SOFTWARE giant Sage says it has made a satisfactory start to the year and is trading as expected.

In a statement covering the period from October 1, the Newcastle business said it has a strong cash position with £149.8m in the bank.

It also received £200m after selling Sage Software Healthcare to Vista Equity Partners and has sold 17.7m shares back to shareholders for £50m.

Chief executive, Guy Berruyer, said: “In the context of a macro-economic environment which remains challenging for our customers, we have made a satisfactory start to the year and trading is in-line with expectations for the year.

“The strong fundamentals of Sage's business positions us well to cope with the ups and downs of the economic cycle.

“We are confident that the business priorities, on which we are focused to drive growth, will bear fruit as the year progresses but we remain watchful of the European environment in particular.”

The company, which marked its 30th anniversary last year, has more than six million customers and more than 12,300 employees in the 23 countries it operates in.