Software firm tops FTSE after wooing 1.2m clients

THE UK’s biggest technology company, Sage Group, jumped towards the top of the FTSE after revealing software subscriptions rose by nearly 50pc in the six months to the end of March.

The global accounting and payroll firm said it is ‘very confident’ of beating full-year growth expectations and had taken in more than 1.2m software subscription contracts over the period.

Profits rose 32pc to £180m, while revenue rose 5.7pc – just under its 6pc full-year target.

It marks a change of pace for the Newcastle-based firm, which saw its shares crash in January following a disappointing performance in its US payments business. Shares yesterday rose 3.4pc, or 23.5p, to 707p. Shares in education business

Pearson were up 1.7pc, or 11p, to 656.5p, a welcome respite for the firm which has struggled to recover since tanking almost 10pc last month after being downgraded by broker Liberum.

Yesterday’s rise came as bosses announced an expanded partnership with a US university which will see it launch three new graduate degree programmes.

The day before they unveiled a tie-up with another US university to launch three new online master’s degree programmes.

But the company is unlikely to rest on its laurels. It is due to hold its AGM later this week against a backdrop of criticism over its decision to give chief executive John Fallon a 20pc pay rise for 2016, to £1.5m, despite the company’s £2.6bn annual loss.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.2pc, or 15.52 points, to 7234.53, weighed down by miners which were hit by falling copper prices.

Centamin was crowned the FTSE 250’s second-biggest loser after reporting a 28pc drop in profits over the first three months of the year.

The gold miner reported profits of £22.9m for the first quarter, with production down 13pc on the same period last year.

As previously highlighted by the firm, it has spent the past three months digging out an area of its Sukari gold mine in Egypt, sacrificing part of its first-quarter production to increase the rest of the year’s output. As a result, full-year production estimates were held at 540,000 ounces.

Panmure Gordon analysts said the figures should not shock investors as Centamin had already warned of a drop in profits. Shares fell 5.9pc, or 10.3p, to 163.2p.

Card Factory edged up after Peel Hunt rewarded its strong performance this year with a ‘buy’ rating. Analysts at the broker said the business is likely to see ‘much more’ momentum due to a commitment to keeping prices lower than competitors.

This comes despite it revealing strong full-year profits of £398.2m at the end of March, up from £381.6m the year before.

Peel Hunt said the firm is in ‘great shape’ and called its 8pc dividend yield a ‘gift’. Shares rose 0.2pc, or 0.6p, to 332.1p.

InnovaDerma’s shares continued to storm forward as the life sciences firm announced a distribution deal with online retailer Asos for its Skinny Tan product.

The self-tan product went on sale in Superdrug in February last year.

In January, Innova said the product was largely responsible for its 80pc year-on-year sales growth.

The deal will see Skinny Tan sold on Asos’s website from June and marketed and distributed globally.

InnovaDerma has seen shares rally 45pc over the past month.

This has been helped in part by its acquisition of Ergon Medical, the manufacturers of Prolong, the world’s only FDA-cleared medical device used to treat premature ejaculation.

Shares rose 17.4pc, or 35p, hitting a four-month high of 236.5p.