IT LOOKS LIKE SAP, the business management software company, has taken a hit from the faltering US economy, seeing its Q1 profit plummet 22 per cent from the previous year.

On Wednesday, the company reported on its first quarter flop, blaming the weak dollar, delayed investments on new software and costs incurred from acquisitions. Dropping from 340 million euros in Q1 2007, to just 242 million euros in Q1 of 2008, the reported profits fell well short of all analyst predictions.

SAP is probably now deeply regretting splashing out 4.8 billion-euros for the company Business Objects, which incurred 130 million Euros in charges alone this quarter.

The bad report means that SAP will now take between a year and a year and a half longer to fulfill its goal of reaching 10,000 customers and $1 billion in revenues. But the company will still try to buy back 250 million worth of its own shares in 2008.

In reaction to the profit slump, SAP shares lost four per cent in the US stock market, just as SAP rival Oracle did when it’s Q1 report disappointed investors back at the end of March. µ