MARKET TALK: New Sage CEO Has International Expertise

16th Jul 2010 07:41

0641 GMT [Dow Jones] Sage's (SGE.LN) appointment of its European and Asia boss Guy Berruyer as its new CEO is good news, with Panmure Gordon analyst George O'Connor noting he has "international expertise, an industry background, has built an impressive business in Europe and is steeped in the Sage and the SME culture. These factors always gave him pole position in the hunt for a new CEO, in our view. We always expected an internal appointment, and Mr Berruyer was on our list with FD Paul Harrison, UK CEO Paul Stobart and North America head Sue Swenson." Says that as with the news in April of Walker's departure, "there is unlikely to be much of a share price reaction this morning." Valuation is pedestrian (P/E of 12.7x) and shares out-performed the FTSE by 4.3% in past quarter, says O'Connor, who retains a buy rating on Sage. Shares closed at 242p Thursday. ([email protected]) Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9464 [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 16, 2010 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)