Sage must be feeling good because trading updates for the first and third quarters usually do not include revenue and earnings figures, but Sage was liberal in reporting revenue. Group organic revenue for the most recently ended period was approximately $600 million, an increase of 7.6 percent over last year’s corresponding period. In prepared comments, CEO Steve Hare said in a prepared statement, "We have been encouraged by the strong start to FY19, reflecting the renewed focus on high-quality subscription and recurring revenue”. Recurring revenue was around $500 million, rising 10.5 percent from a year earlier. Sage says growth was spurred by increases in subscription revenue, while software license revenue continued to drop, the usual result of the transition to the cloud. Subscription revenue hit approximately 306 million, a 27.7-percent rise.