SHARE PRICE REMAINS STABLE SAP
SAP stock was less volatile than in previous years. Starting the year at €134.90 on the Frankfurt stock exchange, SAP stock reached a year’s high of €142.70 in January. A weak stock market and disappointing figures in the IT industry caused it to dip to €116.12 in August. However, strong operational growth enabled SAP stock to recover, ending the year at €131.40. The stock nevertheless underperformed the DAX, which rose 7.3%, and the Goldman Sachs Software Index, which rose 13.6%. On a constant-currency basis, SAP American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) rose 6.4% on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2004, closing at $44.21. (In the United States, foreign companies’ ADRs are traded instead of shares. Four SAP ADRs represent one SAP share.) SAP’s market capitalization reached €41.5 billion at the end of 2004. The average number of SAP shares traded per day in 2004 was 1.7 million. SAP ADRs were again the most heavily traded German stock on the NYSE.
EURO STOXX 50
Having become a component of the Dow Jones STOXX 50 in 2003, SAP stock also became a component of the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 on July 28, 2004. This is an index of 50 heavily traded euro-zone shares with high market capitalization and is one of the most important reference indexes for European stocks. The SAP share is also a component of the DAX 30, the CDAX, the HDAX, the Prime All Share Index, the Dow Jones Euro STOXX TMI, the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index (DJSI STOXX), and the DJSI World.
SUSTAINED DIVIDEND STRATEGY
SAP is one of the few software companies to enable its shareholders to share in the Company’s success by paying a dividend as a long-standing tradition. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will recommend to the Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting that a dividend of €1.10 be paid per share – 37.5% more than in the previous year. If the shareholders approve this recommendation, total distributed dividends for fiscal year 2004 would be approximately €342 million.
Return on SAP Common Shares WKN 716 460/ISIN DE 000 7 164 600
| Initial investment: € 10,000 |
| Date of investment |
Dec. 31, 1994 |
Dec. 31, 1999 |
Dec. 31, 2003 |
| Period of investment |
10 years |
5 years |
1 year |
| Value in € at the close of 20041) |
58,508.33 |
8,241.06 |
9,867.74 |
| Average annual return in % |
22.88 |
– 3.8 |
– 1.32 |
| Comparable return in % |
|
|
|
| DAX |
7.36 |
– 9.38 |
7.06 |
| REXP2) |
7.14 |
6.45 |
6.70 |
| S&P 500 (€-base) |
11.24 |
– 8.07 |
2.90 |
| Goldman Sachs Software Index GSO (€-base) |
11.11 |
– 24.29 |
5.38 |
1) Assuming all dividends (but not German tax credits) were reinvested
2) Performance index of the German bond market
|
