Cloud Uptake helps Sage Revenues to Climb 10% in Quarter
The FTSE100 software provider described a strong start to the year despite economic uncertainty. Quarterly revenues have increased 10% to £612m at accountancy software giant Sage following a strong start to the year in which it saw further uptake of cloud products.
The Tyneside-based FTSE100 firm issued first quarter trading results for the three months to the end of December which showed revenues in its key North America market raised 11% to £279m thanks to good performance of its Sage Intacct products and continued growth of Sage 50 and Sage 200.
In the UK, Ireland and Africa, revenue was boosted 95 to £176m, also on the back of Sage Intacct and cloud products such as Sage Accounting and Sage Payroll as well as further growth in Sage 50 and Sage 200. Meanwhile, in Europe, revenue was up 8% to £157m with strengths noted in accounting, HR and payroll solutions.
The firm’s Sage Business Cloud platform, which includes accounting, payroll, payments and time tracking tools, grew revenue by 13% to £502m on the back of new and existing customers. Cloud native revenue growth was up 22% at £208m. Sage also said recurring revenue increased 10% to £595m which it said reflected continued momentum in annualised recurring revenue during the quarter. Software subscription revenue growth was 12% at £509m.
Jonathan Howell, chief financial officer, said: “Sage has made a strong start to the year, achieving broad-based revenue growth in line with expectations, despite the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. We’re innovating across our platform to deliver productivity and insights to small and mid-sized businesses, transforming their workflows through our products and AI-powered solutions. We reiterate our guidance for the full year, as set out in our FY24 results announcement, as we continue to focus on efficiently scaling the group.”
The first quarter results come as Sage recently announced its artificial intelligence-powered assistant, Copilot, will be available to all UK customers from March. Developed on Tyneside by Sage’s engineers, Copilot has already been available to some customers on select plans, offering data-based insights on tax regulations, profitability, overdue payments, and customer activity as well as streamlining tasks such as pre-filling key details to streamline receipt and invoice processing.
Nikola McNicol-Kenney, vice president of Small Segment at Sage, said: “By listening to our customers during early access, we’ve refined Sage Copilot to deliver exactly what SMB need. Early adopters of Sage Copilot have told us it’s like having an extra pair of hands in the office, saving them hours each week and providing clarity on their finances.
“We’re proud of how Sage Copilot is already enhancing how small businesses work and remain focussed in continuously improve and bring new features to help them thrive today and in the future.”