Small business software specialist Sage saw falling sales balanced out by currency movements over the last six months.

Total revenues for the six months ended 31 March 2009 were up 17 per cent to £748.4m, although stripping out currency movements resulted in a 3 per cent fall. Pre-tax profit was £139.2m, up 14 per cent, or down 3 per cent without favourable currency movements.

North American revenues fell from £335.2m in the first half of 2008 to £304.4m in the same period of 2009. Subscriptions to customer support services also fell 3 per cent versus a 7 per cent gain in the UK and mainland Europe.

UK revenues were essentially flat at £121.9m versus £121.7m last year.

Sage's chief executive Paul Walker said: "We anticipate that market conditions will be challenging for both Sage and its customers over the second half of the year. With global customer confidence at historically low levels, demand for software and software-related services will remain muted over the second half of the year."

The company sold products to 120,000 new customers in the six months.

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