SAP has become the latest company to announce a significant number of job cuts. It said yesterday that it will reduce its current head count of 51,500 by 3,000 jobs.

The announcement coincided with the company’s latest financial results, which were not as bad as the lay-off plan might suggest.

Total revenues for SAP’s fourth quarter grew 8% year-on-year to €3.4 billion. An 8% rise in services, SAP’s main bread-winner, was offset by a 7% fall in licence fees.

Meanwhile, operating income was up 15% year-on-year to €1.28 billion.

But the company predicted that its operating margin will fall in the coming year as enterprise IT spending slows. And it did not make any revenue forecast, pointing to undue uncertainty in the market.

The redundancies, which the company expects to save it around €350 million, will “allow us to adapt to the tough market conditions and ensure the long-term competitiveness of the company,” said co-chief executive Leo Apotheker in a statement.

Last week saw Microsoft announce 5,000 redundancies.