SAP meets or exceeds all financial outlook parameters for FY2024
Current cloud backlog of €18.1 billion, up 32% and up 29% at constant currencies
Total cloud backlog of €63.3 billion, up 43% and up 40% at constant currencies
Cloud revenue up 25% and up 26% at constant currencies in FY2024
Cloud ERP Suite revenue up 33% and up 34% at constant currencies in FY2024
Total revenue up 10% and up 10% at constant currencies in FY2024
IFRS operating profit down 20%, non-IFRS operating profit up 25% and up 26% at constant currencies in FY2024
2025 outlook anticipates accelerating cloud revenue growth
WALLDORF, Germany, Jan. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
SAP Logo (PRNewsfoto/SAP SE)
Christian Klein, CEO: Q4 was a strong finish to the year, with half of our cloud order entry including AI. Looking at the full year, we exceeded our cloud goals, accelerating cloud revenue and current cloud backlog growth against a much larger base. Total cloud backlog now stands at €63 billion, up 40%. Revenue growth has returned to double-digits. Looking ahead, our strong position in data and Business AI gives us additional confidence that we will accelerate revenue growth through 2027.
Dominik Asam, CFO: We are pleased with the strong close to 2024, where we exceeded our cloud and software revenue, non-IFRS operating profit, and free cash flow outlook. With current cloud backlog growth of 29%, we've demonstrated the strength of our strategy and our ability to deliver on our commitments. This progress solidly aligns with the Ambition 2025 we set four years ago and positions us well for continued growth this year and beyond.
Financial Performance
Group results at a glance – Fourth quarter 2024
IFRS
Non-IFRS1
€ million, unless otherwise stated
Q4 2024
Q4 2023
∆ in %
Q4 2024
Q4 2023
∆ in %
∆ in % const. curr.
SaaS/PaaS
4,585
3,515
30
4,585
3,515
30
30
Thereof Cloud ERP Suite2
3,949
2,931
35
3,949
2,931
35
35
Thereof Extension Suite3
636
584
9
636
584
9
6
IaaS4
123
184
–33
123
184
–33
–33
Cloud revenue
4,708
3,699
27
4,708
3,699
27
27
Cloud and software revenue
8,267
7,382
12
8,267
7,382
12
11
Total revenue
9,377
8,468
11
9,377
8,468
11
10
Share of more predictable revenue (in %)
81
77
4pp
81
77
4pp
Cloud gross profit
3,429
2,658
29
3,458
2,669
30
29
Gross profit
6,943
6,204
12
6,972
6,216
12
12
Operating profit (loss)
2,016
1,902
6
2,436
1,969
24
24
Profit (loss) after tax from continuing operations
1,616
1,201
35
1,619
1,302
24
Profit (loss) after tax5
1,616
1,201
35
1,619
1,302
24
Earnings per share - Basic (in €) from continuing operations
1.37
1.05
31
1.40
1.12
24
Earnings per share - Basic (in €)5
1.37
1.05
31
1.40
1.12
24
Net cash flows from operating activities from continuing operations
–551
1,926
NA
Free cash flow
–918
1,670
NA
1 For a breakdown of the individual adjustments see table "Non-IFRS Operating Expense Adjustments by Functional Areas" in this Quarterly Statement. 2 Cloud ERP Suite references the portfolio of strategic Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions that are tightly integrated with our core ERP solutions and are included in key commercial packages, such as RISE with SAP. The following offerings contribute to Cloud ERP Suite revenue: SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP Business Technology Platform, and core solutions for HR and payroll, spend management, commerce, customer data solutions, business process transformation, and working capital management. For additional information and historical data on Cloud ERP Suite, see SAP's Reporting Framework. 3 Extension Suite references SAP's remaining SaaS and PaaS solutions that supplement and extend the functional coverage of the Cloud ERP Suite. 4 Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): The major portion of IaaS comes from SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. 5 From continuing and discontinued operations.
