SAP sets sights on fresh profit record

SAP, the world's biggest maker of business software, aims to set a fresh profit record this year as it banks on robust corporate spending on technology.

Investors have worried that they may have overestimated the resilience of corporate tech spending in a deteriorating global economy, especially after SAP's big rival Oracle Corp reported weak quarterly results last month.

But there have been increasing signs that the outlook may not be as dim as some feared. IBM Corp, the world's largest technology services company, brimmed with confidence for 2012 as it posted strong results last week. "We have significant momentum going into 2012," SAP said on Wednesday as it published its full financial results for 2011.