Trading Update

System1 Group PLC

16 March 2026

 

 

16 March 2026

System1 Group PLC (AIM: SYS1)

 ("System1", or "the Company", or "the Group")

Trading Update

Strong new business performance positions the Group for record H2 FY26 revenue and a return to profitable growth in FY27, ahead of market expectations

System1 www.system1group.com the marketing decision-making platform is pleased to provide an update on trading for the financial year ending 31 March 2026 and the outlook for FY27.

The Company has continued to trade strongly in the final quarter and, as a result, expects to report record H2 revenue and a performance for FY26 in line with guidance.

The strong level of new business wins secured throughout FY26 and particularly in the final quarter, provide a positive outlook for FY27.

After a period of additional investment, the business is delivering a cost optimisation and efficiency plan, including changes to the Group's organisational structure, sales incentivisation and go-to-market approach. This restructuring of the cost base, while incurring one-off costs in FY26, will provide for greater operational leverage as the Group's revenue growth rate increases. Further detail will be provided in the full-year results announcement.

As a result of the above, the Board remains comfortable with consensus Revenue forecasts for FY27 but now expects FY27 Adjusted EBITDA to be materially ahead of current market forecasts, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of no less than 15% and the opportunity for further margin expansion as revenue scales.  

The Board expects to publish the Group's FY26 trading update in late April 2026 and financial results in July 2026.

Commenting on the trading update, CEO James Gregory said: "The strategic progress we highlighted in our Interim Results, in Innovation, the USA, and with the world's largest brands, has continued to strengthen through the final quarter. The step up in new business wins, together with the completion of our investment phase and the benefits of cost optimisation activities, are now driving clearer commercial momentum and revenue growth, including double-digit growth in Innovation sales, deepening our customer engagement and strategic relevance. As we look to FY27, we are well positioned to scale our platform further, deepen client relationships, grow faster, and deliver profitability ahead of current market expectations."

Chairman Rupert Howell said: "It is gratifying to see the strategic growth initiatives delivering such positive, early results. System1 now has a strong and unified leadership team, with highly motivated staff to take the business on a pathway to double digit revenue growth, whilst managing costs to deliver improved margin growth. We are confident we have the right offering, team and strategy to deliver increased shareholder value in the years ahead."

Notes

For the purpose of this announcement, the guidance provided in the 23 September 2025 announcement was for FY26 Revenue to be broadly in line with the £37m achieved in FY25, and Adjusted Profit beforeTaxation in a range between £2.0 to £2.5 million.  Adjusted Profit is Profit before Taxation excluding share-based payments.

For the purpose of this announcement, consensus FY27 Revenue is £38.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA is £4.3m. Adjusted EBITDA is Adjusted Profit before Taxation plus interest, depreciation and amortisation

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as amended by regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

For further information, please contact:

System1 Group PLC	via Alma
James Gregory, Chief Executive Officer
Chris Willford, Chief Financial Officer
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Simon Bridges / Andrew Potts / Harry Rees
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
James Moat / James Fischer / Sara Hale
Alma Strategic Communications
Caroline Forde / Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Robyn Fisher	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

About System1 Group plc

System1 is a marketing decision-making platform business, utilised by some of the world's largest brands, across 81 markets globally. Since 2000, System1 has helped marketers tap into consumers' emotions to predict and improve the commercial impact of ads and ideas. Drawing on the world's largest database of emotional norms, our advertising and idea tests measure emotion to give our customers the most accurate predictions of the business impact of creativity. We 'predict' (provide research results) and work with our customers and 'improve' (provide insight and consultancy on those results) advertising effectiveness, innovation effectiveness and brand effectiveness. 

We work for more than 500 customers, including 5 of the top 10 US and 8 of the top 10 UK advertisers. Customers include Pfizer, Amazon, TikTok, Sky, Lego, Pladis and Natura.

Further information on the Company can be found at www.system1group.com.

 

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