Group results at a glance – Full year 2024
IFRS
Non-IFRS1
€ million, unless otherwise stated
Q1–Q4
2024
Q1–Q4
2023
∆ in %
Q1–Q4
2024
Q1–Q4
2023
∆ in %
∆ in % const. curr.
SaaS/PaaS
16,601
12,916
29
16,601
12,916
29
29
Thereof Cloud ERP Suite revenue2
14,166
10,626
33
14,166
10,626
33
34
Thereof Extension Suite revenue3
2,435
2,290
6
2,435
2,290
6
6
IaaS4
540
748
–28
540
748
–28
–27
Cloud revenue
17,141
13,664
25
17,141
13,664
25
26
Cloud and software revenue
29,830
26,924
11
29,830
26,924
11
11
Total revenue
34,176
31,207
10
34,176
31,207
10
10
Share of more predictable revenue (in %)
83
81
3pp
83
81
3pp
Cloud gross profit
12,481
9,780
28
12,559
9,821
28
28
Gross profit
24,932
22,534
11
25,011
22,603
11
11
Operating profit (loss)
4,665
5,799
–20
8,153
6,514
25
26
Profit (loss) after tax from continuing operations
3,150
3,600
–13
5,279
4,321
22
Profit (loss) after tax5
3,150
5,964
–47
5,279
6,103
–13
Earnings per share - Basic (in €) from continuing operations
2.68
3.11
–14
4.53
3.72
22
Earnings per share - Basic (in €)5
2.68
5.26
–49
4.53
5.51
–18
Net cash flows from operating activities from continuing operations
5,220
6,210
–16
Free cash flow
4,113
5,093
–19
1 For a breakdown of the individual adjustments see table "Non-IFRS Operating Expense Adjustments by Functional Areas" in this Quarterly Statement. 2 Cloud ERP Suite references the portfolio of strategic Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions that are tightly integrated with our core ERP solutions and are included in key commercial packages, such as RISE with SAP. The following offerings contribute to Cloud ERP Suite revenue: SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP Business Technology Platform, and core solutions for HR and payroll, spend management, commerce, customer data solutions, business process transformation, and working capital management. For additional information and historical data on Cloud ERP Suite, see SAP's Reporting Framework. 3 Extension Suite references SAP's remaining SaaS and PaaS solutions that supplement and extend the functional coverage of the Cloud ERP Suite. 4 Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): The major portion of IaaS comes from SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. 5 From continuing and discontinued operations.
Financial Highlights1
Fourth Quarter 2024
In the fourth quarter, current cloud backlog grew by 32% to €18.08 billion and was up 29% at constant currencies. Cloud revenue was up 27% to €4.71 billion and up 27% at constant currencies, fueled by Cloud ERP Suite revenue, which was up 35% to €3.95 billion and up 35% at constant currencies.
Software licenses revenue decreased by 18% to €0.68 billion and was down 19% at constant currencies. Cloud and software revenue was up 12% to €8.27 billion and up 11% at constant currencies. Services revenue was up 2% to €1.11 billion and up 2% at constant currencies. Total revenue was up 11% to €9.38 billion and up 10% at constant currencies.
The share of more predictable revenue increased by 4 percentage points to 81% in the fourth quarter.
IFRS cloud gross profit was up 29% to €3.43 billion. Non-IFRS cloud gross profit was up 30% to €3.46 billion and was up 29% at constant currencies. IFRS Cloud gross margin was up 1.0 percentage points to 72.8%, non-IFRS cloud gross margin up 1.3 percentage points to 73.5% and up 1.4 percentage points at constant currencies.
