Recovery hope is Sage advice

Software group Sage has seen its sales revival continue as more of its small and medium-sized business customers in the UK, Australia and the US showed signs of recovery.

In the six months to September, the FTSE 100 company reported its first sales growth since 2007, and yesterday said that it had maintained the improved performance in the final three months of the year.

Chief executive Guy Berruyer said: "Our principal markets continued their gradual recovery in the quarter, and I am pleased that our results were in line with our expectations."

The Newcastle-based firm, which employs about 13,400 people and serves more than six million businesses worldwide, previously said its SME customer base went into recession late but was also slow to recover.