Sage North America Announces First Half 2009 Results

Irvine , CA - May 06, 2009 - Sage North America announced today that UK-based The Sage Group plc (LSE: SGE) reported global revenues of $1.11 billion for the half year ended March 31, 2009, and EBITA of $249.2 million, decreases of 3%** and 6%** over the same prior year period (at constant exchange rates**). Sage North America revenue for the half year ended March 31, 2009 was $450.5 million, and EBITA was $79.0 million, decreases of 9%** and 9%**, respectively, over the same prior year period. Overall North American EBITA margins remained at 18% compared to 2008, including one-time charges for company restructuring, and increased to 20% without these charges.

“Our customers continue to rely on Sage to provide them with the foundational software on which they can operate efficiently, which is critical in today’s business environment. Despite a general weakening in the market, we continue to experience bright spots, with significant operational and financial improvement in our healthcare business, growth in serving the nonprofit sector, and substantial year over year improvements in selling our payment solutions to customers of our software product lines. Our entry level accounting solutions are performing competitively and our existing customer base continues to be loyal to us, with approximately 70% of revenues coming from maintenance and support contracts,” said Sage North America President and CEO, Sue Swenson.

To drive further efficiency into the business, Sage North America announced staff reductions of approximately 500 positions including employees leaving the company and unfilled positions that will be closed.

In the first half of 2009, Sage North America continued its focus on improving customer service, operational efficiency, and delivering innovative products for its small and midsize business customers.

The company launched more than a dozen new product versions as well as online communities for its MAS and FAS customers which add to previously launched sites for its Accountants Network, ACT! by Sage, Sage SalesLogix, Peachtree by Sage and Sage Accpac ERP customers. The company most recently launched an online resource for emerging small business owners, www.sagespark.com which offers advice and free services such as BillingBoss, an invoicing tool. All of the community sites provide resources to help businesses interact with each other and with Sage representatives, helping to improve customers’ experience and knowledge and assisting Sage in the design of improved products.

**Foreign currency results for the prior half-year ended March 31, 2008 have been retranslated based on the average exchange rates for the half-year ended March 31, 2009 to facilitate the comparison of results. The translation rate is 1.48 U.S. dollars per GBP.

About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. At Sage, we live and breathe business every day. We are passionate about helping our customers achieve their ambitions. Our range of business software and services is continually evolving as we innovate to answer our customers’ needs. Our solutions support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage North America employs approximately 4,100 people and supports 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs more than 14,500 people and supports more than 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com or call 866-308-2378.