The Sage Group plc ("Sage") is today issuing its interim management statement which covers the period from 1 October 2011 to date.
Financial Performance
The trading performance since the start of the year has been satisfactory and is in-line with expectations for the year.
Financial Position
The Group`s strong operating cash generation has continued and, during the quarter, we received £200m from the proceeds of the disposal of Sage Software Healthcare LLC to Vista Equity Partners. As previously announced, a share buyback programme was started to return these proceeds and, to date, 17.7m shares have been repurchased for an aggregate consideration of £50m. Accordingly, net cash at 31 December 2011 was £149.8m (£24.9m net debt at 30 September 2011).
Guy Berruyer, Chief Executive, commented:
"In the context of a macro-economic environment which remains challenging for our customers, we have made a satisfactory start to the year and trading is in-line with expectations for the year.
The strong fundamentals of Sage's business positions us well to cope with the ups and downs of the economic cycle. We are confident that the business priorities, on which we are focused to drive growth, will bear fruit as the year progresses but we remain watchful of the European environment in particular."
