The Sage Group plc (”Sage”), a leading supplier of business management software solutions, announced its results for the year ended 30 September 2006.
Financial highlights
• Revenues increased by 22% to £935.6m (2005: £766.4m)
• EBITA increased by 23% to £249.3m (2005: £203.3m)
• Pre-tax profit after amortisation charges rose by 14% to £221.2m (2005: £193.6m)
• Adjusted earnings per share^ increased by 20% to 12.54p (2005: 10.49p)
• EBITA margin of 27% (2005: 27%)
• Operating cash flow represented 107% of EBITA (2005: 119%)
• Proposed total dividend raised 25% to 3.59p per share (2005: 2.88p)
Operational and strategic highlights
• Total licence growth of 12%, total growth in services of 28%
• 7% organic growth for the full year, reflecting 8% organic growth in the second half of the year
• Customer Relationship Management (”CRM”) products delivered global organic growth of 8%
• Customer base expanded to 5.2m businesses (2005: 4.7m)
• Significant acquisition activity, broadening both geographic reach and product range
Regional Analysis
| 2006 | 2005 | 2006 | 2005 | |
| £m | Revenue | Revenue | EBITA | EBITA |
| UK | 205.2 | 192.6 | 75.6 | 70.4 |
| Mainland Europe | 253.2 | 203.8 | 59.3 | 45.4 |
| North America | 321.4 | 311.6 | 76.4 | 73.3 |
| Rest of World | 68.2 | 58.4 | 18.2 | 14.2 |
| 848.0 | 766.4 | 229.5 | 203.3 | |
| Acquisitions: | ||||
| Mainland Europe | 46.6 | 7.2 | ||
| North America | 40.1 | 12.5 | ||
| Rest of World | 0.9 | 0.1 | ||
| 87.6 | 19.8 | |||
| Fx Impact | (6.8) | (1.5) | ||
| 935.6 | 759.6 | 249.3 | 202.1 |
Chief Executive, Paul Walker, commented: “This has been an exciting year for Sage with a number of significant acquisitions broadening both the products and services we offer to SMEs. We are one of the largest suppliers of business management software solutions to the SME market worldwide and our presence in high growth, high margin markets continues to expand. We have reported strong organic growth in our business, demonstrating the strength and potential of our existing customer base.
We will continue to serve the changing needs of our dynamic SME customer base using our expertise and insight into a wide range of industries. We remain confident about our prospects for continued growth through focusing on value-added services, tailored solutions and premium versions of current products.”
