German software giant SAP said Friday its profits more than doubled in the third quarter thanks to strong sales and lower legal costs related to litigation with arch-rival Oracle.

SAP said in a statement its operating profit jumped by 145 percent from last year to 1.755 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in the period from July to September on a 14-percent rise in revenues to 3.4 billion euros.

"The record quarter was driven by strong results across all regions," co-chief executives, Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, were quoted as saying in a statement.

In addition, the group said it substantially reduced the provision set aside for its long-running court battle with Oracle after a judge ruled that the compensation SAP had been ordered to pay was excessive.

Third-quarter revenue from software alone rose by 28 percent from a year ago to 841 million euros, while revenues from software and software-related services grew by 16 percent to 2.69 billion euros in the three-month period.

Looking at the nine months to September as a whole, jumped by 57 percent to 3.2 billion euros and revenues were up 16 percent at 9.7 billion euros.

SAP shares rose on the better-than-expected results, gaining 2.8 percent to 41.7 euros.

(c) 2011 AFP