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GlobalData PLC on Tuesday said pretax profit fell in the first half despite increased revenue, as operating expenses climbed. The London-based data analytics and consultancy said revenue increased 12% to £156.5 million in the six months to the end of June from £139.6 million a year ago. Pretax profit fell 8.2% to £24.7 million from £26.9 million, as operating expenses jumped 26% to £127.8 million from £101.8 million. GlobalData said underlying revenue growth was 1% reflecting the ‘transformation and investments in sales go-to-market and corporate infrastructure, alongside macro-economic headwinds’. The firm said investments ahead of sales growth have reduced the underlying adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin to 38% from 41%. Adjusted Ebitda was down 10% to £52.1 million from £57.8 million. There were further hits to adjusted Ebitda from the phasing of costs to deliver synergies from recent acquisitions and foreign exchange rates. The company said it expects to return to a normalised margin in the second half of the year. GlobalData declared an interim dividend of 0.3 pence per share, down 80% from 1.5p due to the rebasing of the dividend which was announced in June last year. Earnings per share fell 68% to 0.8p from 2.5p. In a separate release, GlobalData launched a tender offer of up to £60.0 million at £1.50 per share for a maximum of 40 million shares. The tender price is at a 5.1% premium to the closing mid-market price of 142.75p per share on Monday. The offer opens on Tuesday and will close on September 5. It is subject to approval by shareholders at a general meeting on August 29. GlobalData said it expects its move to London’s Main Market, away from the AIM Market, to complete in the fourth quarter of 2025. The firm said it has ‘strong visibility’ for the rest of the year and beyond as contracted forward revenue grew 10% to £157.4 million from £142.9 million. Foreign exchange headwinds are expected to have a £10.0 million impact on revenue for 2025, given that half of its revenue is derived in US dollars. ‘The first half of 2025 has been one of transition as we have embedded new ways of working to equip our sales teams to pivot to solutions-based selling. We are starting to see good signs of progress with momentum building in improved contracted forward revenue and a pipeline of stronger expanding relationships,’ said Chief Executive Officer Mike Danson. ‘As we enter the second half, we look forward to joining the Main Market and believe that our continued investment in the business and platform, our strong balance sheet, cash flows and significant M&A firepower offers shareholders a compelling long-term opportunity for strong returns.’ Shares in GlobalData were up 2.1% at 145.50p in London on Tuesday afternoon. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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