Dassault Systèmes spins off US unit as shares take hit Dassault Systèmes announced it is to spin off its US sales and services subsidiary while warning that changing customer habits would weigh on sales in the fourth quarter. Europe's second-largest software company by market capitalisation, which competes with SAP and Oracle, said that customers were deciding to rent rather than buy software. Other clients have been delaying spending entirely, hitting quarterly numbers. The news pushed shares in the group down 2.5 per cent to €84.79 in Paris trading on Thursday. "Third-quarter results reflected a convergence of events with the common thread of a weak macro environment," said Bernard Charlès, chief executive of Dassault Systèmes. While customers are taking more time to evaluate investment decisions, their needs for delivering superior product experiences and transforming their business are stronger than ever. Revenue in the third quarter of €499m was below the previous target of €520m. The miss had been flagged in a profit warning last week. Dassault Systèmes, whose biggest shareholder is French businessman Serge Dassault's family-run holding Dassault Group, this month shifted its low-end estimate for fourth-quarter revenue from €565m to €555m. It also announced the sale of Inceptra, its sales and services subsidiary in North America, via a management buyout, adding that the proceeds would boost fourth-quarter results. Earlier this week, SAP, the German software group and European market leader, reported strong results but cautioned that if exchange rates remained at present levels, growth in software and related service revenues could be about 5 percentage points lower than expected. The weakening of emerging market currencies is set to be a drag on third-quarter earnings across Europe, not just in the software sector. Air Liquide, the French maker of industrial gases, reported third-quarter sales on Thursday that missed analysts" estimates as a strengthening euro offset growing demand. It reiterated its forecast for profit growth in 2013, however. Last month Unilever, the consumer products group, warned that currency moves as well as an emerging market slowdown would weigh on quarterly sales growth. Elsewhere in Paris, stronger-than-expected sales in its engine services division on Thursday pushed Safran's revenues up 9.7 per cent in the third quarter. The French aerospace group reaffirmed targets for the year.