SOFTWARE giant Sage today said that trading remains in line despite a “toughening economic environment.”

The Newcastle-based firm said that its US business is continuing to recover since April, Europe remained flat and South Africa and Australia were doing well.

Chief executive Guy Berruyer said: “The main trends we highlighted at our interim results in May continue to be a feature of our trading performance.

“Whilst we remain cautious on the outlook for Europe, and watchful of this region’s economic climate, the strong fundamentals of our business model remain and we continue to make good progress in executing against our business priorities. We look forward to tomorrow’s investor day where we will be sharing our plans for the future growth of the business.”