SAP (FT)

Ker-pow! With its latest set of results, SAP has delivered an uppercut to claims by Oracle, its US rival and critic-in-chief, that the German software group has lost its way. Investors at the ringside were less impressed, however: SAP’s shares fell 3 per cent on Thursday in a flat German equity market. Yet SAP’s numbers were solid in almost every respect. In terms of quarter-on-quarter growth in software licence sales, it was SAP’s best summer since the 1990s. All regions turned in a good performance.