German software giant SAP said on July 17 its bottom line was hit by one-off effects in the second quarter, but it is sticking to its full-year forecast. SAP said in a statement that its net profit fell by 23 percent to 556 million euros ($752 million) in the period from April to June. Underlying or operating profit was down 29 percent at 698 million euros, despite a 2.0-percent increase in second-quarter revenues to 4.151 billion euros. SAP said profits had been hit by a provision of 289 million euros related to a long-running patent dispute with the US company Versata.
Looking ahead to the whole year, SAP said it continued to project operating profit to be in a range of 5.8-6.0 billion euros, up from 5.48 billion euros in 2013.