Sage is doing little to lessen its reputation for dull reliability. The software company, which provides detailed forecasts of organic revenue growth as the main measure of performance, had a slight wobble in the first quarter when the outcome slipped below the 6 per cent target and the shares suffered.
This might be seen as an indication of why it is unwise to extrapolate from only one quarter’s figures because the lost ground was made up in the second quarter — and then some.
The picture is clouded by the inevitable decision to sell the North American payments business. This is a crowded market with low margins and Sage is a long way from being leader. The business has sales of about $150 million. Assume