SAGE SAYS THINGS ARE OKAY.

xmlns:w="w" xmlns:o="o" xmlns:st1="st1">The Sage Group, parent to Sage North America, released an interim report for its results for the three months ended Dec. 31. The company reports results publicly only for the half and year and it didn't provide a great deal of detail for the first quarter. It said strength in subscription revenues has "offset the impact of a subdued market for software and software-related services." The language suggests the North American operations are having the toughest time. The business was termed resilient while the company said business in Mainland Europe slowed as anticipated and the rest of the world had good revenue growth. And our area? Things are tough across the board as the statement said, " is operating in particularly challenging market conditions, which affected performance in all divisions." While the company has continued to pay down gross debt, it said currency translation increased net debt to 654 million pounds on Dec. 31, up from 541 million pounds on Sept. 30. However, Sage said it is comfortably within banking covenants.