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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report: March 26, 1999
SAP AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT SYSTEME,
ANWENDUNGEN, PRODUKTE IN DER DATENVERARBEITUNG
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its
charter)
SAP CORPORATION
SYSTEMS, APPLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS IN DATA PROCESSING
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
Neurottstrasse 16
69190 Walldorf
Federal Republic of Germany
(Address of principal executive office)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F [X] Form 40-F [ ]
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes [ ] No [X]
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-_______.
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SAP AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
SYSTEME, ANWENDUNGEN, PRODUKTE IN DER DATENVERARBEITUNG
FORM 6-K
SAP Aktiengesellschaft Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung,
a stock corporation organized under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany
(the "Company"), issued a press release dated March 25, 1999 (the "Press
Release"). The Press Release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and is
incorporated by reference herein.
Any statements contained in the Press Release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "expect," and
"project," as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation publicly to
update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements
are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect the
Company's future financial results are discussed more fully in the Company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including its
most recently filed Form 20-F and Form F-1, as filed with the SEC on June 22,
1998, and the Company's Form 20-F for 1998 that is expected to be filed with
the SEC in April 1999.
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EXHIBITS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Exhibit No. Exhibit
- ----------- -------
<S> <C>
99.1 Press Release, dated
March 25, 1999
</TABLE>
3
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
SAP AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT SYSTEME,
ANWENDUNGEN, PRODUKTE IN DER
DATENVERARBEITUNG
(Registrant)
By: /s/ Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann
------------------------------------
Name: Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann
Title: Co-Chairman and CEO
By: /s/ Michael Junge
------------------------------------
Name: Michael Junge
Title: Head of Legal Department
Date: March 26, 1999
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EXHIBIT INDEX
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Exhibit No. Exhibit
- ----------- -------
<S> <C>
99.1 Press Release, dated
March 25, 1999
</TABLE>
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[SAP LOGO]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin S. McKay
SAP America
610-355-4060
-or-
Michael Pfister
SAP AG
011-49-6227-74-1758
-or-
James P. Prout
Taylor Rafferty Associates
212-889-4350
SAP AG CO-CHAIRMAN HASSO PLATTNER AT PRESS CONFERENCE: "SAP HAS
CREATED SOLID PLATFORMS FOR CONTINUED GROWTH"
WALLDORF/HEIDELBERG, Germany - March 25, 1999 -- SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), has begun
1999 in a mood of optimism and enthusiasm. The world's leading provider of
enterprise business software will be able to build on its highly successful
performance in 1998, when it further strengthened its competitive lead in the
face of challenging market conditions. "We continue to develop our innovative
'New Dimension' products, focus closely on software users' needs with our
EnjoySAP initiative, successfully implement our industry-specific strategy and
intensify our global direct and indirect sales efforts - all of which create
solid platforms for continued growth," said Hasso Plattner, Co-Chairman and CEO
of SAP AG, at the company's annual press conference today. In addition to
presenting the 1998 final results, the SAP Board commented on future prospects
for business and product development.
With its user initiative EnjoySAP, SAP is revolutionizing the way people work
with ERP solutions and giving occasional users access to professional business
software. SAP detailed the initial results of this initiative to a wide audience
at CeBIT in Hannover, meeting with an overwhelmingly favorable response. New and
existing SAP solutions now feature user interfaces that are easier to learn,
tailor and use. By delivering software that mirrors individuals' work patterns,
SAP gives them a more satisfying work experience, helps companies reduce
adoption times and training expenses and brings the benefits of enterprise
computing to the casual users of the Internet age.
INNOVATIVE BUSINESS SOFTWARE FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM
"EnjoySAP has touched virtually all areas of SAP as we put the individual in the
center of everything we do to develop, support and market our solutions",
explained Plattner. "With the wide-scale adoption of the Internet, the rules
for enterprise application software have changed. Simplicity is essential,
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and with EnjoySAP, we are delivering personally rewarding, role-based
user interfaces and creating the foundation for business software in the next
millennium."
The EnjoySAP user concept will play a key role in SAP's future development,
which will be characterized by innovation, profitability and growth. The main
engines for this growth in the future are:
* Constantly expanding and improving the R/3 family of Enterprise
Resource Planning software products
* Broadening the product offering with New Dimension products. The New
Dimension products shown below are business solutions that are
independent of R/3 and span system platform, enterprise, and
organizational boundaries:
- Software enabling selling and buying over the Internet
- Self-service applications for employees and business partner
- Supply Chain Management software
- Customer Relationship Management software
- Business Intelligence software
* Developing and marketing complete, specialized industry solutions based
on the R/3 System
CeBIT 99 A HUGE SUCCESS
SAP had an extremely successful CeBIT 99. This is partly due to the
overwhelmingly favorable customer response to the EnjoySAP initiative, and
partly to the increased number of contacts with customers and prospects at the
world's largest IT fair, which rose by approximately 20 per cent compared with
1998. Interest by smaller and medium-sized enterprises in the SAP solutions grew
above-average over last year.
SALES SET TO DOUBLE IN THREE YEARS
Building on the solid platforms for future success created in 1998 and the
substantial investment in nearly 6,500 additional employees last year, the Board
expects sales to approximately double in the next three years. According to
current projections, the New Dimension products will make a key contribution to
this growth, accounting for up to a third of product revenues within the next
three to five years. Product sales are expected to be particularly strong in the
service sector - public services, public administrations and financial services.
The Board is also confident that business via indirect sales channels (Value
Added Resellers) will continue to grow vigorously: The number of new customers
gained through VARs almost doubled in 1998.
SALES GROWTH OF 20 TO 25% PROJECTED FOR 1999
Despite the decreased demand for software caused by the year 2000 effect, the
Board expects sales to grow 20 to 25% in the current year. "According to the
current indications that sales growth in the first quarter will be slightly
below our previous year-on-year rate of 20 to 25%, we expect pretax profits to
fall significantly short of the comparable 1998 figure," said Henning Kagermann,
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Co-Chairman of SAP AG. "Current sales cycles and customer buying
patterns are less predictable at present than in prior quarters, and it is too
early to forecast software license growth for the quarter at this time.
Nevertheless we remain confident that on a full year basis we can achieve our
revenue growth target of 20 to 25% and improve profitability slightly over the
prior year, as year 2000 issues mitigate," he continued.
SAP will continue to add employees throughout 1999, headcount growth will be
linked very closely to quarterly performance and be substantially less than last
year.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation
reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "expect" and "project" as they
relate to the company are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
The company undertakes no obligation publicly to update or revise any
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to
various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations. The factors that could affect the Company's future
financial results are discussed more fully in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Form 20-F for 1998
that is expected to be filed in April 1999.
SAP AG preference and common shares are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
as well as a number of other exchanges. In the US, SAP's American Depositary
Receipts (ADRs), each worth one-twelfth of a preference share, trade on the New
York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'SAP'. SAP is a component of the DAX, the
index of 30 German blue chip companies.
Information on the SAP AG preference shares is available on Bloomberg under the
symbol SAP3 GR, on Reuters under SAPG_p.F or DE and on Quotron under SAGVD.EU.
Information on the SAP common shares is available on Bloomberg under the symbol
SAP GR, on Reuters under SAPG.F and on Quotron under SAGR.EU. Additional
information is available on SAP AG's home page: http://www.sap.com.
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