Company Information
Sage at a glance
Sage is a leading supplier of business software, services and support to more than 6 million customers worldwide. Whilst our heritage is in the small business market we also have the experience and expertise to meet the needs of specific industries and larger organisations.
We are a global company with more than 12,600 employees and more than 30 years of experience working with small and medium sized businesses. However, despite our global reach we have built our success on understanding and meeting the needs of customers in their local markets. Therefore the majority of our products and services are developed and supported locally. This ensures we provide a choice of high quality products and services which are relevant to our customers, use the most appropriate technology and are supported by local experts.
Executive Committee members' biographies
Board of Directors members' biographies
Key facts
- More than 12,600 employees
- More than 6 million customers
- Offices in 24 countries around the world
- Advise 1.9 million customers through support contracts
- Manage 33,000 customer calls a day
- Global network of 28,000 business partners and 40,000 accountants
Highlights for half-year ended 31 March 2012:
§ Organic revenue# growth of 2%* in the period (H1 2011: 5%*), reflecting strong growth in subscription revenues of 5%* offset by a contraction of 4%* in software and software-related service revenues
§ EBITA† margin maintained at 27% (H1 2011: 27%*) with continuing investment in strategic initiatives for growth
§ Underlying earnings per share increased by 2%* to 9.55p (H1 2011: 9.35p*), reflecting 2%* growth in underlying pre-tax profit
§ Strong operating cash flow of £207.7m (H1 2011: £222.6m), representing 115% of EBITA†, with net cash of £122.1m at 31 March 2012 (31 March 2011: net debt of £106.0m)
§ Interim dividend increased by 30% to 3.48p per share (H1 2011: 2.68p per share), reflecting the rebasing announced in November 2011 and continued confidence in business prospects
§ As at 4 May 2012, £147.8m returned to shareholders through the share buyback programme which will continue beyond the return of the Sage Healthcare proceeds
* Underlying figures neutralise the impact of foreign exchange movements and exclude amortisation of acquired intangible assets. Foreign currency results for the prior period half-year ended 31 March 2011 have been retranslated based on the average exchange rates for the period ended 31 March 2012 of $1.59/£1 and €1.19/£1 to facilitate the comparison of results.
# Organic figures exclude the contributions of current and prior year acquisitions, disposals and non-core products.
† EBITA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, amortisation of acquired intangible assets and completed acquisition costs; and is after neutralising the impact of foreign exchange movements.
For further information on our financial performance please visit our investor relations website.