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Shares in Software AG, Germany’s second largest software company, tumbled by more than 20 per cent after fourth quarter sales and profit missed estimates due to growing customer caution and weak US sales of its business process optimisation software.

The company said it expected quarterly net income to decline by up to 30 per cent to between €45m and €50m after customers withheld investment that traditionally boosted sales in the fourth quarter. Revenues are set to decline by around 10 per cent to between €290 and €295m.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected a profit of around €70.4m and €340 million in sales.

Software AG’s license revenues – a measure closely watched by analysts due to the opportunity for repeat service business – were as much as 27 per cent below the prior year, at constant currency rates.

Oracle’s slower than expected revenue growth and cautious forecast last month hit technology stocks amid fears that falling confidence is beginning to hold back corporate spending on business software.

In spite of financial market turmoil and fears of a slowdown in Europe, Oracle and rival SAP had previously been among the most resilient technology stocks.
Software AG is the latest in a series of European tech companies that have reported weaker demand. Logica, the IT services company, last month cut 1,300 jobs saying that its customers had never been so unsure of the future.

Investors had anticipated a decline in Software AG’s Brazil enterprise transaction revenues due to the prior year impact of transferring local customers to a new direct sale model. But Software AG was unable to make up this shortfall in Europe and the US as it had hoped. It is the second time in little more than six months that the company’s sales figures have precipitated a sharp share price fall.

“Presumably, the predicted economic slowdown meant that customers’ residual budget, in contrast to normal years, was not invested in capacity expansion,” Software AG said in a statement. For the full year the company expects to achieve turnover of nearly €1.1bn, the same as the previous year at constant currency rates. In October it had forecast an increase of up to 5 per cent.

Arndt Zinnhardt, chief financial officer, said Software AG “had to face a difficult business environment which has slowed down our revenue growth after a promising nine month performance in 2011”.

Analysts at Exane said they believed Software AG’s problems to be driven by macroeconomics and not company-specific.

Software AG’s shares tumbled by 20 per cent to €24.19 dragging down SAP’s stock, which fell 1.4 per cent to €42.07.

Source:http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/55a4b894-3b77-11e1-a09a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1j7e90mDY

In the course of the transition of the business model to cloud computing, Mauro Marengo will resign by mutual agreement from the Executive Board of InVision Software AG (ISIN: DE0005859698) with effect from December 31st, 2011, and will leave the Company. His previous responsibilities in the Services division will be taken over by Peter Bollenbeck and Armand Zohari, both founding executives. The Supervisory Board as well as the Executive Board of InVision Software AG would like to thank Mauro Marengo for his contribution and wish him success for the future.

InVision Software is a leading international provider of cloud-based workforce management solutions which enable companies to optimise their staff planning and scheduling processes. InVision empowers customers to reduce personnel costs, increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction and to boost revenue by leveraging better customer service. Founded in 1995 and based in Ratingen (Germany), InVision currently employs about 170 WFM specialists and has offices across Europe, North America, and South Africa. InVision Software AG (IVX) is listed in the Prime Standard Segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Source:http://www.openpr.com/news/205105/InVision-Software-AG-Change-to-the-Executive-Board.html

Software AG’s new Technology Community provides a database of knowledge and experts for external use, connecting developers and other IT professionals via a professional network and accelerating development initiatives. The platform includes all Software AG product areas and gives developers and other IT experts access to the latest articles, code samples, webinars, forums, product videos, and wikis in the technical product environment. The new search functionality helps in the search for generic keywords across areas.

The new Community encompasses all of Software AG’s product areas, including the Adabas, ARIS, CentraSite, Natural, Terracotta, and webMethods product families. Along with providing opportunities for direct interaction–for example, via the chat function or with the help of ‘friends’–the Technology Community is the online venue for the latest information about product releases, downloads, and newsletters. Posts on the various discussion boards can be shared on other social networks, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

“Software AG’s new Technology Community is a one-stop shop to connect to all Software AG developer assets, channels, and community members,” says the Eaton Corporation’s Brian Johnson, the North American Representative of the Software AG User Group Executive Committee. “It offers many useful tools which enable you to interact with others and find answers that you can’t find anywhere else. I encourage everyone to use the Technology Community and contribute your insights to build on this intuitive and dynamic environment.”

The Technology Community has more than 16,000 members and contains over 50,000 posts on various discussion boards. In the last two years, the number of posts made to this knowledge base every day has doubled, and the Community is now accessed more than 14,000 times daily.

“The Technology Community is the single best source of getting the latest updates on our products and tap a huge knowledge base of demos, trial downloads, code examples, and expert know-how,” says Gerd Schneider, Vice President of Communities at Software AG. “It meets the needs of our stakeholders for sharing knowledge and gaining insight to simplify development and problem solving. With the new capabilities, it is now even easier to share information and collaborate on a day-to-day basis.”

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/software-ags-new-technology-community-direct-access-to-expert-knowledge-2011-12-15