SAP Reports Q4 and FY 2021 Results With Record Cloud Performance
SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) reported strong financial results for Q4 2021, with cloud revenue up 28% to €2.61 billion and current cloud backlog increasing 32% to €9.45 billion. The company also highlighted the success of its cloud offering 'RISE with SAP', acquiring over 650 customers in the quarter. Despite a decline in software license revenue by 14%, total revenue increased by 6% year-over-year to €7.98 billion. SAP anticipates continued growth, projecting 23-26% increase in cloud revenue for 2022. The firm also plans to acquire a majority stake in Taulia to enhance liquidity solutions for clients.
- Cloud revenue increased 28% to €2.61 billion in Q4 2021.
- Current cloud backlog rose by 32% to €9.45 billion.
- 'RISE with SAP' gained over 650 new customers in Q4 2021.
- Total revenue for 2021 grew by 6% to €7.98 billion.
- Projected cloud revenue growth of 23-26% for 2022.
- Software licenses revenue decreased by 14% year-over-year.
- IFRS operating profit fell 45% to €1.47 billion.
WALLDORF, Germany, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
Christian Klein, CEO: The magnitude of our cloud strength is evident. More and more companies are choosing SAP to help them transform their businesses, build resilient supply chains and become sustainable enterprises as they move to the cloud. This momentum is reflected in the tremendous success of "RISE with SAP", our signature cloud offering, as well as excellent growth across our entire portfolio. Our growth acceleration points to even greater potential ahead.
Luka Mucic, CFO: I am proud that our team has delivered an exceptional year with strong results, far exceeding our expectations. After three quarters of home runs with our cloud momentum, we hit it out of the park this quarter. We are confident that we will continue our Q4 current cloud backlog growth in 2022. This is reflected in our accelerated cloud guidance for 2022 as we make great progress towards our mid-term ambition.
Business Update
Businesses around the world are embracing digital technologies and the cloud to transform the way they do business. Today's unpredictable reality, from supply chain disruptions to new regulatory restrictions, means the need for flexibility and adaptability has never been greater. Our depth of experience in mission critical business processes across all customer sizes, industries and geographies sets us apart and is core to why businesses are choosing SAP for their business transformation.
The strength and the execution of our strategy is showing up on multiple fronts with exceptional customer momentum across our cloud portfolio and financial performance exceeding market expectations.
High customer adoption is underpinned by exceptionally strong demand for "RISE with SAP" across customers of all sizes. It is designed to support our customers transform their businesses while at the same time moving to the cloud. They also benefit from our Business Network, the largest B2B network in the world, which helps them create more resilient supply chains.
Customer satisfaction continues to increase, echoed by strong renewal rates.
SAP is confident that its positive momentum will continue throughout 2022, and expects accelerating cloud revenue growth, supported by strong traction of SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
Highlights
'RISE with SAP' continued to gain traction after a successful launch in January 2021. SAP saw strong demand from companies of all sizes and closed deals with more than 650 customers in the fourth quarter, winning more than 1,300 customers since launch. Large customers such as Adobe, Panasonic Corporation, Mahindra & Mahindra, Fresenius SE, IBM, Allianz Technology, CVS, Unipart Group, Samsung SDS, and Siemens selected this offering. Additional wins included Philippine Airlines, Software AG, Banco Sabadell, Amadeus, Standard Chartered Bank, Fisker Inc., and Europcar Mobility Group.
Approximately 1,300 SAP S/4HANA customers were added in the quarter, taking total adoption to more than 18,800 customers, up
Signavio continued to show outstanding performance as part of SAP's Business Process Intelligence (BPI) segment. Current cloud backlog grew in triple digits for the full year. SAP BPI solutions are key to our customers' business transformation and acceleration to the cloud. PwC, HP, Robert Bosch, Carl Zeiss, R. Twining and Company, and many others chose SAP BPI solutions in the fourth quarter.
Business Technology Platform, SAP's PaaS offering, is the foundation of the Intelligent Enterprise, providing a single platform for integration and extensibility across the SAP portfolio and non-SAP solutions, as well as deriving insights from data. Current cloud backlog grew in deep double digits in 2021. Henkel, Schneider Electric, Helaba, and Enel were among the customers who chose this offering in the fourth quarter.
Key customer wins across SAP's solutions portfolio included: Petronas, Goodyear, Hitachi High-Tech, Unilever, Chobani, Syngenta, HABA Group, MIGROS, ALDI Nord, Lumen, Dr. Martens, SCOTT Sports, Computacenter AG, A.S. Watson Group. Compass Group, Alfred Kärcher, and FMC Corporation all went live on SAP solutions in the fourth quarter.
