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‒ Achieved organic revenue growth of 6% (FY14: 5%);
‒ Increased organic recurring revenue by 9% (FY14: 7%), with software subscription the primary driver;
‒ Software subscription contracts grown to over 690,000 (FY14: 450,000) and achieved 28% growth in the
annualised value of the software subscriber base to £344m (FY14: £268m);
‒ Increased the number of paying subscriptions for Sage One by over 100% to 173,000 (FY14: 86,000), and in the
UK & Ireland, surpassed 100,000 paying subscriptions in November 2015.
‒ Completed wide-ranging review of the business, including products, organisational structure, operating model
and policies, in order to prepare for the next phase of long-term sustainable growth;
‒ Simplified product categories to Growth and Heritage, with 87% of Research and Development investment
focussed on the Growth category;
‒ Initiated organisational transformation to realise at least £50m of annualised run-rate cost savings
by the end of FY16 to be reinvested for growth;
‒ Refined revenue category definitions and amended the application of the revenue recognition policy
to certain products enabling stakeholders to clearly and transparently track performance. None of
the changes impact cash generation and the financial summary below is included for comparability
to previous announcements. A full reconciliation is set out on page 3.
| FINANCIAL SUMMARY1 | Previous basis | Revised basis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY15 | FY14 | Change | FY15 | FY14 | Change | |
| Organic revenue | £1,357m | £1,272m | +6.7% | £1,400m | £1,321m | +6.0% |
| - Recurring revenue | £1,010m | £930m | +8.5% | £953m | £874m | +9.0% |
| - Processing revenue | N/A | N/A | £161m | £158m | +1.7% | |
| -SSRS revenue | £348m | £341m | +1.9% | £287m | £289m | -0.7% |
| Organic operating profit | £383m | £349m | +9.6% | £380m | £350m | +8.3% |
| Organic operating profit margin | 28.2% | 27.5% | +70bps | 27.1% | 26.5% | +60bps |
| OTHER FINANCIAL METRICS | FY15 | FY14 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underlying basic EPS | 25.00p | 22.19p | +12.6% |
| Underlying cash conversion | 106% | 101% | +5% |
| Ordinary dividend per share | 13.10p | 12.12p | +8.1% |
| STATUTORY SUMMARY2 | FY15 | FY14 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £1,436m | £1,354m | +6.1% |
| Operating profit | £297m | £300m | -0.8% |
| Basic EPS | 18.11p | 17.26p | +4.9% |
| Free cash flow | £296m | £229m | +29.2% |
‒ Sage One now available in 14 countries following launches in Australia, Brazil and Malaysia;
‒ Launched Sage Live, our global cloud solution for Small & Medium Businesses, via newly
established Customer Business Centres (CBCs);
‒ Delivered 11% organic revenue growth for Sage X3, with growth of 22% outside of France and launched X3
Cloud.
‒ Increased the organic operating margin to 27.1% (FY14: 26.5%), despite incurring initial costs
of transformation;
‒ Underlying cash conversion of 106%, achieved through continued disciplined capital management, generating
free cash flow of £296m (FY14: £229m) and supporting the 8% increase of the full year dividend to
13.10p.
Stephen Kelly, Chief Executive Officer said: “We are pleased to have met the financial targets set
three years ago. We have already begun the transformation outlined at the Capital Markets Day in June
2015 and highlight today clear signs of early progress.
“Transformation is rarely linear and it is clear we have much to do as we manage the operational risks. Our balanced and sequenced approach, the experience of the management team, and the strong underlying characteristics of the business give me confidence in the delivery of long term, sustainable, high quality growth.”
Sage is the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world’s entrepreneurs. Sage began as a small business in the UK 30 years ago and over 13000 colleagues now support millions of entrepreneurs across 23 countries as they power the global economy. We reinvent and simplify business accounting through brilliant technology, working with a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners, tradespeople, accountants, partners and developers. And as a FTSE 100 business, we are active in supporting our local communities and invest in making a real difference through the philanthropy of the Sage Foundation.
Sage – the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world’s entrepreneurs.
+44 (0) 191 294 4190
Anna Campopiano, Chief Communications Officer
Simon John, Investor Relations
Tulchan Communications
+44 (0) 20 7353 4200
David Shriver
Jonathan Sibun
An analyst presentation will be held at 8.45am today at the London Stock Exchange plc, 10 Paternoster Square,
London, EC4M 7LS.
A live webcast of the presentation will be hosted on www.sage.com/investors, dial-in number +44 (0) 20 3427 1902,
pin code: 1322345#. A replay of the call will also be available for two weeks after the event: Tel: +44 (0) 20
3427 0598, pin code: 1322345#
1Unless otherwise stated, all financial measures for both current and prior year have been stated after
the revenue reporting changes described on page 3 and growth rates in the Chief Executive Officer’s
review and Chief Financial Officer’s review are stated on an organic basis. For information on the
definition of revenue categories, Non-GAAP measures and changes during the year, please
see page 3 and Appendix II on page 17.
2Statutory operating profit includes a £62m impairment charge relating to goodwill on acquired operations in Brazil.
As a result of rounding throughout this document, it is possible that tables may not cast and change percentages may not calculate precisely.