* Keeps 2009 operating margin guidance
* Says market conditions are improving
* Says too early to talk of full recovery
(Adds detail, background)
PARIS, June 17 (Reuters) - Leo Apotheker, chief executive of Germany's SAP, said the business software maker was sticking to its full-year operating margin target and said there were signs of overall market improvement.
But Apotheker said at a media event in Paris on Wednesday that he did not see the economy recovering soon despite those signs.
SAP, which competes with Oracle, has previously said it expected to reach a 2009 operating margin, excluding one-off items, to be in the range of 24.5 percent to 25.5 percent at constant currencies.
SAP implemented cost cuts in October after a sharp drop in sales and has said it would continue to slash costs as it reduces its workforce to 48,500 from 51,800.
Walldorf-based SAP has given no target for its key software and software-related sales this year.
It reiterated in April it based its margin forecasts on the assumption core sales would be flat or 1 percent lower than 2008 sales of 8.62 billion euros ($11.97 billion).
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, writing by Nicola Leske)