On January 27, SAP announced its intent to acquire a majority stake of Taulia, a leading provider of working capital management solutions. The move is aimed at giving companies better access to liquidity and improving their cash flows. The acquisition is expected to further expand SAP's Business Network capabilities and strengthen SAP's solutions for the CFO office. The acquisition is expected to close in March 2022, following completion of customary closing conditions.
On January 25, SAP announced an extended partnership and an investment in Icertis, a provider of contract management solutions that offers market-leading contract intelligence powered by AI. This partnership and the related investment are expected to complement SAP's portfolio seamlessly.
On January 13, SAP announced a new share repurchase program to service future share-based compensation awards. The program, with a volume of up to
Early December 2021, SAP announced its first SAP.iO program in China focused on intelligent manufacturing. Five Chinese startups have been selected to join the cohort at the new SAP.iO Foundry Shanghai.
On January 11, SAP announced a new offering, SAP Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises, which brings together a comprehensive portfolio of solutions that enables businesses to holistically manage sustainability performance. With this, companies can manage their "green line" with business process technology to identify, quantify, analyze, and act on data through their end-to-end operations. Further, SAP announced its commitment to achieve net-zero along their value chain in 2030; 20 years earlier than originally targeted.
SAP also earned a number of recognitions in the field of sustainability, including inclusion on the prestigious CDP A list, and achieving the top ranking in the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) in the software sector for the 15th consecutive year.
Financial Performance1
Fourth Quarter 2021
In the fourth quarter, SAP's cloud momentum further accelerated with sequential growth rate increases in both current cloud backlog and cloud revenue. Current cloud backlog accelerated faster than anticipated, up
The share of more predictable revenue grew by 5 percentage points year over year to
IFRS operating profit decreased
IFRS earnings per share decreased
Full-Year 2021
SAP hit the high end of its revised 2021 cloud revenue outlook range and exceeded its cloud and software revenue and operating profit outlook ranges.
For the full year cloud revenue was up
The share of more predictable revenue grew by 3 percentage points year over year to
Cloud gross margin increased 0.4 percentage points year over year to
For the full year, IFRS operating profit and operating margin were impacted by significantly higher share-based compensation expenses compared to 2020 mainly due to the Qualtrics IPO and the appreciation of SAP's share price during the year. IFRS operating profit decreased by
IFRS earnings per share increased
Operating cash flow for the full year was
Non-Financial Performance 2021
Customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased 6 points year over year to 10 in 2021, hitting the upper end of the outlook range. This positive trend is a result of the Company's continued focus on implementing customer feedback, in particular by achieving a consistent end-to-end experience for our customers and developing innovations to deliver improved outcomes for them.
SAP's Employee Engagement Index decreased 3 percentage points to
Net carbon emissions continued to decrease, at 110 kilotons in 2021, down 25 kt year over year. This result is at the upper end of the revised outlook range. In addition to the Company's measures to decrease carbon emissions, the hybrid working model and continued travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the decrease.
Financial Results at a Glance
Fourth Quarter 2021 | |||||||
IFRS | Non-IFRS1 | ||||||
€ million, unless otherwise stated | Q4 2021 | Q4 2020 | ∆ in % | Q4 2021 | Q4 2020 | ∆ in % | ∆ in % |
Current cloud backlog2 | NA | NA | NA | 9,447 | 7,155 | 32 | 26 |
Thereof SAP S/4HANA Current Cloud Backlog2 | NA | NA | NA | 1,707 | 927 | 84 | 76 |
Cloud revenue | 2,611 | 2,041 | 28 | 2,611 | 2,044 | 28 | 24 |
Thereof SAP S/4HANA Cloud revenue | 329 | 199 | 65 | 329 | 199 | 65 | 61 |
Software licenses and support revenue | 4,379 | 4,538 | –4 | 4,379 | 4,538 | –4 | –6 |
Cloud and software revenue | 6,990 | 6,579 | 6 | 6,990 | 6,582 | 6 | 3 |
Total revenue | 7,981 | 7,538 | 6 | 7,981 | 7,541 | 6 | 3 |
