Savor swung to $1.8m PBT with EBITDA margin at 14.5%

Revenue softened to $55.2m from $56.6m, so the swing was driven by margin rather than top-line growth: EBITDA rose to $8.0m from $7.3m, and EBITDA margin reached 14.5%, just above the 9.8%-14.2% band Annolyse's historical baseline shows over the prior five years.

Cash generation held up: operating cash flow was $6.9m versus $7.1m, and net debt fell to $6.3m from $7.2m, leaving net debt/EBITDA at 0.79x against a historical mean of 2.07x. Capex stepped up to $2.2m from $1.3m, a 69% increase that took capex intensity to 4.1% of revenue from 2.3%.

Operating earnings expanded with revenue down, indicating cost or mix improvement rather than volume recovery. EBITDA margin at 14.5% sits above the supplied historical range, and PBT margin of 3.3% is the first positive reading in the five-year baseline (prior range -19.2% to -2.5%). The durability question is whether this margin level can hold without revenue growth resuming.

Tax line distorts the headline. The current effective tax rate of -27.5% sits well below the historical mean of 27.8%, and the calculation pass flags tax distortion in the result. PBT is therefore the cleaner read on operating performance; the NPAT swing should not be taken as untaxed economic improvement, and the 16.8 percentage-point gap between PBT and NPAT growth is tax-driven rather than operational.

Leverage materially below the historical range. Net debt/EBITDA of 0.79x is below the 1.0x-4.0x band in the historical baseline. Gross borrowings fell to $8.0m from $9.0m and equity rose to $18.7m, which means balance-sheet flexibility has improved materially - relevant given the step-up in capex intensity.

Half-year context shows HY26 captured 52.7% of full-year revenue but only 39.2% of EBITDA, implying the second half was margin-stronger on a smaller revenue base - a shape that frames durability questions about the FY26 EBITDA margin reading.

The 69% capex step-up to $2.2m and the rise in capex intensity to 4.1% suggest reinvestment is underway, but the release excerpts do not disclose what is being funded or the expected return profile. Without that, this briefing cannot tie the capex shape to a forward earnings or revenue path.

However, OCF fell modestly while EBITDA rose, meaning conversion deteriorated versus the prior comparable even though the absolute level remains healthy. A small working-capital absorption of $0.1m sits at the upper edge of the historical pattern, where prior years typically released around $1.8m of cash, so working capital did not flatter the cash result.

Free cash flow pre-lease was $4.6m versus $5.8m, with the decline explained mostly by higher capex rather than weaker operations. The reported NPAT improvement carries a tax-benefit element that should not be extrapolated, but EBITDA, PBT, and operating cash flow all sit at or near multi-year highs on the supplied baseline, which suggests the underlying step-change is operational rather than accounting-driven. Capex intensity has nearly doubled, so future free-cash-flow conversion will depend on whether the heavier investment cadence persists.

This briefing cannot assess the operational drivers behind the margin step-up or the strategic intent behind the capex increase because the supplied release excerpts and context do not disclose them.