Interim Results

Petards Group PLC

11 September 2026

 

11 September 2026

Petards Group plc

("Petards", "the Group" or "the Company")

Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026

Petards Group plc (AIM: PEG), the AIM quoted developer of advanced security, communication and surveillance systems, is pleased to report its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026.

Key Highlights:

·      Financial

o  Adjusted EBITDA profit up over 50% to £781,000 (H1 2025: £509,000)¹

o  Revenue £7.7 million (H1 2025: £7.9 million)

o  Increased gross profit margins to 52.2% (H1 2025: 48.7%)

o  Operating profit £14,000 (H1 2025: £185,000 loss)

o  Cash generated from operating activities £894,000 (H1 2025: £860,000)

o  Net debt reduced to £1,155,000 (31 Dec 2025: net debt £1,339,000)²

o  Diluted EPS loss of 0.15p (H1 2025: loss of 0.51p)

·      Operational

o  Improved trading conditions for Rail and Defence continued into 2026

o  QRO trading rebounded from weaker H2 2025

o  Strong contribution from recurring revenues at all Group operations

o  Order book at 30 June 2026 of £9.6 million (31 Dec 2025: £9.2 million)

o  Cash generative operating performance

_{¹ Earnings before financial income and expenses, tax, depreciation, amortisation and share based payments}

_{² Net debt comprises cash and cash equivalents less interest-bearing loans and borrowings (excluding lease liabilities)}

Commenting on the current outlook, Raschid Abdullah, Chairman, said:

"The upward trend in the Group's trading performance has continued into 2026, particularly in Rail and Defence where order intake has seen improvements over that of recent years. This in turn has driven greater operational efficiencies in those areas and improvements in gross profit margin.

This has led to the order book at 30 June 2026 increasing to £9.6 million (31 December 2025: £9.2 million) which has been supplemented by the further Rail orders announced in August.

We expect the Group to continue to generate cash in the second half, and for a further reduction in net debt by the year end.

The board remains confident that the Group will perform well over the remainder of the year, and with the benefit of its current order book, it expects to deliver another significant improvement in its results over those achieved in 2025."   

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

_Contacts:

Petards Group plc	www.petards.com
Raschid Abdullah, Chairman	Mb:  07768 905 004
Zeus, Nomad and Joint Broker
Mike Coe / Darshan Patel (Investment Banking)	Tel:  [phone]
Hybridan LLP, Joint Broker	www.hybridan.com
Claire Louise Noyce	Tel:  [phone] [e-mail]

_{Chairman's statement}

_Overview

I am pleased to report a robust half-year performance by Petards, during which time it continued to deliver improving profitability and a steadily growing order book.

While revenues were slightly lower at £7.7 million (June 2025: £7.9 million), EBITDA improved significantly, up over 50%, to £781,000 (June 2025: £509,000). This was achieved by the successful delivery of higher margin business, with the gross profit margin increasing in the period to 52.2% (June 2025: 48.7%).

This in turn led to the Group returning to profit at the operating level, recording a small operating profit of £14,000 as compared to the operating loss of £185,000 it incurred for the same period last year.

Cash generated from operations in the period also increased to £894,000 (June 2025: £860,000). This led to net debt at 30 June 2026 (excluding lease liabilities) reducing to £1,155,000 (31 December 2025: £1,339,000), representing gearing of 19.5% (31 December 2025: 22.4%).

The order book also showed an improvement in the period increasing to £9.6 million by 30 June 2026 (31 December 2025: £9.2 million).

During the period, Petards' operations continued to be focused upon the development, supply and maintenance of technologies used in advanced security, communications, surveillance and ruggedised electronic applications, the principal markets for which are:

·      Rail - software driven video and other sensing systems for on-train applications sold under the eyeTrain brand to global train builders, integrators and rail operators, and SaaS real-time safety critical integrated software applications supporting the UK rail network infrastructure under the RTS brand.

·      Traffic - Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems for lane and speed enforcement and other applications, and UK Home Office approved mobile speed enforcement systems, sold under the QRO and ProVida brands to UK and overseas law enforcement agencies and commercial customers.

·      Defence - engineering services relating to electronic control systems, threat simulation systems, radio systems and other defence related engineering equipment sold predominantly to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) both directly and via its prime defence contractors; and

·      Communications - critical communications and wireless technologies systems integrator serving the transport, blue light, energy, central government and construction sectors, offering an end-to-end service from initial strategy and design, through to equipment supply, providing ongoing maintenance, and managed services.

_{Operating Review}

Trading and profitability progressed well during the first six months of 2026, with particularly strong contributions from Rail and Defence products and services. The Group delivered a similar level of recurring revenues year-on-year, and these continue to be a reliable and cash generative aspect of the Group's operations.

Defence revenues benefitted in the period from the commencement of work on the £2.2 million order secured in 2025 from Rheinmetall BAE Systems ("RBSL"). This is for the provision of initial engineering design services being the first phase of the Challenger 3 upgrade programme. This work is expected to be completed within the next six months following which we expect RBSL's programme to move to the testing and manufacturing phases.