Share of more predictable revenue (in %) | 69 | 65 | 5pp | 69 | 65 | 5pp | |
Operating profit (loss) | 1,466 | 2,657 | –45 | 2,468 | 2,772 | –11 | –12 |
Profit (loss) after tax | 1,447 | 1,934 | –25 | 2,280 | 2,026 | 13 | |
Basic earnings per share (in €) | 1.24 | 1.62 | –23 | 1.86 | 1.70 | 10 | |
Number of employees (FTE, December 31) | 107,415 | 102,430 | 5 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
1 For a breakdown of the individual adjustments see table "Non-IFRS Adjustments by Functional Areas" in this Quarterly Statement. | |||||||
2 As this is an order entry metric, there is no IFRS equivalent. | |||||||
Due to rounding, numbers may not add up precisely. |
Full Year 2021 | IFRS | Non-IFRS1 | |||||
€ million, unless otherwise stated | Q1–Q4 2021 | Q1–Q4 2020 | ∆ in % | Q1–Q4 2021 | Q1–Q4 2020 | ∆ in % | ∆ in % |
Current Cloud Backlog2 | NA | NA | NA | 9,447 | 7,155 | 32 | 26 |
Thereof SAP S/4HANA Current Cloud Backlog2 | NA | NA | NA | 1,707 | 927 | 84 | 76 |
Cloud revenue | 9,418 | 8,080 | 17 | 9,418 | 8,085 | 16 | 19 |
Thereof SAP S/4HANA Cloud revenue | 1,090 | 749 | 46 | 1,090 | 749 | 46 | 47 |
Software licenses and support revenue | 14,660 | 15,148 | –3 | 14,660 | 15,148 | –3 | –2 |
Cloud and software revenue | 24,078 | 23,228 | 4 | 24,078 | 23,233 | 4 | 5 |
Total revenue | 27,842 | 27,338 | 2 | 27,842 | 27,343 | 2 | 3 |
Share of more predictable revenue (in %) | 75 | 72 | 3pp | 75 | 72 | 3pp | |
Operating profit (loss) | 4,659 | 6,623 | –30 | 8,230 | 8,287 | –1 | 1 |
Profit (loss) after tax | 5,383 | 5,283 | 2 | 8,343 | 6,534 | 28 | |
Basic earnings per share (in €) | 4.46 | 4.35 | 3 | 6.74 | 5.41 | 25 | |
Number of employees (FTE, December 31) | 107,415 | 102,430 | 5 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
1 For a breakdown of the individual adjustments see table "Non-IFRS Adjustments by Functional Areas" in this Quarterly Statement. | |||||||
2 As this is an order entry metric, there is no IFRS equivalent. | |||||||
Due to rounding, numbers may not add up precisely. |
Expanded Financial Disclosure – SAP's Accelerated Cloud Transition
Beginning in 2021, SAP expanded its financial disclosure to provide investors with transparency on the transition of its core ERP business to the cloud. Specifically, the Company discloses current cloud backlog and cloud revenue contributed by SAP S/4HANA Cloud, along with nominal and constant currencies year-over-year growth rates.
In the fourth quarter, SAP S/4HANA current cloud backlog was up
For the full year, SAP S/4HANA cloud revenue was up
SAP S/4HANA Cloud represents SAP's cloud offering for core ERP processes. It mainly includes cloud solutions for financial management, supply chain management, engineering and manufacturing, order management and asset management, as well as associated data management, analytics, development and integration capabilities.
'RISE with SAP', SAP's holistic offering for business transformation in the cloud, is an important driver of S/4HANA Cloud and Business Technology Platform adoption.
Segment Results at a Glance
Segment Performance Fourth Quarter 2021 | |||||||||||
€ million, unless otherwise stated | Applications, Technology & Support | Qualtrics | Services | ||||||||
Actual Currency | ∆ in % | ∆ in % const. curr. | Actual Currency | ∆ in % | ∆ in % const. curr. | Actual Currency | ∆ in % | ∆ in % const. curr. | |||
Cloud revenue | 2,330 | 23 | 20 | 235 | 69 | 62 | 0 | NA | NA | ||
Segment revenue | 6,807 | 5 | 2 | 284 | 56 | 49 | 835 | 3 | 1 | ||
Segment profit (loss) | 2,800 | –10 | –12 | 4 | >100 | >100 | 174 | 13 | 9 | ||
Cloud gross margin (in %) | 67.6 | –2.0pp | –2.0pp | 90.2 | –4.0pp | –4.0pp | NM1 | NM1 | NM1 | ||
Segment margin (in %) | 41.1 | –6.5pp | –6.4pp | 1.6 | 0.6pp | 1.3pp | 20.8 | 1.7pp | 1.6pp | ||
1 NM = not meaningful |
SAP's three reportable segments "Applications, Technology & Support", "Qualtrics" and "Services" showed the following performance:
Applications, Technology & Support (AT&S)
Segment revenue in AT&S was up
Qualtrics
Qualtrics segment revenue was up
Services
Services segment revenue was up
Regional Revenue Performance Full Year 2021
SAP's cloud performance was excellent across all regions.
In the EMEA region, cloud revenue increased
In the Americas region, cloud revenue increased
In the APJ region, cloud revenue increased
Business Outlook 2022
For 2022, SAP expects its cloud growth to continue to accelerate. The pace and scale of SAP's cloud momentum places the Company well on track towards its mid-term ambition.
