Sage To Focus On Organic Growth

Software company Sage said it remained on the acquisition trail after announcing half-year pre-tax profits of £121.8m.

However, whilst the Newcastle-based firm said it continued to eye up potential new acquisitions - after making a record seven purchases last year - it vowed to focus on organic growth and continuing to consolidate the new additions to the group. Sage also revealed a 34 per cent growth in sales to £574.7m for the six months to March 31, driven mainly by its new acquisitions.

Virgin Quarterly Figures

Virgin Media has revealed a loss of 46,900 customers in the first quarter of 2007. The company, which rebranded from NTL after the cable operator bought Telewest and Virgin Mobile last year, said 184,300 customers had signed up in the first three months of the year, compared with 213,500 in the previous quarter.

It follows the withdrawal of BSkyBs basic channels at the end of February, when the two groups failed to agree on contract renewal terms. The group reported an overall operating loss of £15.3m in the first quarter, against a £3.9m profit for the same period last year.

Middlehaven Development In The Spotlight

The managing director of development firm BioRegional Quintain, Peter Halsall, was in the region this morning to give a talk to NECC members about Middlesbrough's Middlehaven development. BioRegional Quintain plans to transform phase one of the Middlehaven site with almost 600 homes and a hotel, as well as office and retail space and leisure facilities. Read tomorrow's edition of The Northern Echo to learn more about the "futuristic" company's plans.