Steve Hare, chief executive of Sage, said the group was ‘very proud of its UK roots’ and was not considering switching its listing away from London
Steve Hare, the chief executive of accounting software company Sage, has confirmed that he has no plans to join the growing number of firms leaving the London stock market.
However, he warned that high-growth companies might find it challenging to secure the necessary capital with a UK listing. Hare said he was proud of Sage’s UK roots and dismissed any plans to move its listing away from London, citing no obstacles to accessing the required capital for growth.
Sage remains one of the few major tech companies still listed on the London market, despite approximately 40% of its shareholders being US-based and America contributing to 45% of its first-half sales. Hare suggested that less established, scaling-up firms might struggle to find the necessary capital on the UK stock market.
He called for measures to encourage institutional investment from entities like pension funds into UK stocks and to boost retail personal investing. This comes amidst concerns of an escalating crisis on the London stock market as numerous companies are either moving abroad or being acquired by foreign competitors.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is reportedly hosting a meeting on Thursday with the heads of some of the UK’s largest private companies at his country residence over the weekend, aiming to attract more firms to the London market.
Hare said: “We’re very proud of our roots in the UK and in Newcastle and very proud to be a UK tech success story. At the moment there’s no reason for us to consider switching because there’s no barrier to us growing.”
“We can access the capital and already have a number of US shareholders. But we’re an established company and the focus is more on firms that are scaling up. What the UK needs is scale-up capital in the London market and people or funds that are prepared to invest in growth and take a bit more risk.”
His comments came as the group saw its shares fall 9% in Thursday early afternoon trading as it nudged its annual sales outlook lower. Sage reported pre-tax profits surging to £203 million for the six months to March 31, up from £139 million a year ago on total underlying revenues up 9% at £1.15 billion.
But it trimmed its full-year revenues guidance, saying it expects growth to be “broadly” in line with that seen in the first half, against the 10% it previously forecast. Hare said the group was pleased with the initial launch of its new generative AI-powered software called Sage Copilot.
It launched first in April for Sage Accounting with around 150 existing customers as early adopters, helping it gain feedback and make tweaks before a wider roll out later in the year.