Sage Share Discussion Threads

[lyntwyn] 10/8/2006 15:44

Sage advice would be to trust IT company's judgment on US deal

.....As for overpaying, Sage has shown when it walked away from buying Visma, a Norwegian rival in May, that it is not in that game. Justifying the price paid for Emdeon will depend in part on the ability of management to boost operating profit margins. If the company can take these from 7 per cent to 15 per cent in the first year, the acquisition will make a positive impact on earnings.

After a weak run - the shares have fallen from 280p in February to 222¼p last night - the stock trades on about 17 times 2006 earnings, which is roughly average for the sector, but cheaper than overseas rivals. Given the quality of this stock, any weakness in the share price still looks like a buying opportunity.

Full article on Tempus in todays Times

[lyntwyn] 10/8/2006 13:58

Brokers all over the place as usual:(from Citywire)

JP Morgan has an underweight rating for Sage Group.
Morgan Stanley has an equal-weight rating for Sage Group, raising target to 220p from 213p.
Merrill Lynch has neutral stances on ITV and Enodis, has a buy rating for Sage Group.
WestLB has an add rating for Sage Group, cutting target to 260p from 280p

[amt] 09/8/2006 20:58

Thought a little more about and reckon this is a bad move. Misys have a much bigger market share and also have hospital systems thus providing the foundation for take over that market forcing the smaller companies out. I cannot imagine that Sage can succeed here and worse it will distract them from the markets they know and where there are great opportunities. Growing through acquisition rately succeeds and think this is an acquisition too far. I bailed out since my long term optimism has well and truly gone, very annoyed about this.

[lyntwyn] 09/8/2006 14:04

Lucky it hasn't fallen more today on this. Looking more stable now, so the wider view maybe that it is a decent move. I'd have preferred if they hadn't but SAGE seems to think there is a huge US market for this. To date SAGE management has proved to make sensible decisions on acquisitions! I will hold.


"Shares in Sage Group also registered losses, falling by 5-1/2 to 216-1/2 as investors balked at news it has agreed to acquire Florida-based Emdeon Practice Services (EPS) from parent company Emdeon, for an enterprise value of about 565 mln usd cash. " afx

Citywire:
The FTSE 100 group says that Emdeon has plenty of expansion potential. It has only 10% of the 200,000 or so doctors' practices in the US many of which have yet to be fully automated.

Pressure is increasing for them to do so not just because of becoming more efficient, but also because of the need to comply with regulations governing electronic health records, healthcare insurance claims and medical care documentation.

Sage (SGE) intends to sell additional products to Emdeon customers and help the integration of accounting and practice management.

'There are also opportunities to raise operating margins through the application of Sage's customer base marketing and support expertise, and through administrative synergies' said Sage chief executive Paul Walker.

Broker Bridgewell points out that the Emdeon acquisition is equal in size to Sage's largest ever deal, for Best Software.
Analyst Kevin Ashton says that at first sight the US deal looks pricey simply because Emdeon has earnings before interest, tax and amortisation margins of 7% against Sage's 27%.

Medical practice management is a new area for Sage which brings it into competition with Misys which Ashton points out might 'raise a few eyebrows' particularly as Misys sees core practice management systems as a slow growth area.

But Sage says it needs to build an integrated accounting system for the 7,000 doctors it already serves and sees the Emdeon deal as a continuation of its strategy to add vertical functionality to its accounting packages.

Bridgewell remains overweight on Sage shares, but says the Emdeon deal presents a number of so far unanswered questions

[amt] 09/8/2006 07:23

Dont like the look of this at all. What the hell are they doing getting into a different market. Its much too risky. Misys have been in this market for 8 years and have not done that well. If they were going to get in they should have bought Misys business which is for sale at a knock down price. Also Microsoft is getting into that market also. They should concentrate in getting more from their existing customers rather than being distracted by something completely new to them.
I think I will sell out and buy imagination technologies which has been moving up recently DYOR.

[lyntwyn] 08/8/2006 10:10

Sage Group weakened 6¼ to 223p as UBS repeated its "buy" advice, but lowered its price target from 310p to 290p, reflecting a change in the stockbroker's discount rate assumptions after last week's UK and continental European interest rate rises. It played down concerns over the impact of Sage's Peachtree division of Microsoft's move into entry-level accounting software, and said retail sales data showing a 25 per cent year-on-year fall in Peachtree volumes after the Microsoft launch should be put in context.

[lyntwyn] 07/8/2006 12:29

Sage Group 224-1/2 down 4-3/4

UBS cuts target to 290 pence from 310 afx

[w.bramley] 27/7/2006 15:56

Good rise today, wonder why?

[lyntwyn] 24/7/2006 11:41

24 July 2006

Sage acquisition of majority shareholding in French distribution industry
software vendor, Elit Group

The Sage Group plc ('Sage') has acquired approximately 51% of the share capital
of Elit Group ('Elit'), listed on Euronext. Elit is a leading vendor of
business management software for the transport and food distribution sectors in
France. Sage purchased the shares for a price of 7 Euros per share. The
purchase consideration for these shares is approximately £10.8m, to be paid in
cash.

As a result of this transaction, and as required by French regulations, Sage
will make an offer to the remaining Elit shareholders to acquire all
outstanding shares.

