Sage Group Plc, the U.K.'s largest software maker, said first-half financial results will meet analysts' estimates.
Sage will release results for the six months ending March 31 on May 8, it said today in a statement. Sage may post sales of 611.9 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in the period, the average estimate of seven analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings, excluding some costs, are seen at 6.6 pence a share.
Newcastle, England-based Sage fell as much as 5 percent in London trading after some analysts said they were concerned about the company's growth in North America. Sage, which sells accounting and business software to small and medium-sized businesses, reorganized its North American business into four divisions last year to boost sales in the region.
``We are being a little more cautious in our outlook for the Americas due to the broader tempered economic outlook,'' Cazenove analyst Stacy Pollard, who rates the company ``outperform,'' wrote in a note today. ``We believe Sage Healthcare is still facing zero revenue growth and flat margins.''
The company named Sue Swenson as chief executive officer of the North American unit last month. Sage competes with Redwood City, California-based software maker Oracle Corp. and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp.
Sage fell as much as 10 pence to 188.5 pence and traded at 191.1 pence at 10:36 a.m. in London trading. Before today, the stock had fallen 14 percent this year.
London-based Arbuthnot analyst Paul Morland, who rates the company ``neutral,'' said in a note today that ``growth rates either in Europe or in the U.S. or both have fallen.''
In February, Sage said gains in the U.K. and North America helped first-quarter results meet its forecasts.
Source: Bloomberg
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