IFRS operating profit was up 6% to €2.02 billion and IFRS operating margin decreased by 1.0 percentage points to 21.5%. Non-IFRS operating profit was up 24% to €2.44 billion and was up 24% at constant currencies, non-IFRS operating margin increased by 2.7 percentage points to 26.0% and was up 2.9 percentage points to 26.1% at constant currencies. IFRS and non-IFRS operating profit was mainly driven by a strong performance in SAP's software licenses and support business as well as disciplined execution of the 2024 transformation program. In addition, IFRS operating profit was negatively impacted by restructuring expenses associated with the 2024 transformation program.
IFRS earnings per share (basic) increased 31% to €1.37. Non-IFRS earnings per share (basic) increased 24% to €1.40. IFRS effective tax rate was 26.8% (Q4/2023: 33.6%) and non-IFRS effective tax rate was 30.0% (Q4/2023: 32.5%). For IFRS, the year-over-year decrease mainly resulted from changes in tax-exempt income and prior-year taxes. For non-IFRS, the year-over-year decrease mainly resulted from prior-year taxes.
Free cash flow in the fourth quarter came in at –€0.92 billion (Q4 2023: €1.67 billion). The year over year decline was mainly attributable to a €1.7 billion payout under the 2024 transformation program.
Full Year 2024
SAP performed against its financial outlook as follows:
Actual 2023
2024 Outlook (as of January 23)
Revised 2024 Outlook (as of October 21)
Actual 2024
Cloud revenue (at constant currencies)
€13.66 billion
€17.0 – 17.3 billion
€17.0 – 17.3 billion
€17.21 billion
Cloud and software revenue (at constant currencies)
€26.92 billion
€29.0 – 29.5 billion
€29.5 – 29.8 billion
€29.96 billion
Operating profit (non-IFRS, at constant currencies)
€6.51 billion
€7.6 – 7.9 billion
€7.8 – 8.0 billion
€8.23 billion
Free cash flow
€5.09 billion
approx. €3.5 billion
€3.5 – 4.0 billion
€4.11 billion
Effective tax rate (non-IFRS)
30.3 %
approx. 32%
approx. 32%
32.3 %
As of December 31, total cloud backlog was up 43% to €63.29 billion and up 40% at constant currencies.
For the full year, cloud revenue was up 25% to €17.14 billion and up 26% at constant currencies. Software licenses revenue was down 21% to €1.40 billion and down 21% at constant currencies. Cloud and software revenue was up 11% to €29.83 billion and up 11% at constant currencies. Services revenue was up 1% to €4.35 billion and up 2% at constant currencies. Total revenue was up 10% to €34.18 billion and up 10% at constant currencies.
The share of more predictable revenue increased by 3 percentage points year over year to 83% for the full year 2024.
IFRS cloud gross profit was up 28% to €12.48 billion. Non-IFRS cloud gross profit was up 28% to €12.56 billion and was up 28% at constant currencies. IFRS cloud gross margin was up 1.2 percentage points to 72.8%, non-IFRS cloud gross margin up 1.4 percentage points to 73.3% and up 1.4 percentage points at constant currencies.
IFRS operating profit was down 20% to €4.66 billion and IFRS operating margin decreased by 4.9 percentage points to 13.6%. The decline in IFRS operating profit was due to restructuring expenses of approximately €3.1 billion associated with the 2024 transformation program. Non-IFRS operating profit increased 25% to €8.15 billion and increased 26% at constant currencies, non-IFRS operating margin increased by 3.0 percentage points to 23.9% and was up 3.1 percentage points to 24.0% at constant currencies.
IFRS earnings per share (basic) decreased 14% to €2.68 and non-IFRS earnings per share (basic) increased 22% to €4.53. IFRS effective tax rate was 33.9% (FY/2023: 32.6%) and non-IFRS effective tax rate was 32.3% (FY/2023: 30.3%). For IFRS, the year-over-year increase mainly resulted from a temporary inability to offset withholding taxes in Germany due to tax losses in 2024 resulting from restructuring, which was partly compensated by changes in tax-exempt income. For non-IFRS, the year-over-year increase mainly resulted from a temporary inability to offset withholding taxes in Germany due to tax losses in 2024 resulting from restructuring.
