Sage boosted by confidence recovery - graduate jobs

In encouraging news for graduate job seekers, software group Sage has said its small business clients are seeing a revival in confidence and scaling up investment in IT infrastructure.

The company managed to return to sales growth after expanding its base of paying customers over the six months to March 31.

Revenues for the period were 4% higher at £728.2 million, and the Newcastle-based company's strategies to cut costs paid off with pre-tax profits going up 5% to £167.2 million. It is a strong improvement from the corresponding period last year when revenues fell 2%.

Underlying revenues also rose in Sage's North America division which accounts for two-fifths of the group's sales.

A general revival in confidence among small firms was indicated by the Sage Business Index which polls 6,000 companies worldwide.

However, the group warned that the outlook remains uncertain amid regional variations in the strength of recovery from the recession.

Sage, which has a 13,000-strong workforce and supports more than six million businesses worldwide, also has offices in Manchester, Winnersh, near Reading, central London and Witney in Oxfordshire.