Software Revenue Falls at Germany's SAP

Updated from 1:41 a.m. EDT

Germany's SAP(SAP Quote), the world's biggest maker of business-management software, reported a decline in first-quarter net income as software revenue fell 33% in what the company called a "difficult operating environment."

Earnings in the first quarter were 204 million euros ($269.5 million) compared with 242 million euros a year earlier. Total revenue fell slightly to 2.4 billion euros from 2.46 billion euros.

Software revenue in the quarter fell to 418 million euros from 622 million euros. The decrease, the company said in a statement Wednesday, is the "result of the difficult operating environment worldwide due to the global economic downturn, and the tough comparison to the first quarter of 2008." ...