FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Shares in SAP accelerated their recent downward trend on Thursday following negatively received figures from the software group. The share price fell by 3.36 percent to 102.38 euros in the morning to its lowest level in three weeks. As a result, the Walldorf-based company's shares were the clear laggard on the Dax, which posted a slight gain.

Last year, SAP increased sales by 11 percent, but without the weak euro, revenue would have climbed only 5 percent. SAP thus fell slightly short of market expectations. Below the line, net profit fell by a good two-thirds. The software manufacturer has set itself cautious financial targets for 2023 and its revenue outlook is rather at the lower end of analysts' expectations. SAP announced the elimination of 3000 jobs and wants to reduce annual costs by 350 million euros. In addition, the Executive Board is considering a sale of the US subsidiary Qualtrics.

All in all, the business figures were rather at the lower end of the ranges proclaimed by the company and had slightly undercut market expectations, was an initial comment by analyst Knut Woller of Baader Bank. However, he said the 2023 earnings outlook showed that the operating business was gaining momentum after two years of transition.

Analyst Toby Ogg of JPMorgan pointed to headwinds from negative exchange rate effects. Andreas Wolf of Warburg Research stressed that the software developer had achieved its financial targets, although market expectations had been somewhat higher. He said the outlook for 2023 was in line with market expectations.

The SAP share had recently been able to break away significantly from the lows of last fall, rising from just under 80 euros to over 109 euros, before some investors cashed out in recent trading days. Despite the current setback, the stock's performance over the course of the year, which is still quite young, is still respectable at plus 6 percent./edh/tih/mis