The Sage Group Plc Overview Chairman’S Letter
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The Sage Group plc Overview Chairman’s letter Full year dividend per share of 9.75p (2010: 7.80p) These good results reflect the strong fundamentals of Sage’s enhanced, including the proportion of women in our team. business, such as our leading market positions, our large and It is of the utmost importance that we maintain a strong and loyal customer base, a culture of innovation and high cash diverse Board and management team and only the most generation. In the past 12 months we have built on these appropriate candidates will be appointed. foundations to reposition the business to deliver higher We remain committed to high standards of corporate revenue and profit growth in the future. With our strong governance, with ultimate responsibility sitting with the Board. balance sheet and cash flows and our focus upon shareholder This year the terms of the UK Corporate Governance Code value, the Board has decided to rebase the dividend, resulting 2010 applied to the Company for the first time. You can read in a 25% increase in the year. Going forward our policy is to more about Board activities and priorities from page 46. increase our dividend broadly in line with growth in underlying earnings per share. This year saw the departure from the Board of Paul Stobart and Tim Ingram. As CEO of Northern Europe, and previously During the year we announced the sale of Sage Healthcare, of our UK & Ireland business, Paul made a substantial which will enable management to focus on the considerable contribution to Sage over his fifteen years in the business. opportunities that exist within our core US business. The Tim served on the Board as a non-executive director for nine proceeds from this sale will be returned to shareholders years, becoming Senior Independent non-executive director in through a share buyback programme which commenced July 2007. He brought considerable experience to the Board, in October 2011. This Board decision reflects our policy of particularly financial and City expertise. On behalf of the returning surplus capital to shareholders and our intention is Board, we wish both Paul and Tim every future success and to gradually reach a net debt level of 1x EBITDA over the next thank them for their contributions to Sage. More generally, 18 months through a combination of further capital returns to I would like to thank all of our people for their continued, shareholders and targeted acquisitions. dedicated commitment to Sage. Following the appointment of Guy Berruyer as CEO in 2010, Looking forward, the economic outlook remains uncertain. a number of senior executive promotions followed across However, our strong business model and robust finances two regions with a consequent effect on three of our largest position us well to deal with the changeable economic countries. These appointments were a key measure of the cycle. We will continue to pursue our significant market success of several years of strengthening and deepening our and product opportunities whilst, as always, managing executive talent pool. We will continue to focus on our talent, the business prudently. to ensure that we have appropriate succession plans at all levels of our business, and have the right skills in place to support our ambitious business priorities. I believe that a strong and diverse Board is a prerequisite for success. Diversity is measured in many ways; for instance the different professional backgrounds of Board members. The Board of Sage will regularly consider how the diversity and skills of the management team across the Group can be Anthony Hobson, Chairman Read the Chairman’s introduction to governance on page 45 Overview Overview tware and Setting the scene for our business, our r sof serv IFC Chairman’s letter Ou ice business model for creating value and the 1 s 2 Chief Executive’s review markets in which we operate. 2 5 Executive Committee s O le u p r i 6 Our business model d c i n s i t Read about how our business model is r r 12 Market overview i p b u positioning our business for future growth g t n i i o d n on pages 6 – 11 i Value u n g e r t w u o O r 4 k 3 Our customers Performance Performance A review of our ƹnancial and corporate 14 Financial review performance including our priorities and 19 Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) how we are delivering against them. 20 Principal risks and uncertainties 22 Our priorities Read about how we are delivering our 24 Delivering our priorities priorities on pages 24 – 35 36 People and organisation 38 Corporate responsibility Governance Governance How we manage our business and an 42 Board of directors introduction to our Board and their priorities. 44 Executive Committee biographies 18% 45 Chairman’s introduction Read about the role of the Board, including 46 Corporate governance the matters reserved for the Board from 54 Directors’ report page 46 58 Remuneration report 20% 62% Strategy and risk Financial reporting Governance Financial statements statements Financial Our ƹnancial statements provide a complete 68 Independent auditors’ report picture of our 2011 performance. 69 Group ƹnancial statements 73 1otes to the ƹnancial statements # Read our ƹnancial statements on Organic revenue 115 Independent auditors’ report pages 67 – 123 growth 116 Company ƹnancial statements 117 1otes to the ƹnancial statements 4%* 123 Shareholder information 2010 continuing: 1% www.sage.com Annual Report & Accounts 2011 | The Sage Group plc | 1 Overview The Sage Group plc at a glance What Sage does Sage is the leading global supplier of business management solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”). We have: Ũ more than 6 million customers; and Ũ more than 12,300 employees. We help our customers to manage their business more eƻciently through the provision of high quality software and customer support. We create and preserve value for our shareholders, our employees and our customers through a business model, which oƸers signiƹcant growth potential together with high levels of proƹtability and cash. Read our business model on page 6 How we performed in 2011 Highlights Ũ Share buy back programme of £200m continues, following the sale Organic# revenue growth of Sage Healthcare 4%* Ũ Innovation driving new product releases, including online business solutions KPI and connected services. Signiƹcant launches in the year (e.g. Sage One) with strong pipeline of new releases planned for 2012 7% Ũ 261,000 new paying customers added in the year (2010: 252,000), and our high quality customer service maintained subscription contract 4% renewal rates at 81% 3% Flat # Organic ƹgures exclude the contributions of current and prior year acquisitions, disposals and non-core products. * 8nderlying ƹgures neutralise the impact of foreign exchange movements and exclude amortisation of acquired intangible assets. Foreign currency results for the prior year ended 30 September 2010 have been retranslated based on the average exchange rates for the year ended 30 September 2011 of 1.61£1 and ſ1.15£1 to facilitate the comparison of results. -5% Ŧ EBITA is deƹned as earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of acquired intangible assets and is after neutralising the impact of foreign exchange movements. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Where Sage operates We operate through a decentralised structure in more than 23 countries worldwide. Our software and services are developed and supported locally, enabling us to react quickly at a local level to individual market needs. We also have a number of products sold across the Group such as Sage ERP X3 and Sage CRM that meet wider market needs. Read about our regional performance on pages 16 – 17 Our regions and their contribution to Group revenue NORTH AMERICA EUROPE AAMEA* 29% 60% 11% * Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia EBITA† margin Underlying EPS growth Cash generation Renewal rates 27% 16%* 111% 81% 81% 81% 81% 81% 81% KPI KPI 16% KPI KPI 117% 27% 114% 112% 112% 111% 25% 14% 24% 23% 13% 22% 3% Flat 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Overview Chief Executive’s review These are good results which reƺect the strong fundamentals of Sage’s business Guy Berruyer, Chief Executive From a trading perspective this has been a positive year for within Sage to meet the common challenges that our Sage, with 4%* growth in organic revenue, 16%* growth in businesses face. All of these factors have enabled us to underlying earnings per share and strong cash flows. At make good progress against the four priorities I set out last the same time, from both a strategic and an operational December – improving organic revenue growth, driving perspective, there has been significant change – we have margins in the medium term, further leveraging the web embedded a new management structure, disposed of and re-engaging in M&A. our Sage Healthcare business and demonstrated our Whilst there has been a lot of change in the year, we have commitment to enhancing shareholder returns. We have also remained focused on the needs of our 6 million SME also taken concrete steps better to position the Group for customers. These customers value excellent service, products growth – this involves expanding the range of products and that meet their business needs and a brand they can trust. services we can sell to our customer base, focusing our We are pleased that our customer satisfaction ratings resources on areas with the highest potential, accelerating remained high and our subscription contract renewal rates the development of our online offers and collaborating more were stable at 81%; a key measure for Sage.