Walldorf, Germany - Software giant SAP said Wednesday it saw lower turnover in the third quarter but the company was holding to its full-year operating profit projections.

Europe's largest software company said sales came to 2.51 billion euros (3.8 billion dollars), down from 2.76 billion euros in the same 2008 quarter.

Despite the downturn, SAP said its surplus in the quarter came to 487 million euros, up from 388 million euros last year.

In its operations, the core business of software and software services came to 1.94 billion euros in the third quarter, down slightly from 1.99 billion euros a year earlier.

Licensing business fell sharply, to 525 million euros in the third quarter, from 763 million euros a year earlier, Walldorf, Germany- based SAP said.

Despite the lower third-quarter business volume, SAP said it was maintaining its full-year operating results (EBIT) target growth of 25.5 to 27 per cent. (dpa)