CEO’s review
Strategic progress positions the Group for return to profitable growth As we reflect on FY25, I want to begin by recognising the continued commitment and expertise of our colleagues across the globe. The work they do for clients is extraordinary and they have continued to demonstrate their resilience and adaptability navigating change and at times an uncertain economic environment. Our purpose – to create a safer digital future – remains at the heart of everything we do, and our progress this year is a testament to the strength of our people and the trust our clients place in us.
enabled us to scale, win more opportunities and serve clients more efficiently. We will continue to invest in our people, technology and strategic partnerships – underpinned by our leading intelligence, innovation and insight, we remain at the forefront of an evolving cyber threat landscape. Market environment and client needs As a B2B service provider, demand for many of our services reflects the macro-economic cycle and the confidence of our clients to invest. During the year this cycle and the geopolitical environment remained complex, particularly in the first half. We saw this reflected in cautious client behaviour, which naturally lengthen sales cycles. Despite these headwinds, demand for cyber resilience and regulatory assurance continues to grow, particularly in highly regulated sectors such as financial services, healthcare and businesses running critical infrastructure. Our clients are increasingly seeking expert-led, end-to-end solutions that address the full spectrum of cyber risk – from Identity and Access Management to Operational Technology security and Managed Detection and Response. Our differentiated capabilities, global delivery and strategic alliances with leading technology partners position us strongly to meet these needs. Financial performance As expected, we saw Group revenue for FY25 decline by 2.6% on a constant currency basis (excluding non-core disposals), with Escode delivering growth on a constant currency basis of 2.2% and Cyber Security declining on a constant currency basis by 4.0% when compared to the previous 12 months. Importantly, as I reflect on all of this, half-to-half performance was markedly stronger with revenue performance improving in the second half, a reflection of the positive impact of our strategic focus and operational discipline together with the strong order book we indicated in our December 2024 results. Gross margins (excluding non-core disposals) overall strengthened to 44.5% with Escode margin reaching 71.4% and Cyber Security broadly flat at 36.6%. Adjusted EBITDA (excluding non-core disposals) was in line with Board expectations and amounted to £40.6m when compared to the previous 12 months. Our Balance Sheet remains robust, with net cash of approximately £13m at year end, a marked improvement from the net debt of £79.6m as at 31 May 2023 and now providing a strong foundation for future investment and capital returns. Sales and commercial execution We continued to strengthen our business in FY25 with management action focused on strategic change to build the necessary technical capability in cyber and to strengthen our commercial organisation in both the Escode and Cyber Security businesses.
Mike Maddison Chief Executive Officer
Strategic progress and transformation FY25 has been a year of disciplined execution against the strategy we originally established back in 2023 to transform and reshape the Group. We have made significant progress to simply the Group and built our two distinct businesses – Cyber Security, with Managed Services at the centre, and Escode, our software escrow service. We have improved profitability, materially reduced and eliminated net debt, and repositioned the Group’s portfolio around core, scalable activities. More timely and granular financial and operational information has strengthened decision making, however there is more work to do. A major event this year was the successful sale of our Fox-IT Crypto business in March 2025 that strengthened our Balance Sheet, providing us with the financial flexibility to invest in growth, while removing the management distraction of a non-core business. In April 2025, the Group confirmed that it was investigating several options for its Escode business, including a potential sale. The Board will provide updates as and when it is practicable and appropriate to do so. If a sale of Escode were to be successfully concluded, the Group would become a focused, people-powered, tech-enabled global Cyber Security business. It would also enable the Board to consider a significant return of capital to shareholders over and above the recently announced initial share buy-back programme. Our investments in new capabilities such as Operational Technology and Digital Identity have allowed us to win further strategic projects during the year. Our global operating model, including our expanding office in Manila with exceptional cyber and operational talent, has
NCC Group plc — Annual report and accounts for the year ended 30 September 2025 6
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