SAP reported its ninth consecutive quarter of share gains. Based on U.S. GAAP first quarter 2008 software and software related service revenues on a rolling four-quarter basis, SAP's worldwide share of Core Enterprise Applications vendors, which account for approximately $37.4 billion in software and software related service revenues as defined by the Company based on industry analyst research, was 32.6% for the four-quarter period ended March 31, 2008 compared to 31.9% for the four-quarter period ended December 31, 2007, and 28.2% for the four-quarter period ended March 31, 2007, representing a year-over-year share gain of 7.6 percentage points, of which approximately 4 percentage points came from organic growth. All prior period share numbers have been adjusted to reflect the acquisition of Business Objects.

"We are pleased to report our 17th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in software and software related service revenues, even without the inclusion of Business Objects' contributions for the quarter, along with our ninth consecutive quarter of share gains against Core Enterprise Application vendors," said Henning Kagermann, co-CEO of SAP. "Our continued strong performance can be partly attributed to having a leading presence in all regions of the world, making SAP a truly global software company."

Mr. Kagermann continued, "Our growth strategy, which comprises three pillars - the established business, the midmarket and the business user solutions - is working quite well. For the established business, SAP ERP 6.0 adoption is exceeding our expectations, providing continued opportunities for growth of business process platform; the midmarket business continued to perform well with over 1,570 customers from small businesses and midsize companies added in the first quarter; and business user solutions remained the fastest-growing business at the Company. Moreover, we have strengthened our position and significantly broadened our opportunity in the fast-growing market for business user solutions with the successful acquisition of Business Objects."

Cash Flow
Operating cash flow from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2008 was euro 1.07 billion (2007: euro 852 million). Free cash flow for the first quarter of 2008 was euro 1.0 billion (2007: euro 773 million), which was 41% of total revenues (2007: 36%). At March 31, 2008, the Company had total group liquidity of 2.4 billion, which includes cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short term investments (December 31, 2007: euro 2.8 billion).

Share Buyback
In the first quarter of 2008, the Company bought back 8.0 million shares at an average price of euro 32.19 (total amount: euro 258 million). As of March 31, 2008, the Company held treasury stock in the amount of 54.3 million shares (approximately 4.4% of total shares outstanding) at an average price of euro 35.50. For 2008, the Company expects to invest an additional approximately euro 250 million buying back shares.

Small and Midsize Enterprises and SAP Business ByDesign
SAP's small and midsize enterprise (SME) business continued to perform well in the first quarter of 2008 as the Company added more than 1,570 new SME customers (excluding customers from Business Objects) in the quarter, representing a 28% increase compared to the first quarter of 2007. A principal component of the SME strategy is SAP's breakthrough innovative new solution, SAP Business ByDesign. Since last September's announcement of SAP Business ByDesign, the Company has been working closely with early customers and partners to validate and fine-tune the solution. As a result of this process, SAP has elected to modify the rollout strategy for SAP Business ByDesign to ensure a more focused and controlled ramp-up process. The new rollout strategy includes the following:

In light of the modified rollout strategy, SAP will reduce its accelerated investments around SAP Business ByDesign in 2008 by approximately euro 100 million, which is expected to result in additional operating margin expansion in 2008 as noted in the "Business Outlook" section of this release. Furthermore, beginning in 2009 there will be no further accelerated investments. The expected expenses related to SAP Business ByDesign will be funded out of SAP's normal operational business.

SAP maintains its full confidence in the product, the market opportunity and the associated business model of SAP Business ByDesign, as the Company continues to move toward volume readiness in 2008.

Core Enterprise Applications Vendor Share
The Company provides share data based on the vendors of Core Enterprise Applications solutions, which account for approximately $37.4 billion in software and software related service revenues as defined by the Company based on industry analyst research. For 2008, industry analysts project approximately 7% year-on-year growth for core Enterprise Applications vendors. For its quarterly share calculation, SAP assumes that this approximate 7% growth will not be linear throughout the year. Instead, quarterly adjustments are made based on the financial performance of a sub set of (approximately 25) Core Enterprise Application vendors.