Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
89 OCU Group Annual report and financial statements 2026
Chief Financial Officer’s review
OCU Group has delivered another year of strong, profitable growth, surpassing £1bn of revenue for the first time while establishing our international platform in Australia and New Zealand. The quality of that growth matters as much as its scale: disciplined commercial control, strong working capital management and continued investment in the people, systems and capabilities that make growth sustainable. With a resilient capital structure and robust financial footing, we enter FY27 from a position of strength, well placed to deliver for clients, colleagues and shareholders long into the future.
David Snowball Chief Financial Officer
Results Performance summary £m
Adjusted operating profit Adjusted operating profit is the Group’s operating profit before exceptional items and non-cash goodwill amortisation. The Group’s adjusted operating profit was £136.1m for the year ended 30 April 2026, up 37.7% from £98.9m in FY25. Adjusted operating profit margin of 11.1% in the year was consistent with the 11.2% reported in FY25, reflecting further investment in the scalable UK support functions alongside recruitment of new ANZ regional leadership and the Brisbane hub being established during the year. We anticipate that our profit margin will further improve in the future as we benefit from scale from these investments. Adjusted EBITDA Earnings before net finance costs, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, and exceptional items (‘adjusted EBITDA’) was £154.1m for the year ended 30 April 2026, up from £111.0m in FY25, reflecting the strong organic and inorganic growth in the Group. Adjusting items Adjusting items in the year to 30 April 2026 include M&A related and restructuring costs. These items have been separately identified by the Directors and adjusted to provide a measure of underlying financial performance. In addition, under UK GAAP accounting, goodwill arising on both the acquisition of the OCU Group by Triton Partners and on the acquisitions completed to date by the Group is amortised, resulting in a (non‑cash) amortisation charge of £76.3m in FY26 (FY25: £64.5m). Net finance costs Net finance costs, primarily relating to the Group’s term loans and revolving credit facilities, were £73.2m in the year to 30 April 2026, £4.0m above the prior year, reflecting the increase in borrowings associated with the acquisitions made.
FY26
FY25
Variance
1,221.2
Total revenue
886.5
37.8%
136.1 154.1 635.6
98.9
37.7%
Adjusted operating profit 1
111.0
38.9%
Adjusted EBITDA 1
Closing net debt 2 9.8% 1. OCU uses a range of statutory performance measures and alternative performance measures when reviewing the performance of the Group against its strategy. Definitions of the alternative performance measures, and a reconciliation to statutory performance measures, are included on page 119. 2. Represents the borrowings of the Group less cash. Revenue 579.1 Group revenue for the financial year ended 30 April 2026 (FY26) was £1,221.2m, a 37.8% increase on the prior year (FY25: £886.5m). During FY26, the Group successfully completed the acquisitions of AEC (July 2025), Pilecom and Bam Bam (December 2025) in ANZ, plus Valmech (November 2025) in the UK. These acquisitions, together with the three acquisitions completed in FY25, contributed £358.4m and £195.2m of revenue in the years ended 30 April 2026 and 30 April 2025 respectively. Excluding this impact, Group revenues grew year on year by 24.8%, reflecting strong organic growth across both our Utilities and Energy businesses. Representing another important milestone, the Group’s order book of contracted work and framework opportunities surpassed £4bn for the first time during the year, providing a solid underpin to a continued strong growth outlook.
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