Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7347M

Sage Group PLC

04 February 2009

 



Wednesday 4 February 2009

The Sage Group plc Interim Management Statement

The Sage Group plc ('Sage'), a leading global supplier of business management software solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises ('SMEs'), is releasing its interim management statement on its unaudited results for the three months to 31 December 2008.

Trading for the period was consistent with management expectations at the time of the 2008 preliminary results announcement on 3 December 2008.   Continued strength in subscription revenues has offset the impact of a subdued market for software and software-related services. 

Our UK business showed a resilient performance in volatile market conditions.  After a very strong performance last year and in weakening economic conditions, revenue growth in Mainland Europe slowed as anticipated.   North America is operating in particularly challenging market conditions, which affected performance in all divisions.  Rest of World experienced good revenue growth in slowing market conditions.

The weakening of sterling had the effect of enhancing the Group's results for the period. Cash generation remained strong, and the Group continues to pay down gross debt. However, the impact of currency translation increased reported net debt to £649m as at 31 December 2008 (30 September 2008: £541m). The Group remains comfortably within its banking covenants with committed financing facilities in place until 2011.

Paul Walker, Chief Executive, commented: 'We are pleased to report that, despite volatile conditions in many of our markets, overall trading remained in line with our expectations at the time of our preliminary results in December 2008.  Subscription revenues continue to show good growth, offsetting the anticipated contraction in software and software-related services. We continue to manage our cost base to protect profitability. We believe that these results demonstrate the continuing resilience of our business model. However, it is still early in our financial year, and we remain alert to the challenging economic environment.'

Enquiries:

The Sage Group plc   [phone]	Tulchan Communications     [phone]
Paul Walker, Chief Executive	Suzanna Voyle
Paul Harrison, Group Finance Director	Stephen Malthouse
Cynthia Alers, Investor Relations Director	Lizzie Morgan

Notes to editors: 

The Sage Group plc is a leading global supplier of business management software and services to 5.8 million small and medium-sized enterprises in over 30 countries.  Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs over 14,500 people worldwide.

Market consensus of the 19 analyst research notes published after 3 December 2008 for the year to 30 September 2009 is as follows: Revenues £1,426m, EBITA £320m and PBT (pre-amortisation) £296m.

All financial information is based on unaudited management accounts. Certain statements made in this interim management statement are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward-looking statements.

www.investors.sage.com

---

 

END

 

 

IMSCKNKBABKDOBK