SAP appoints new chief financial officer
The German software giant hires Fresenius Medical Care's CFO, Werner Brandt, to help relieve co-chief executive Henning Kagermann from some of his financial responsibilities.
Werner Brandt is leaving his post as chief financial officer at Fresenius Medical Care, a German company that provides dialysis treatment, to join SAP's executive board as its new CFO on Feb. 1, SAP said Tuesday.
SAP, which has dual headquarters in Walldorf, Germany, and Newtown Square, Pa., said Brandt will take over many of the financial responsibilities held by Kagermann. Brandt will succeed SAP's present CFO and longtime employee Dieter Matheis, who will continue to serve at SAP until his scheduled retirement at the end of next year.
The move comes as SAP is making serious efforts to market and push the adoption of its core Internet-based software applications, dubbed MySAP.com. The company has faced some challenging quarters but posted stronger third-quarter earnings in October fueled by increased sales of its newer business software.
SAP has undergone several senior management changes this year, including the selection of a new CEO for its U.S.-based operations and the departure of several top-level executives.
SAP America's leader, Wolfgang Kemna, who took the chief executive's seat 8 months ago, has been busy with a turnaround plan to help lift the software maker's sagging sales and boost employee retention.
Before his position with Fresenius, Brandt was vice president of European finance for Baxter Pharmaceuticals in Munich, Germany.
In late October, SAP announced plans to expand its headquarters in the United States, a move that could create 600 new jobs. Expansion plans calls for the development of a new resource center on the Newtown Square campus that would focus on research, development, customers and partners, as a way to help SAP better understand the business needs of its clients.