SAP warns of staff cull

German ERP darling of the nineties hints at downsizing US operations...

German ERP vendor SAP has cut its sales predictions for this year and warned of further cost- cutting measures. The company made the admissions as it reported its Q3 results at the lower end of market expectations. The software maker said profits had fallen by over 11 per cent to $70.91m. However, sales for the quarter were up 16 per cent. The company said in a statement: "Due to changes in corporate software spending timetables, SAP has updated its full year outlook and now sees gull year revenues growing by around 15 per cent and expects operating margins excluding stock based compensation and TopTier acquisition related charges to match the 20 per cent levels achieved in 2000." The company previously forecasted growth in revenues of above 20 per cent Part of the revision will come from the company being forced to buy back 30 million shares to bolster its price in the market, which will take place at the end of this month. In the statement, the company said it would have to adjust the levels and mix of its employees in the US, but did not give any details about the breadth of this adjustment