RWS Holdings PLC

Latest Results (07.03.2026):

RWS Holdings PLC — H1 2025 (six months ended 31 March 2025): Revenue declined slightly to £344.3m (‑2% y/y) and the Group reported a pre‑tax loss of £12.7m (basic EPS (3.1)p). On an adjusted basis RWS reported adjusted EBITDA of £38.1m and adjusted profit before tax of £18.0m (adjusted EPS 3.6p), both materially below prior year driven by a mix shift, one‑off/non‑trading items and increased technology investment. The Board maintained the interim dividend at 2.45p and reiterated FY25 adjusted PBT guidance of £60–70m while unveiling a new Generate/Transform/Protect growth strategy focused on AI and product‑led offerings.

Headline financials

Revenue £344.3m (H1 2024: £350.3m, ‑2%). Adjusted EBITDA £38.1m (H1 2024: £64.2m, ‑41%). Adjusted PBT £18.0m (H1 2024: £45.6m, ‑61%). Reported (loss) before tax £(12.7)m. Adjusted basic EPS 3.6p; reported basic (loss) EPS (3.1)p.

Margins and drivers

Gross margin fell to 43.3% from 45.7% a year earlier. The margin decline was attributed to weaker Regulated Industries performance, pricing pressure in Language Services, and mix effects from TrainAI and APAC growth. Management cites c.£22m of non‑trading items (FX, increased amortisation, PatBase sale effects and higher expensed tech investment) as a major factor reducing adjusted profitability.

Cash, balance sheet & dividend

Net debt of £27.0m at 31 March 2025 (FY24: net debt £12.9m) after paying a £37m final dividend in H1. Cash conversion was strong at 171% (skewed by working‑capital timing). Interim dividend maintained at 2.45p.

Divisional performance

Language Services: reported £158.4m and grew OCC ~4%, helped by TrainAI and APAC wins. Language & Content Technology: £71.2m with strong OCC growth (Propylon, Language Weaver) and SaaS licence mix rising to 43%. IP Services: reported £49.1m (affected by PatBase divestment) but ~1% OCC growth driven by renewals. Regulated Industries: £65.6m, down both reported and OCC (management changes and lower activity in linguistic validation noted).

AI, product and M&A moves

AI‑centred products and services now represent ~26% of Group revenue (H1 FY24: 25%). RWS announced acquisition of Papercup IP (prosody‑capable dubbing) to expand multimedia capabilities and to integrate dubbing/sub‑titling into Trados. TrainAI continues to scale with significant programmes for major LLM builders.

Strategy and management

New strategy: reorganise into three business units — Generate (content tech & TrainAI), Transform (localisation and language tech/services) and Protect (IP Services) — with a technology‑first, regional sales push and automation focus. Christina Scott appointed Chief Product & Technology Officer; Group to operate under the three units from 1 Oct and will set medium‑term KPIs at FY25 results.

Outlook

Management expects modest organic H2 performance to deliver low single‑digit OCC growth for the full year and reiterated adjusted PBT guidance of £60–70m for FY25 (assumes H2 GBP/USD 1.33).