The Sage Group plc (FTSE: SGE), a leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, today issues a trading update for the nine months ended 30 June 20261.
Jacqui Cartin, Chief Financial Officer, commented:
“Sage has delivered nine months of accelerating revenue growth, with momentum strengthening further in the third quarter. This reflects focused execution as we deepen AI capabilities across our platform, scale key products including Sage Intacct, and increase the value customers get from Sage. Demand from new and existing customers remains strong, with small and mid-sized businesses increasingly relying on Sage for finance, HR and payroll workflows, where getting it right is essential. This gives us confidence in delivering sustainable, efficient growth, and we reiterate our guidance for the full year.”
| Underlying Revenue Performance2 |
Q3 26 YTD | Q3 25 YTD | % Growth | Organic % Growth |
| Total Revenue | £2,062m | £1,858m | +11% | +10% |
| of which Sage Business Cloud | £1,762m | £1,533m | +15% | +14% |
| Total Revenue by Region | ||||
| North America | £932m |
£817m | +14% |
+13% |
| UKIA | £602m | £547m | +10% |
+10% |
| Europe | £528m | £494m | +7% |
+7% |
1All figures are on an underlying basis unless otherwise stated.
2Underlying and organic results are presented on a constant currency basis, while organic growth also excludes the impact of M&A. Underlying and organic measures are defined on page 261 of Sage’s FY25 Annual Report.
Total revenue increased by 11% to £2,062m in the first nine months of the year, with strong growth across the Group driven by both new and existing customers.
In North America, revenue increased by 14% to £932m, with further strength in Sage Intacct together with continued growth in Sage 50 and Sage 200. In the UKIA region, revenue grew by 10% to £602m, driven by the rapid scaling of Sage Intacct, alongside strong growth in Sage 50 and a good performance from Sage’s cloud native solutions for small businesses. In Europe, revenue increased by 7% to £528m, with good levels of growth in Sage X3 and Sage 200, supported by other accounting, HR and payroll solutions.
Sage Business Cloud revenue grew by 15% to £1,762m, supported by the continued adoption of Sage’s cloud solutions and expansion of AI-powered capabilities across the portfolio. Within Sage Business Cloud, cloud native revenue increased by 25% to £794m (Q3 25 YTD: £637m).
Recurring revenue grew by 11% to £2,002m (Q3 25 YTD: £1,801m), reflecting continued momentum in Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR) during the period. Software subscription revenue grew by 13% to £1,743m (Q3 25 YTD: £1,546m) resulting in subscription penetration of 84% (Q3 25 YTD: 83%).
In the third quarter, total revenue increased by 12% to £699m (Q3 25: £627m), driven by continuing growth across the Sage Business Cloud portfolio.
On an organic basis (excluding the impact of M&A), total revenue increased by 10% in the first nine months of the year to £2,057m (Q3 25 YTD: £1,864m), while recurring revenue increased by 11% to £1,998m (Q3 25 YTD: £1,806m).
We continue to expect organic total revenue growth for FY26 to be above 9%, and operating margins to trend upwards in FY26 and beyond, as we focus on efficiently scaling the Group.
Sterling strengthened against the US dollar and weakened against other currencies compared to the prior period, resulting in a broadly neutral exchange rate impact at the Group level.
Steve Hare, Chief Executive Officer, and Jacqui Cartin, Chief Financial Officer, will hold a webcast and conference call today at 8.30am UK time. The webcast can be accessed via the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/5v6rh83x. To join the conference call, please register via: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIfaab1d39f4f84c8f8ad5b1f86c072b00.
Sage +44 (0) 7341 479956
Jacqui Cartin, Chief Financial Officer
James Sandford, Investor Relations
Becky Potgieter, Corporate PR
FGS Global +44 (0) 20 7251 3801
Conor McClafferty
Sophia Johnston
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitalising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our AI-powered platform connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.