SAP second-quarter revenue grew by four percent compared with the same period in 2012, rising to four billion euros ($5.2 billion), the business software giant, which is based in Walldorf, Germany, announced on Thursday.

Net profit surged to 874 million euros, which was five percent more, the company said in its quarterly business report.

Describing the firm‘s performance between April and June as solid, SAP said revenues from software and software-related services grew by 6.5 percent. In addition, SAP's cloud computing business more than tripled to 159 million euros from 52 million euros a year ago.

"We improved the profitability of our core business and see good traction in the cloud on our way toward building a profitable cloud business," Chief Financial Officer Werner Brandt said in a statement.

However, the company said it had suffered a seven-percent slide in sales in the Asia-Pacific region as sluggish growth in China had caused companies especially in Japan and Australia to defer investments in software.

The region's difficult macroeconomic environment caused SAP to trim its revenue forecast for 2013. The software manufacturer cut its prospected sales growth from about 13 percent to around 10 percent.

On the earnings side, SAP maintained its forecast for a 2013 operating profit of between 5.85 and 5.95 billion euros.

uhe/pfd (AFP, dpa Reuters)