SAP growth focus will not be at expense of margin goals: CFO

BERLIN (Reuters) – German business software group will under new CEO Christian Klein pursue growth but in so doing has no intention of sacrificing its goal of expanding margins over the medium term, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

Analysts have perceived a renewed focus on growth since Klein assumed sole leadership at SAP earlier this year, but Chief Financial Officer Luka Mucic restated its mid-term margin goals.

“There should not be any doubt towards our commitment towards driving growth and increasing efficiency,” Mucic said in a fireside chat at an online conference organised by Citi. SAP would not sacrifice growth by being one-dimensionally focused on margins at the company level, he added.

SAP’s five-year strategy to 2023 foresees expanding margins by five percentage points, as the group shifts to hosting its services at remote data centres on a subscription basis – a more predictable model than its legacy software licences.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Chris Reese)