SAP Debt Investor Relations

The primary aim of our financial management is to maintain liquidity in the Group at a level that is adequate to meet our obligations. Most SAP companies have their liquidity managed by the Group, so that liquid assets across the Group can be consolidated, monitored, and invested in accordance with Group policy. High levels of liquid assets help keep SAP flexible, sound, and independent. In addition, various credit facilities are currently available for additional liquidity, if required.

We manage credit, liquidity, interest rate, equity price, and foreign exchange rate risks on a Group-wide basis. We use selected derivatives exclusively for this purpose and not for speculation, which is defined as entering into a derivative instrument for which we do not have a corresponding underlying transaction. The rules for the use of derivatives and other rules and processes concerning the management of financial risks are collected in our treasury guideline document, which applies globally to all companies in the Group.

For more information see our Integrated Report 2017

Our primary source of cash, cash equivalents, and current investments is funds generated from our business operations. Over the past several years, our principal use of cash has been to support operations and our capital expenditure requirements resulting from our growth, to quickly repay financial debt, to acquire businesses, to pay dividends on our shares, and to buy back SAP shares on the open market.

We believe that our liquid assets combined with our undrawn credit facilities are sufficient to meet our present operating needs and, together with expected cash flows from operations, will support debt repayments and our currently planned capital expenditure requirements over the near term and medium term.

Depending on our future cash position and future market conditions, we might issue additional debt instruments to fund acquisitions, maintain financial flexibility, and limit repayment risk. Therefore, we continuously monitor funding options available in the capital markets and trends in the availability of funds, as well as the cost of such funding.

For more information see our Integrated Report 2017

Share the rewards of our dependable financing principles – from operating liquidity and cash flow generation to equity ratio and debt capacity.

• We maintain operating liquidity at a level that meets SAP financial obligations at all times
• Our primary source of funding is our significant cash flow generation capacity
• Our balance sheet structure is conservative – with a high equity ratio, modest financial leverage, well-balanced maturity profile, and deep debt capacity
• We commit to repaying acquisition-related debt quickly