NORTH-EAST software company Sage said it was on track to meet its targets after strong growth in subscriptions helped organic revenue rise 6.2 per cent in the six months to end-March.

The Newcastle-headquartered firm - the only software company in the FTSE 100 - whose software helps more than 6 million customers run their small businesses, posted organic revenue of £682m, in line with its 6 per cent growth target for the year.

Its operating margin increased 70 basis points to 28.1 per cent, also in line with its full-year target, while pre-tax profit rose 4.9 per cent to 173 million pounds.

Last year, it appointed Stephen Kelly as chief executive who is expected to outline a new strategic vision for the company in June.

He said: “We have already started making changes to facilitate and underpin our longer-term growth plans. These changes are being carefully introduced to ensure minimum risk to the business.

“These include organisational and product improvements which will help drive sustainable, profitable growth and build on Sage’s existing strengths. We are at the start of this journey which will take a couple of years to fully implement.”