A good margin contribution was generated from several other defence orders, for products that Petards originally supplied on previous programmes, along with engineering support and repair activities. This demonstrates the benefit of the Group's longstanding involvement in the supply of equipment to the MOD and its prime contractors, and the expertise and specialist skills required to support British sovereign defence.

Rail has continued to make steady progress following the improvement in trading conditions seen in the second half of 2025. The resulting higher activity levels have given rise to operational efficiencies in the first half of the year that increased Rail's contribution to both the Group's gross margin and overall profitability.

The improved order intake for Rail seen in the second half of 2025 has been sustained, with total orders in the first half of 2026 being at a level not seen for over five years. Orders in the first half included a £0.5 million contract for eyeTrain systems for retrofit to a customer's train fleet, and this has been followed by the orders recently announced in August, worth £0.7 million for delivery during 2026 and 2027.

Following a weaker performance in the final quarter of 2025, QRO's performance rebounded strongly in the period to 30 June, and recorded revenues broadly in line with those of corresponding periods in recent years. Order intake was slightly ahead of the first half of last year, and the higher margins achieved in 2025 were maintained. Steady progress was made in the targeting of overseas markets, and first half order intake included £0.4 million from new export customers.

We are presently confident that QRO will deliver a better performance for 2026 than last year, but the magnitude of that improvement is dependent on timing of order receipts in the run up to the year end.

Affini's half year revenues were down on 2025, which included several one-off projects. Although tougher market conditions in the first half made replacement project work more challenging to secure, we remain focused on several open opportunities that are presently under negotiation.

The market for Affini's managed services is growing, generated in part by the expansion of its customers' own existing operations. Recurring revenues from these managed services were up slightly year-on-year and remain a key area of our focus and future growth of the business.

_Outlook

The upward trend in the Group's trading performance has continued into 2026, particularly in Rail and Defence where order intake has seen improvements over that of recent years. This in turn has driven greater operational efficiencies in those areas and improvements in gross profit margin.

This has led to the order book at 30 June 2026 increasing to £9.6 million (31 December 2025: £9.2 million) which has been supplemented by the further Rail orders announced in August.

We expect the Group to continue to generate cash in the second half, and for a further reduction in net debt by the year end.

The board remains confident that the Group will perform well over the remainder of the year, and with the benefit of its current order book, it expects to deliver another significant improvement in its results over those achieved in 2025.

_{Raschid Abdullah}

_Chairman

Condensed Consolidated Income Statement

for the six months ended 30 June 2026

	Note	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026		Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2025		Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
		£000		£000		£000
Revenue		7,676		7,856		14,947
Cost of sales		(3,669)		(4,034)		(7,517)
Gross profit		4,007		3,822		7,430
Administrative expenses		(3,993)		(4,007)		(7,865)
Adjusted EBITDA*		781		509		1,002
Amortisation of intangibles		(336)		(320)		(660)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment		(229)		(217)		(436)
Amortisation of right of use assets		(184)		(157)		(436)
Share based payment charges		(18)		-		-
Operating profit/(loss)		14		(185)		(435)
Finance income		-		-		-
Financial expenses		(107)		(127)		(242)
Loss before tax		(93)		(312)		(677)
Income tax	4	-		-		271
Loss for the period attributable to equity shareholders of the parent		(93)		(312)		(406)
Other comprehensive income		-		-		-
Total comprehensive loss for the period		(93)		(312)		(406)
Loss per ordinary share (pence)
Basic and diluted	8	(0.15)		(0.51)		(0.67)

* Earnings before financial income and expenses, tax, depreciation, amortisation and share based payments

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

for the six months ended 30 June 2026

	Share capital	Share premium	Treasury shares	Equity reserve	Retained earnings	Total equity
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Balance at 1 January 2025 (audited)	617	1,908	(103)	-	3,974	6,396
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the period	-	-	-	-	(312)	(312)
Balance at 30 June 2025 (unaudited)	617	1,908	(103)	-	3,662	6,084
At 1 January 2025 (audited)	617	1,908	(103)	-	3,974	6,396
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the year	-	-	-	-	(406)	(406)
At 31 December 2025 (audited)	617	1,908	(103)	-	3,568	5,990
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the period	-	-	-	-	(93)	(93)
Equity-settled share based payments					18	18
At 30 June 2026 (unaudited)	617	1,908	(103)	-	3,493	5,915

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

at 30 June 2026           

		Unaudited 30 June 2026			Unaudited 30 June 2025			Audited 31 December 2025
			£000			£000				£000
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment			1,174		1,261			1,066
Right of use assets			923		763			1,056
Intangible assets			4,324		4,696			4,588
Deferred tax assets			960		768			960
			7,381		7,488			7,670
Current assets
Inventories			2,014		1,790			1,853
Trade and other receivables	5		3,113		3,185			2,946
Cash and cash equivalents			-		205			12
			5,127		5,180			4,811
Total assets			12,508		12,668			12,481
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent
Share capital			617		617			617
Share premium			1,908		1,908			1,908
Treasury shares			(103)		(103)			(103)
Retained earnings			3,493		3,662			3,568
Total equity			5,915		6,084			5,990
Non-current liabilities
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings	7		552		480			697
			552		480			697
Current liabilities
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings	7		1,537		1,802			1,715
Provisions for liabilities and charges			113		109			113
Trade and other payables	6		4,391		4,193			3,966
			6,041		6,104			5,794
Total liabilities			6,593		6,584			6,491
Total equity and liabilities			12,508		12,668			12,481

