GBG sells identity-checking, fraud-prevention and address-data software to more than 20,000 customers, from fintechs and gaming firms to Uber. For two years it cut costs, paid down debt and bought back shares while revenue grew about 3% a year. In August 2026 it cut its FY27 growth guidance to 1-3% from mid-single digit because Americas Identity customers were leaving, and the shares ended October 2026 at 145p, from 379p in November 2024.
Checking who people are and where they live
GBG is a global identity and location technology business with over 1,000 staff. Its software lets companies verify that a customer is a real person at a real address, spot fraud and meet anti-money-laundering rules. It combines proprietary data with technology and serves banks, fintechs, gaming operators, retailers and public-sector bodies.
It reports three areas. Identity was 56% of FY25 revenue. Location supplies address data. Fraud is the smallest and mostly sells to customers in Asia-Pacific and Europe. About 95% of revenue repeats, through subscriptions or usage-based contracts. The Americas is its largest market and its weakest.
Its newest product is GBG Go, a single identity platform launched in April 2025. It replaces separate regional systems that GBG plans to retire. 2 Jun 2026 25 Nov 2025 10 Jun 2025
Rate shock, write-downs and a cost reset
Higher interest rates hurt GBG's accounts. In the year to March 2023 it wrote off £122m of goodwill. In the half to September 2023 it wrote off another £55m, citing a higher discount rate after central bank rate rises. These were non-cash charges, but they pushed statutory results deep into loss. Identity revenue was also falling, partly because cryptocurrency customers cut back.
Management responded with cost cuts. By late 2023 it had taken out £10m of annual costs, and cash conversion recovered. Net debt fell from £106m in March 2023 to £81m a year later.
CEO Chris Clark retired in January 2024. Dev Dhiman, who had run the Asia-Pacific business, replaced him. 28 Nov 2023 8 Nov 2023 30 Jan 2024 11 Jun 2024
Simpler company, GBG Go and a stalled Americas
Dhiman set four priorities: simplicity, global alignment, a performance culture and innovation. Margin rose from 22.1% to 23.7% in FY25 and net debt fell to £48.5m. Revenue growth was 3.0% at constant currency, against guidance for mid-single digit.
The Americas Identity business was the drag. Management said it had stabilised operations and changed leadership. It then moved customers to multi-year contracts with minimum commitments and combined Identity and Location sales teams. A strategic review of the fraud unit ended with it running as a standalone business, Global Fraud Solutions.
The shares peaked at 379p in November 2024 and fell to 245p by April 2025. 19 Nov 2024 10 Jun 2025 24 Apr 2025
FY26: buybacks, Main Market and a bolt-on
In FY26 GBG spent £45m on share buybacks. It moved from AIM to the London Stock Exchange Main Market on 30 October 2025. It bought DataTools, an Australian address-data firm, for A$16m, and refinanced a £175m credit facility to September 2030.
Operations improved. Second-half Identity and Location growth reached 5.7%, and Americas Identity returned to growth in the fourth quarter. GBG Go signed over 100 contracts. Net debt still rose to £80.1m, or 1.15 times earnings.
Statutory results showed a £74.5m loss before tax, driven by a £73.1m non-cash impairment. The commentary gives no cause for it. 25 Nov 2025 23 Sep 2025 16 Oct 2025 27 Mar 2026 2 Jun 2026
What worked, and what has not yet
Cost control and cash generation worked. Margin held near 24%, and debt fell and then rose again as cash went to buybacks.
Revenue growth has been the weak point. FY25 missed the mid-single-digit guide. In November 2025 management promised a second-half step-up and an Americas return to growth, and delivered both by the end of FY26. The August 2026 cut shows the Americas recovery was less secure than it looked. 24 Apr 2025 25 Nov 2025 2 Jun 2026 14 Aug 2026
A CEO and CFO who bought shares
Dhiman has been CEO since January 2024. David Ward is finance chief. Dhiman bought 20,000 shares at 236p in October 2025. In June 2026 he bought 25,001 shares, and Ward bought 12,000 at 196p. Both hold performance share awards that vest on conditions.
Management's record is mixed. It delivered cost savings, deleveraging and the Main Market move on its stated dates. It missed its first revenue guide and then cut FY27 guidance two months after setting it. 21 Oct 2025 5 Jun 2026 24 Jun 2026 14 Aug 2026
Guidance cut over Americas customer losses
On 2 June 2026 GBG guided FY27 to mid-single-digit growth, a one-off £6m extra spend on GBG Go, and an adjusted operating margin of 21-22%. A 21 July update said Q1 Identity and Location growth was mid-single digit, in line.
On 14 August 2026 it cut FY27 revenue growth to 1-3%, citing Americas Identity customer attrition. The company says it will offset the loss with cost control.
The shares fell from 221p at end-July to 162p at end-August. Sterling Strategic Value Fund holds about 5%, and Octopus cut its stake from 7% to 1.4% in September 2025. 2 Jun 2026 21 Jul 2026 14 Aug 2026
“we are focused on mitigating the attrition headwind with strong cost control and expect an FY27 adjusted operating profit margin of approximately 21%.” 14 Aug 2026
Spend now, growth later
Management says the £6m GBG Go spend, with an outside development partner, should add at least 1% to FY28 revenue growth, rising to about 2% once fully commercialised. First stated on 2 June 2026, this was backed with a return to a 23-24% margin in FY28 and above 24% in the medium term. That margin was set against the earlier 21-22% FY27 range. In June, GBG also aimed for high-single-digit growth in the medium term. Neither the FY28 nor the medium-term goal has been restated since the 14 August cut.
The FY27 range was lowered from mid-single digit to 1-3% on 14 August 2026, with margin at about 21%. The Equifax partnership expansion, announced 20 May 2026, puts GBG data into Equifax's US services this year and into global use in 2027. The company has not said how many Americas customers it has lost. 2 Jun 2026 14 Aug 2026 20 May 2026
Written by AI from GB Group's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources