Sage Share Discussion Threads

[hectorp] 01/12/2010 19:58

Good 'buy' within the sector at least.

[lyntwyn] 01/12/2010 11:58

Yes, excellent peformance again at SAGE.

Sage unveils top-level reshuffle

Sage's new chief executive unveiled a management shake-up and said the group was eyeing acquisitions as the business software group reported 20 per cent higher pre-tax profits for the year.

Guy Berruyer, who joined Sage in 1997 and most recently headed its European division before taking on the top role in October, said on Wednesday that while the economic climate remained uncertain, the group was "seeing some signs of improving markets for our customers", although he admitted that this varied by geography.

However, on Wednesday Sage announced a management reshuffle that will see Mr Harrison's role expanded to include merger and acquisition responsibilities. Mr Stobart will head Sage Northern Europe, which will add Germany, Poland and Switzerland to his existing portfolio


The group, which produces software that helps companies manage their finances and payrolls, has been one of the steadiest technology stocks but the downturn has affected growth. Sage has also fallen behind in some of its key markets and has been slow to progress from the traditional model of selling off-the-shelf software to a software as a service model.

The small and medium-sized customers Sage serves entered the recession later than larger rivals, however, Mr Berruyer said that they had also trailed larger businesses in seeing confidence return to their markets.

His comments came as the group reported a set of full-year results that was largely in line with forecasts and showed signs that organic growth had improved during the second half of the year. Including restructuring costs, Sage reported a 20 per cent rise in pre-tax profits of £319.9m for the year to the end of September on flat revenues of £1.4bn.

Mr Berruyer said that Sage would now focus on improving its business in North America, driving its web strategy and improving the growth margin in the medium term while also investing in higher growth initiatives such as payment processing.

During the year Sage bought Netcash, a South African payment processing business, for £8.5m. The group was also linked with a bid for Italy's TeamSystem, which was sold to HgCapital in August.

Mr Berruyer said on Wednesday that the group continued to evaluate acquisitions, adding that opportunities "lie in both existing and new geographical markets. They also lie in markets such as the provision of accounting and payroll software to SMEs and in new markets such as the provision of web-related products and services."

full article @

[jon827] 01/12/2010 08:02

market likes it :)

[lyntwyn] 23/11/2010 08:10

an article in the FT reports: Sage Group fell 8.20p to 261.00p after Intuit accused Sage of aggressive discounting. Intuit said its own efforts to discount had not been successful which prompted worries that Sage's profit margins may disappoint when it announces H2 results on December 1. There was also talk that Sage's new chief executive, Guy Berruyer, may be planning a large acquisition.

[bones] 07/11/2010 20:34

for information, 10 year chart shows that there is a lot of old resistance at the last peak recently reached. Keeping a close eye on how the price moves from here but something special may be needed to push the price upwards of 300p.

[lyntwyn] 02/11/2010 16:48

Rumours of bids coming from Msoft and SAP and others have been bandied around for years, they could have bought SGE for half the price if they were going to. SGE share price has risen on performance not bid rumours, but may be pretty fully priced for now - not ideal timing for takeover

[jon827] 12/10/2010 08:38

thanks for the info guys, in today at 268 :) gl

[double6] 01/10/2010 14:31

Blue day...........

[double6] 30/9/2010 15:46

RNS - is this the lead up ???

[erpguru] 30/9/2010 07:52

tittle tattle 370p bid coming

[dow] 29/9/2010 20:11

Traders citing talk SAP AG was interested in making a bid.

A Daily Mail market report said that there was talk on Monday that both SAP and Microsoft were interested in making an approach for Sage.

The latest company to be added to the list of likely bidders is French software titan Capgemini.

[jon827] 29/9/2010 09:42

Loving the look of sge's chart, was the breakout yesterday because of a take over rumour then?

[double6] 28/9/2010 19:08

Surprised that no comment is being put forward.

Massive trading amid takeover rumours at 35% premium to current share price

[double6] 28/9/2010 15:48

Imminent RNS ?

[sajjad017] 28/9/2010 07:49

sage repoted in daily mail 380p bid from various suitors inc sap and perhaps microsoft

[nellie1973] 29/7/2010 18:55

Sage tipped by newspapers-BUY

[w.bramley] 22/7/2010 12:55

Don't know where SHARES MAG gets it's information from, but todays issue recommends (SGE) as a SELL at 235.2, reason, they think it will over pay for a Italian soft-ware vendor TeamSystem. It is now 245p and looking strong???
I have know SHARES MAG get their buy or sell recommendations wrong quite a few times, but their comment should not be ignored.

