Revenue for Sage North America fell by 10 percent for the year ended September 30 - and dropped by 8 percent organically - over fiscal 2008 results as the division that markets
its accounting products led the way down. North American revenue fell to $889.4 percent while the operation's EBITA margin dropped to 18 percent, down from 20 percent a year earlier as the economy took its toll.
The parent Sage Group reported revenue of $2.22 billion, an 11 percent increase over the prior year at constant currencies. Its EBITA margin dropped to 22 percent from 23 percent. The margin results for both the North American and global operations include restructuring costs.
The major North American unit is the Business Solutions Division, whose revenue fell by 11 percent organically, with mid-market accounting products, CRM and construction software revenue off. Without providing numbers, the company said its small business products, the Peachtree and Simply Accounting lines, were "resilient", while nonprofit accounting software products showed modest growth.
The challenged Sage Healthcare Division saw a revenue decline of 5 percent, but grew margins to 18 percent for the year just ended, up from 8 percent the prior year. The Payments Division reported a 15 percent increase in merchants served, but lower volume per merchant dropped revenue by 4 percent.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
