Investing.com - Sage Group (LON:SGE) stock slumped Thursday, after the British enterprise technology company suggested revenue growth for its fiscal 2024 would come in below expectations.
At 05:45 ET (09:45 GMT), Sage stock slumped 11% to 1,065.5p, but are still more than 25% higher over the last year.
These losses occurred despite the company reporting operating profit of £215 million, up 38% from a year before, as well as a 10% increase in underlying total revenue to £1.15 billion.
Its annualised recurring revenue – a key metric for software firms measuring income from subscriptions – came in at £2.25 billion for the six months, up 11% from a year prior.
The company also unveiled an interim dividend of 6.95p per share, compared with a 6.55p a year previously.
The difficulties arose from Sage saying it expected organic total revenue growth for its full fiscal year to be “broadly in line with the first half”, with the lack of an organic upgrade hitting investor sentiment.
However, Jefferies is more forgiving.
“The FY guidance is tweaked slightly from growth in line with last year (10%) to growth in line with 1H (9%),” analysts at the bank said, in a note. “However, that is more to do with rounding to whole numbers than a meaningful change. With consensus at 9.6%, we don't anticipate meaningful changes.”
The bank maintains a ‘buy’ rating, and a 12-month price target of 1,400p.