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

for the six months ended 30 June 2026

	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June  2025	Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
	£000	£000	£000
Cash flows from operating activities
Loss for the period	(93)	(312)	(406)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	229	217	436
Depreciation of right of use assets	184	157	341
Amortisation of intangible assets	336	320	660
Profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment	-	-	(1)
Profit on disposal of right of use assets	16	-	-
Financial expenses	107	(127)	242
Equity settled share-based payment expenses	18	-	-
Income tax credit	-	-	(271)
Operating cash flows before movement in working capital	797	509	1,001
Change in inventories	(161)	9	(54)
Change in trade and other receivables	(167)	334	453
Change in trade and other payables	425	8	(215)
Cash generated from operations	894	860	1,185
Tax received	-	-	199
Net cash from operating activities	894	860	1,384
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment	(254)	(168)	(335)
Sale of property, plant and equipment	-	-	15
Sale of right of use assets	-	-	-
Capitalised development expenditure	(156)	(169)	(271)
Net cash outflow from investing activities	(410)	(337)	(591)
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest paid on lease liabilities	(36)	(43)	(72)
Interest paid on loans and borrowings	(63)	(76)	(138)
Principal paid on lease liabilities	(193)	(156)	(355)
Other interest and foreign exchange losses	(8)	(8)	(32)
Net cash outflow from financing activities	(300)	(283)	(597)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	184	240	196
Total movement in cash and cash equivalents in the period	184	240	196
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January	(1,339)	(1,535)	(1,535)
Cash and cash equivalents	(1,155)	(1,295)	(1,339)

Notes to the financial statements

1.     Reporting entity

Petards Group plc (the 'Company') is incorporated and domiciled in England and its shares are publicly traded on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange. These condensed consolidated interim financial statements ('interim financial statements') as at and for the six months ended 30 June 2026 comprise the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the 'Group').

Copies of these interim financial statements will be available on the Company's website (www.petards.com) and from the Company's registered office at Parallel House, 32 London Road, Guildford, GU1 2AB.

2.     Basis of preparation

As permitted, these interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with AIM Rules for Companies and are not required to comply with IAS 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' to maintain compliance with IFRS. They should be read in conjunction with the Group's last annual consolidated financial statements as at and for the financial year ended 31 December 2025 ('last annual financial statements'). They do not include all of the financial information required for a complete set of IFRS financial statements, however selected explanatory notes are included to explain events and transactions that are significant to the understanding of the changes in the Group's financial position and performance since the last annual financial statements. This financial information does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 435 of the Companies Act 2006.

The comparative figures for the financial year ended 31 December 2025 set out in these interim statements are not the Group's statutory accounts for that financial year. Those accounts have been reported on by the Company's auditor and delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditor was (i) unqualified, (ii) did not include a reference to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report, and (iii) did not contain a statement under section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

3.     Use of judgements and estimates

In preparing these interim financial statements, management has made judgements and estimates that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expense. Actual amounts may differ from these estimates.

The significant judgements made by management in applying the Group's accounting policies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the same as those described in the last annual financial statements.

4.     Taxation

No provision for taxation has been made in the Condensed Consolidated Income Statement for the six months to 30 June 2026 based on the estimated tax provision required for the year ending 31 December 2025 (30 June 2025: nil).

5.     Trade and other receivables

	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026		Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2025		Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
	£000		£000		£000
Trade receivables	2,073		1,665		1,955
Contract assets	136		395		395
Other receivables and prepayments	904		1,125		596
	3,113		3,185		2,946

 

6.     Trade and other payables

	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026		Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2025		Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
	£000		£000		£000
Trade payables	913		1,311		1,044
Contract liabilities	1,895		1,306		1,234
Non-trade payables and accrued expenses	1,583		1,576		1,688
	4,391		4,193		3,966

7.     Interest-bearing loans and borrowings

Current liabilities

	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026		Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2025		Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
	£000		£000		£000
Overdraft	1,155		1,500		1,351
Lease liabilities	382		302		364
	1,537		1,802		1,715

Non-current liabilities

	Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026			Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2025			Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
		£000			£000		£000
Lease liabilities	552			480			697

8.     Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit for the period attributable to the shareholders by the weighted average number of shares in issue.

		Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June 2026		Unaudited 6 months ended 30 June  2025		Audited Year ended 31 December 2025
Earnings
Loss for the period (£000)		(93)		(312)		(406)
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary shares ('000)		60,705		60,705		60,705

As the diluted loss per share would be anti-dilutive, the diluted loss per share is the same as the basic loss per share.

 

END