Sage tumbles on CEO departure; reiterates guidance

Sage shares tumbled on Friday after the software company said chief executive officer Stephen Kelly will leave next May and reiterated guidance for the year.

The group has kicked off the process to find a new CEO but in the meantime, chief financial officer Steve Hare will step into the role on an interim basis, while Kelly will remain available to Sage until he leaves.

Chairman Donald Brydon said: "Stephen has much to be proud of in the very heavy lifting he has led as the group is transformed. He energised the group, drove change with relentless focus on customers, and under his leadership the strategy to become a leading SaaS business has been defined. The board remains fully supportive of the overall strategy. We wish Stephen well in the next phase of his life."

Sage said it continues to trade in line with previous full-year 2018 guidance of around 7% organic revenue growth and around 27.5% organic operating margin.

"As indicated when the group provided its Q3 trading update earlier this month, achieving guidance depends on closing a number of enterprise management opportunities in September," it said.

The company's full-year results are due to be release on 21 November.

At 0925 BST, the shares were down 6.5% to 603.80p.