Software provider Sage Group saw shares fall nearly 5 percent in early trading on Wednesday, despite a jump in revenues in the first quarter.
Group organic revenue increased by 6.3 percent for the first three months of the year, with organic recurring revenue grew by 7 percent. This was underpinned by software subscription growth of 26 percent, with organic software and software related services (SSRS) revenue increasing by 4.
North America saw the strongest performance during the three month period, with management making progress across the US, Canada and Sage Intacct as Sage Business Cloud revenues start to contribute significantly in this highly cloud-adoptive region.
France continued to be a problem area, significantly underperforming in relation to the rest of the Group. This weighed on both organic revenue and recurring revenue growth with recovery expected in the second half of the year, as previously indicated.
Steve Hare, Chief Financial Officer, confirmed that Q1 results remained in line with expectations.
“As we outlined at the time of the full year results, we have invested heavily in sales training in Q1 to set up the business for success, particularly in Sage Business Cloud, resulting in the delay of some revenue into Q2. Quarterly phasing of organic revenue growth is therefore expected to be similar to prior financial years.
“We expect acceleration throughout the year including a stronger Q2 and we reiterate our full year guidance of around 8% organic revenue growth and around 27.5% organic operating margin for FY18.”
Shares in Sage Group (LON:SGE) are currently trading down 4.36 percent at 785.60 (0830GMT).