For the full year 2022, SAP expects:
€11.55 – 11.85 billion cloud revenue at constant currencies (2021:€9.42 billion ), up23% to26% at constant currencies.€25.0 – 25.5 billion cloud and software revenue at constant currencies (2021:€24.08 billion ), up4% to6% at constant currencies.€7.8 – 8.25 billion non-IFRS operating profit at constant currencies (2021:€8.23 billion ), flat to down5% at constant currencies.- The share of more predictable revenue (defined as the total of cloud revenue and software support revenue) is expected to reach approximately
78% (2021:75% ). - Free cash flow above
€4.5 billion (2021:€5.01 billion ). - A full-year effective tax rate (IFRS) of
25.0% to28.0% (2021:21.4% ) and an effective tax rate (non-IFRS) of22.0% to25.0% (2021:19.9% ).
While SAP's full-year 2022 business outlook is at constant currencies, actual currency reported figures are expected to be impacted by currency exchange rate fluctuations as the Company progresses through the year. See the table below for the Q1 and FY 2022 expected currency impacts.
Expected Currency Impact Assuming December 2021 Rates Apply for the Rest of the Year | ||
In percentage points | Q1 2022 | FY 2022 |
Cloud revenue growth | +3pp to +5pp | +2pp to +4pp |
Cloud and software revenue growth | +2pp to +4pp | +1pp to +3pp |
Operating profit growth (non-IFRS) | +1pp to +3pp | +1pp to +3pp |
Ambition for Non-Financial Performance
SAP is focusing on three non-financial indicators: customer loyalty, employee engagement, and carbon emissions.
In 2022 SAP expects:
- a Customer Net Promoter Score of 11 to 15 (2021: 10)
- an Employee Engagement Index in a range of
84% to86% (2021:83% ) - Net carbon emissions of 70 kt (2021: 110 kt)
Ambition 2025
SAP confidently reiterates its mid-term ambition published in its Q3 2020 Quarterly Statement. By 2025, SAP continues to expect:
- More than
€22 billion cloud revenue. - More than
€36 billion total revenue. - More than
€11.5 billion non-IFRS operating profit. - A non-IFRS cloud gross margin of approximately
80% . - A significant expansion of the Company's more predictable revenue share to approximately
85% . - A free cash flow of approximately
€8 billion .
For non-financial performance SAP aims in 2025 for:
- Maintaining Employee Engagement Index between
84% and86% (2021:83% ). - Steadily increasing the Customer Net Promoter Score through 2025 (2021: 10).
- Achieving net carbon emissions of 0 kt by 2023 and maintaining net carbon emissions in our own operations of 0 kt from that point onward. Further, SAP has also committed to achieve net-zero along our value chain in line with a 1.5°C future in 2030 – 20 years earlier than originally targeted.
The full Q4 2021 Quarterly Statement can be downloaded from: https://www.sap.com/investors/sap-2021-q4-statement.
Additional Information
This press release and all information therein is preliminary and unaudited.
The SAP Integrated Report 2021 and Annual Report on Form 20-F will be published on March 3, 2022, and will be available for download at www.sapintegratedreport.com.
Definition of key growth metrics
Current cloud backlog (CCB) is the contractually committed cloud revenue we expect to recognize over the upcoming 12 months as of a specific key date. Thus, it is a subcomponent of our overall remaining performance obligations following IFRS 15.120. For CCB, we take into consideration committed deals only. CCB can be regarded as a lower boundary for cloud revenue to be recognized over the next 12 months, as it excludes utilization-based models without pre-commitments and committed deals, both new and renewal, closed after the key date. For our committed cloud business, we believe the CCB is a valuable indicator of go-to-market success, as it reflects both new contracts closed as well as existing contracts renewed.
Share of more predictable revenue is the total of cloud revenue and software support revenue as a percentage of total revenue.
For explanations on other key growth metrics please refer to the performance management section of SAP's Integrated Report 2020 and SAP's Half-Year Report 2021, which can be found at www.sap.com/investor.
Webcast
SAP senior management will host a virtual press conference on Thursday, January 27th at 10:00 AM (CET) / 9:00 AM (GMT) / 4:00 AM (Eastern) / 1:00 AM (Pacific), followed by a financial analyst conference call at 2:00 PM (CET) / 1:00 PM (GMT) / 8:00 AM (Eastern) / 5:00 AM (Pacific). Both conferences will be webcast live on the Company's website at www.sap.com/investor and will be available for replay. Supplementary financial information pertaining to the full-year and quarterly results can be found at www.sap.com/investor.
About SAP
SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate
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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 2020 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
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SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.
1 The full year and Q4 2021 results were also impacted by other effects. For details, please refer to the disclosures on page 34 of this document. |
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FAQ
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