Free cash flow for the full year was down 19% to €4.11 billion. While higher payouts for restructuring of €2.5 billion and share-based compensation of €1.3 billion weighed on free cash flow, the performance was supported by SAP's increased profitability and improvements in working capital. At year end, net liquidity was €1.70 billion.
Non-Financial Performance 2024
Customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased 3 points year over year to 12 in 2024, at the upper end of the outlook range.
After dropping to 72% in the first half of the year, the employee engagement index recovered to 76% in the second half of 2024. As a result, the employee engagement index for the full-year 2024 decreased 6 percentage points year-over-year to 74%, at the upper end of the revised outlook range.
The proportion of women in executive roles increased 0.3 percentage points to 22.5%, in line with the outlook.
Total carbon emissions were flat at 6.9 Mt in 2024, while we initially guided for a steady decrease.
Share Repurchase Program
In May 2023, SAP announced a share repurchase program with an aggregate volume of up to €5 billion and a term until December 31, 2025. As of December 31, 2024, SAP had repurchased 18,429,480 shares at an average price of €162.46 resulting in a purchased volume of approximately €3.0 billion under the program.
2024 Transformation Program: Focus on scalability of operations and key strategic growth areas
In January 2024, SAP announced a company-wide restructuring program which is anticipated to conclude in early 2025. Overall expenses associated with the program are estimated to be approximately €3.2 billion. Restructuring payouts amounted to €1.7 billion in the fourth quarter and €2.5 billion for the full-year 2024. In 2025, approximately €0.7bn are expected to be paid out.
Business Highlights
In the fourth quarter, customers around the globe continued to choose "RISE with SAP" to drive their end-to-end business transformations. These customers included: BASF, BERNMOBIL, BP International, Brose, Chevron Corporation, Colgate-Palmolive, Conagra Brands, dm-drogerie markt, EY, Ford Motor Company, Fressnapf, Freudenberg, FrieslandCampina, Hannover Medical School, K+S, Lanxess, Menasha Corporation, Mitie, NTPC, NTT DATA, Red Bull, Robert Bosch, Schaeffler Technologies, Schindler Group, The South Carolina Department of Administration, STADA Arzneimittel, and voestalpine.
Coles Group, Commerz Real, General Motors, H.B. Fuller, Hyundai Glovis, MAHLE International, SKF Group, and Trent Limited went live on SAP S/4HANA Cloud in the fourth quarter.
ACTUM Digital, CiboVita, Databricks, Inetum, Medical University of Vienna, msg systems, North Yorkshire Council, Outreach, and Warrington Borough Council chose "GROW with SAP", an offering helping customers adopt cloud ERP with speed, predictability, and continuous innovation.
Key customer wins across SAP's solution portfolio included: ABB, AOK Federal Association, B. Braun Group, Bayer, Digital China, KNAPP, Mengniu, Migros, Mondi, PwC Germany, SA Power Networks, Salling Group, SICK, and Unity Programme.
Ayala Land, Carlisle Companies, CP Foods, IBM, and Tchibo went live on SAP solutions.
In the fourth quarter, SAP's cloud revenue performance was particularly strong in APJ and EMEA and robust in the Americas region. China, France, India, Italy, South Korea and the Netherlands had outstanding performances, while Canada, Germany, Japan and the U.S. were particularly strong.
For the full year, China, Germany, India, Japan, and Spain all had outstanding performances in cloud revenue while Brazil, Canada and Saudia Arabia were particularly strong.
On October 8, SAP announced powerful new capabilities that complement and extend Joule, including collaborative AI agents imbued with custom skills to complete complex cross-disciplinary tasks.
On December 3, SAP and AWS announced GROW with SAP on AWS, which will allow customers of all sizes to rapidly deploy SAP's enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution while leveraging the reliability, security and scalability of the world's most broadly adopted cloud.
