; we delivered the first services enabled business software suite in the industry. Most notably, we continued to demonstrate that organic growth is a very effective way to achieve success in this industry, and that it benefits our customers, partners and shareholders." Mr. Kagermann continued, "We expect 2006 to be a cornerstone year for SAP characterized by a series of new product launches; our product pipeline for 2006 is one of the strongest in our history. New product launches will support our Enterprise Services Architecture Roadmap, place a greater emphasis on attracting the business user and are focused more than ever on the midmarket. These products will be the foundation from which we expand from our current $30 billion addressable market to a $70 billion addressable market by 2010."