Newcastle-based Sage Group Plc has reported pre-tax profits of UKP6.9m for the six months ended March 31- up 28% on the same period last year. Turnover rose 21% to UKP25.4m, and earnings per share were up 26% at 22.25p. The problems suffered by the company last year with its US subsidiary DacEasy seem to have been ironed out: profits there increased by 32% over the six months. Equally, the new management team at TeleMagic has turned last year’s first half loss of UKP370,000 into a UKP47,000 profit. According to chairman David Goldman, the company now hopes to expand, most notably though acquisitions. He would not name possible candidates, but said acquisitions would be chosen in the same way as we bought TeleMagic, which isn’t in accounting but has a related product. He added: I think it would be surprising if you didn’t see an announcement in six months. Sage is also working on both new products and enhancements of existing products, according to Goldman, and is building a new UKP1.5m warehouse next to its headquarters building. He added that the company is concentrating its marketing effort in France, where performance was comparatively poor because of the recession. In the US, said Goldman, Sage is hoping to maintain its operating profit of UKP1.4m, which was twice what it managed in the same period last year.
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