[lyntwyn] 18/6/2010 13:02

Slow & sure wins the race. SGE management haven't put foot wrong for a long time!! this from today's Times


System problems for Intuit give Sage a boost


Sage shareholders were totting up the potential benefits of a serious problem with the technology of one its main rivals.

Like Sage, the Californian company Intuit supplies accounting software to small businesses. Unlike Sage, Intuit has been quick to embrace the new world of "cloud computing" - where company data is stored on external servers - and claims already to have 300,000 small businesses signed up.

However, with innovation comes risk. Problems with Intuit's system has left those customers without access to crucial accounting and tax data for the past two days.

Though now up and running again, the shutdown triggered hundreds of complaints on its forums as furious customers were left in the lurch. Many complained that they had lost thousands of dollars and threatened to dump Intuit's "QuickBooks" software.

That sparked hopes for an exodus of customers to Sage and spurred shares in the Newcastle company, 3p higher at 248p.

George O'Connor, an analyst with Panmure Gordon, said that Sage's "softly-softly" approach to cloud computing, which drew criticism in the past, now looked wise.

Sage's improvement contributed to a seventh successive rise for the FTSE 100. On its longest winning streak for nearly a year, London's leading index rose 15.97 more points to 5,253.89.

[maddox] 27/4/2010 21:24

Goldman Sachs lifts Sage Group (SGE.LN) target to 280p from 245p. Expects IT spending projections to turn more positive over the year, underpinning a recovery in growth which should continue to drive stock price outperformance. Says software vendor pipelines are improving and there is a good pick up in the application spending environment. Still thinks Europe looks tough, although should improve later in the year.

[lyntwyn] 28/1/2010 08:12

Maddox, still positive news coming through. Definately a stock to have held over last year or two.

26.01.10 :+2.2, (237.7) in a trading update, says that trading for the first quarter ended Dec. 31 was in line with its expectations in December, with no change to the market environment. Sage, which distributes and develops business software for more than 5.8 million small and medium-sized enterprises, said results for each of its regions was in line with its expectations, with subscription revenue growth continuing to offset subdued markets for software and software-related services. "We have seen no change to the environment over the period and our first quarter results were in-line with our expectations. Our proven business model and the loyalty of our large, geographically diverse, customer base gives us confidence that we are well positioned for these conditions and the eventual market recovery," Chief Executive Paul Walker said in a brief trading statement. Ahead of 's trading update, the market consensus for annual pretax profit was GBP326.2 million and GBP1.41 billion for revenue, according to FactSet. Sage competes with Germany's SAP AG (SAP) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) of the U.S., as well as Microsoft Corp's (MSFT) small business accounting software. Sage's net debt fell to GBP392 million at the end of December from GBP439 million at the end of September, reflecting continued strong cash generation. The group said it "remains comfortably within its banking covenants with committed financing facilities in place until 2011." Sage's trading update is "in line and exactly what they need," Investec Securities analyst Julian Yates said. The real catalyst for the group will be when the market starts focusing on its performance in 2011, he added. Yates has a buy rating on Sage, which has outperformed the sector over the past three months, and 250 pence target price. Sage shares closed at 238 pence Monday, valuing the company at the GBP3.12 billion. The stock has risen 34% over the past 12 months.

[maddox] 14/12/2009 22:46

Hi Lyntwyn,

The usual glass half full Broker appraisals - in the main.

No considering that a major thrust of Sage's growth has been by acquisition?Repeated acquisitions that have been successfully integrated. The current market provides Sage with the opportunity to buy quality businesses at low valuations. Sage has a track record of not overpaying and I would expect them to take advantage of the current conditions.

Regards, Maddox

[lyntwyn] 23/8/2009 11:52

21.08.09: an article in the Telegraph reports: Sage Group (The) rose 10.9 to 224.9p on renewed hopes its half-year results will beat expectations.

[miata] 21/8/2009 12:28

Shares in software firm Sage dipped after its US rival Intuit said that 2010 earnings will be below analysts' estimates and that tight economic conditions will prevail for at least another year.

Sage competes with Intuit in the United States to sell accounting software to small businesses.

'We caution that Intuit's competitive overlap with Sage's US business is perhaps only 10-15%. However, it is important to sentiment and its 4% fall after hours may impact Sage negatively today,' UBS analyst Michael Briest says.