On December 16, SAP announced the general availability of the SAP Green Ledger solution, the most comprehensive carbon accounting system globally that integrates directly with customers' financial data.
Outlook 2025
The outlook 2025 replaces SAP's former Ambition 2025.
Financial Outlook 2025
For 2025, SAP now expects:
€21.6 – 21.9 billion cloud revenue at constant currencies (2024: €17.14 billion), up 26% to 28% at constant currencies.
€33.1 – 33.6 billion cloud and software revenue at constant currencies (2024: €29.83 billion), up 11% to 13% at constant currencies.
€10.3 – 10.6 billion non-IFRS operating profit at constant currencies (2024: €8.15 billion), up 26% to 30% at constant currencies.
Approximately €8.0 billion free cash flow at actual currencies (2024: €4.22 billion), based on updated free cash flow definition (see section (N) 2025 Reporting Changes).
An effective tax rate (non-IFRS) of approximately 32% (2024: 32.3%)2.
The company also expects current cloud backlog growth to slightly decelerate in 2025.
While SAP's 2025 financial outlook for the income statement parameters is at constant currencies (including an average exchange rate of 1.08 USD per EUR), actual currency reported figures are expected to be impacted by currency exchange rate fluctuations as the company progresses through the year, as reflected in the table below.
Currency Impact Assuming December 31, 2024 Rates Apply for 2025
In percentage points
Q1 2025
FY 2025
Cloud revenue growth
+2.5pp
+2.5pp
Cloud and software revenue growth
+2.0pp
+2.0pp
Operating profit growth (non-IFRS)
+5.0pp
+4.0pp
This includes an exchange rate of 1.04 USD per EUR.
Non-Financial Outlook 2025
For 2025, SAP now expects:
A Customer Net Promoter Score of 12 to 16.
The Employee Engagement Index to be in a range of 74% to 78%.
To steadily increase the share of women in executive roles.
To steadily decrease carbon emissions across the relevant value chain.
Additional Information
This press release and all information therein is preliminary and unaudited. Due to rounding, numbers may not add up precisely. The full Q4 and FY 2024 Quarterly Statement can be downloaded from: https://www.sap.com/investors/sap-2024-q4-statement.
SAP Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will take place on May 13, 2025, as a virtual event. The whole event will be webcast on the Company's website and online voting options will be available for shareholders. Further details will be published at https://www.sap.com/agm in early April.
SAP Performance Measures
For more information about our key growth metrics and performance measures, their calculation, their usefulness, and their limitations, please refer to the following document on our Investor Relations website: https://www.sap.com/investors/performance-measures
Webcast
SAP senior management will host a financial analyst conference call on Tuesday, January 28th at 07:00 AM (CET) / 06:00 AM (GMT) / 1:00 AM (EST) / Monday, January 27th10:00 PM (PST), followed by a press conference at 10:00 AM (CET) / 9:00 AM (GMT) / 4:00 AM (EST) / 1:00 AM (PST). Both conferences will be webcast on the Company's website at https://www.sap.com/investor and will be available for replay. Supplementary financial information pertaining to the fourth quarter results can be found at https://www.sap.com/investor.
About SAP
As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center:
+49 180 534-34-24
United States Only:
+1 (800) 872-1SAP (+1-800-872-1727)
This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP's 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
1 The Q4 2024 results were also impacted by other effects. For details, please refer to the disclosures on page 23 of this document.
2 The effective tax rate (non-IFRS) is a non-IFRS financial measure and is presented for supplemental informational purposes only. We do not provide an outlook for the effective tax rate (IFRS) due to the uncertainty and potential variability of gains and losses associated with equity securities, which are reconciling items between the two effective tax rates (non-IFRS and IFRS). These items cannot be provided without unreasonable efforts but could have a significant impact on our future effective tax rate (IFRS).
