Sage Q3 in line

Since closing the half year with a clean sheet (see here), Sage continues to perform in-line in Q3, with continuing ‘good performance’ in the UK and Ireland thanks to growth driven by legislative changes. Mainland Europe is ‘resilient’ despite the on-going challenges in the Eurozone, particularly in the larger markets of France and Spain. Meanwhile, North America continues to show a good performance, AAMEA is delivering good growth, with South Africa and the broader African markets are performing well. 

As always with Sage, cash generation remains strong. So Sage has been attempting to please investors by paying out £42.8m in ordinary dividends as well as a special dividend of £198.7m, both announced in May. Sage has continued to buy-back shares too - since 1 April 2013, a further 12m shares have been repurchased for £40.5m. Nonetheless, its shares have been fluctuating over this period, reflecting our concerns about the scale of transformation needed as it attempts to embrace the cloud. As we pointed out last month, progress so far has been ‘measured’ (see Sage transformation – one year in).