With 3,000 customers, Elit is a leading vendor of business management software
for medium-sized businesses in the French transport and food distribution
sectors. Elit's revenues for the year ended 30 June 2005 were £18.4 million*,
with an operating loss of approximately £0.5 million*.

Paul Walker, Sage Chief Executive, comments, 'The acquisition of a controlling
interest in Elit represents a further extension of our range of
industry-specific business management software. Elit's advanced mid-market
solutions for the French transport and food distribution sector complement our
existing C2G business, acquired in 2005.'

[lyntwyn] 19/7/2006 09:37

Well, LOG figures turned out OK!

18.07.06 :-6.5, (204.75) shares in UK software groups Sage Group and LogicaCMG were lower in morning deals after French peer Atos Origin SA warned full-year sales and margins will miss market expectations, dealers said. This morning, Atos Origin blamed the expected shortfall on problems in the UK. In response, UBS said the whole sector will likely be hurt given the comments on demand in the UK, adding LogicaCMG's results tomorrow will be key, showing whether the problems in the UK market are specific to Atos Origin or not.

[jezboy1] 18/7/2006 14:45

wow - pretty much trading at April 05 prices...

if this falls to under 200 I am definitely gonna get
some for a long hold - don't usually trade in this
sector, but it looks tasty.

any punters able to give me an idea of SGE trend, other
than generally poor sentiment in the sector?

J

[honest ern] 18/7/2006 11:31

this seems to be an overreaction bug time, unless there is something else going on. Maybe a good chance to top up?
Ant views

[lyntwyn] 18/7/2006 11:16

yes, you certainly gotta laugh!! Who are Atos Origin for heavens sake!!!This is so silly....

Sage Group 205-1/2 down 5-3/4

Atos Origin warning upsets -afx

Sage fell on a warning from its French rival Atos Origin after the company said it would miss both sales and margin expectations.

[maddox] 14/7/2006 00:26

You gotta laugh.....

Sage Group 214 down 10-1/2 Poor Q2 results from SAP; tech stocks hit

Different products, different market sector, different business model - no relevance whatever!

Regards, Maddox

[honest ern] 10/7/2006 13:41

Anyone no why that even after recent upgrades and positive news flo why we still find sage underperforming the rest of the market?

Thanks
Ern

[a77] 28/6/2006 14:21

Goldman Sachs has upgraded its rating for Sage Group (LSE: SGE.L - news) to neutral from sell with a 277p target.

[maddox] 24/6/2006 13:12

DIVIDEND AMOUNT 1.08p
PERIOD H1 Dividend
PROVISIONAL EX DATE 17-05-2006
PAYMENT DATE 16-06-2006

Sage Group 223-3/4 up 2 US peer Oracle boost Q4 profits by 27 pct - cannot see why that is relevant but at least we are starting to go in the right direction.

Nothing has changed regarding Sage's performance or propects - apart from the fact that you can pick them up at October '05 prices and need to rise 27% to retain their peak. A solid performer with a recent positive outlook statement and plenty of upside potential - no worries with this one.

Regards, Maddox

[honest ern] 23/6/2006 12:59

hi all just wondering when the next did is due on these, and how generous. Sorry i'm a complete novice at this.

Thanks
Ern

[amt] 23/6/2006 08:14

Director's Shareholding

20 June 2006

The Sage Group plc ("the Company")

DIRECTORS' SHAREHOLDINGS

The Company has received notification that Sir Julian Horn-Smith, a
non-executive director of the Company, yesterday purchased 100,000 Ordinary
shares of 1p each in the Company at a price of 225.125 pence per share.

I big sign of confidence of things to come

[lyntwyn] 08/6/2006 07:56

Sage Group to buy Baurer in Germany for 16 mln stg cash
LONDON (AFX) - The Sage Group PLC said it has agreed to acquire Bäurer GmbH, based in Germany, for 16 mln stg in cash.

Bäurer sells advanced business management systems for mid-market businesses, including industry-specific software for manufacturing.

Bäurer's revenue for the year ended Dec 31 2005 was 16.0 mln stg and earnings before depreciation and amortisation were approximately 1.2 mln.

[e-mail] slm

[lyntwyn] 05/6/2006 16:39

This announcement just released must be responsible for todays fall.

The Sage Group plc ('the Company')

DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST

The Company received notification on 2 June 2006 that Aviva plc and its
subsidiaires have, following the sale of 4,326,636 Ordinary shares on 1 June
2006, an interest in 38,725,909* Ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company,
representing 2.99% of the issued share capital of the Company.

[lyntwyn] 02/6/2006 10:41

Sage Group closed up 3¼p at 235p as Credit Suisse highlighted positive comments from Paul Harrison, finance director, at the bank's Barcelona conference. Analysts said Mr Harrison reiterated expectations of an improvement in organic revenues growth later this year.

The Times 02/06/06

[amt] 25/5/2006 13:50

Sage - A rock solid defensive tech company with steadily increasing income. Completely dominates the small and mid size market in the UK. Colledges actually teach sage now for bookkeepers and the like. Must be good value IMO

[lyntwyn] 23/5/2006 11:23

Yes, and reflected in share price this a.m.
.
Bridgewell 'overweight'; Deutsche Bank 'buy' with 305 pence target - afx