On Wednesday, shares in Sage Group PLC (LON:SGE) leapt in early trading after the UK software company reported an 8 per cent rise in full-year income.

Annual organic operating profit rose to £383 million (£1 = $1.1876) for the 12 months that ended on September 30. It is to be noted that analysts had estimated the figure to remain at £382.8M.

At Sage’s cloud division, revenue increased by 24 per cent. The Newcastle-based company said this reflected elevated sales to existing buyers and higher new customer acquisition.

Reportedly, total group-wide organic revenue leapt by 9 per cent to £1.82B.

Sage added that it has strong momentum heading into its 2023 financial year, with recurring organic sales estimated to expand annually, thanks to the cloud unit. Reportedly, operating margins are also seen trending upwards.