EBITDA up 30.6% on 9.5% revenue growth as cash conversion lifts to 98.6%

Profit before tax jumped 144.4% to $4.4m and net profit after tax recovered to $1.9m from a $1.0m loss, a 290.0% swing.

Operating cash flow lifted 65.5% to $27.8m, lifting OCF/EBITDA to 98.6% from 77.8%. Capex rose 19.2% to $21.1m (12.8% of revenue), of which $20.5m was capitalised software. Free cash flow improved but remained at -$0.9m post-lease (pre-lease +$6.7m). Cash fell to $20.0m from $21.8m, with gross borrowings down to $19.3m.

Cinema remains the dominant segment at $130.6m revenue (79.5% of group), with management citing 35% of client sites now on Vista Cloud and SaaS revenue up 25%.

EBITDA growth of 30.6% on revenue growth of 9.5% is the cleanest signal in the result, and it is consistent with a recurring-revenue mix shift rather than one-off cost takeout. This matters because it supports the cloud-transition thesis without relying on either the small absolute NPAT swing or the heavily-distorted tax line.

Cash conversion improved decisively at the operating line, but capex absorbed almost all of it. OCF/EBITDA at 98.6% is strong on its own, yet capex at 12.8% of revenue (almost entirely capitalised software) means group-level free cash flow stayed negative once leases are paid. Investors are effectively funding continued platform build out of operating cash flow.

The PBT-to-NPAT gap is mechanical, not operational. A 40.9% effective tax rate on $4.4m of PBT versus a -133.3% rate in the prior year explains the 145.6 percentage-point gap between PBT growth (+144.4%) and NPAT growth (+290.0%). PBT growth is the cleaner operating read; the NPAT recovery is real but small in dollar terms.

The interim shape does, however, indicate a clearly second-half-weighted year: HY25 revenue of $77.0m implies a $87.3m second half, and HY25 EBITDA of $10.0m implies $18.2m in the second half — meaning roughly 65% of full-year EBITDA was generated in H2.

That second-half skew matters because the FY25 exit run-rate, particularly with Vista Payments now live and described as ahead of original expectations, is more relevant for FY26 modelling than the simple full-year average. The release does not quantify either Vista Payments contribution or marquee-client onboarding timing.

OCF rose faster than EBITDA, receivable days improved to 66.6 from 76.7, and trade debtors fell despite revenue growth — all consistent with healthier collections rather than channel-stuffed revenue. ROE turned positive at 1.3% from -0.7%, though the absolute level remains low.

Two quality caveats apply. First, operating working capital expanded by $15.8m to $47.3m, driven principally by a new $17.3m contract-assets balance — typical of SaaS revenue-recognition timing but a cash-flow item to monitor as the cloud base scales. Second, management presents an "underlying" FCF of +$18.8m alongside reported FCF of -$0.9m; the supplied data does not contain a reconciliation, so the durable cash-generation level sits inside that ~$19m bridge.

• OCF $27.8m less capex $21.1m = pre-lease FCF $6.7m
• Less ~$7.6m implied lease payments = post-lease FCF -$0.9m
• Underlying FCF +$18.8m as disclosed by management is unreconciled in the supplied excerpts

This briefing cannot assess the durability of the underlying-FCF figure, the FY26 revenue trajectory, or the economics of Vista Payments without the disclosures that would sit behind those line items.