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Strategic Update and Directorate Change

In brief · summary, not quotable

AI-focused strategic refocus announced with board changes; £2m revenue loss from contract non-renewal partly offset by cost savings.

vs expectations: in line

  • FY26 adjusted EBITDA in line with market expectations
  • Cash £4.6m
  • Lost contracts revenue FY26 £2m
  • FirstAida stake 24.9%
Full announcement

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Ingenta plc (AIM: ING), a leading provider of software and services to the publishing and media industries, today announces a refocusing of the Group's strategy around AI, supported by changes to the Board and senior management. The Company also confirms that adjusted EBITDA is in line with market expectations.

Board Changes

The Board has undertaken a strategic review and is accelerating the Group’s AI-led strategy to enhance its existing product offering, improve operational efficiency and create new commercial opportunities.

Dr Dan Brown, Chairman of FirstAida Ltd, a company in which the Group owns a 24.9% stake, has been appointed Deputy Chairman of Ingenta PLC with immediate effect; he will be directly engaged in AI transformation, with a remit to apply this across every aspect of the business throughout the Company. Dr Brown brings deep experience in building agile software teams into leaders in AI, along with significant operational success in commercial execution.

The Management team has been and will continue to be strengthened to lead the next phase of the Group’s development with the appointment of Greg Healey as Interim Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect.

Current Trading Performance

Two contracts with the Group’s largest customer, representing in aggregate approximately £2m of Group revenue in FY26, will not be renewed on expiry into 2027. The impact has been reflected in the Group's planning.

The acquisition of FirstAida has progressed with several customers engaged on a pre-revenue basis and with its first commercial contracts expected in Q4 2026.

Debt-free balance sheet with cash of £4.6m at 30 June 2026.

Adjusted EBITDA for FY26 remains in line with market expectations.

Significant pipeline opportunities nearing completion in Q4 2026 with FY26 revenue broadly in line with market expectations.

Outlook for 2027

The Board has made plans for a rapid refocusing of the Group’s operations which will be implemented with immediate effect and reduce the Group’s operational costs into 2027 and beyond.

Strategic refocus

The strategic and operational refocus accelerates adoption of AI across Ingenta’s products, services and operations. The Group enters this next phase with FY26 adjusted EBITDA in line with market expectations, a high recurring revenue base, long-standing customer relationships and a debt-free balance sheet. Enhanced AI capabilities include metadata extraction, automated content summarisation, multilingual search and advanced content discovery. The acquisition of an initial stake in FirstAida, announced on 6 August 2026, brought additional experience in developing and scaling AI-led software.

AI expertise within FirstAida (currently 24.9% owned by the Group) will be leveraged to:

  • embed AI more deeply across the Group’s platforms, with a focus on enhancing its product offering, creating new commercial opportunities, and delivering additional value for its established base of publishers and content providers’;
  • use AI capabilities to overhaul and modernise the code base underlying legacy products to make these easier to maintain, add functionality, create additional value and provide a long term product development path for customers
  • increase the use of AI across internal operations to improve efficiency, streamline workflows and reduce the cost of service delivery; and
  • create integrated sales, support and customer management and accelerate new customer wins.

Financial effects in 2027 and beyond

As previously disclosed, the Group has for some years experienced some attrition among customers using its legacy platforms. As noted in June, a customer using one of the Group’s legacy platforms had informed the Company of its intention to move from these services and it has now confirmed that this will take place with effect from the end of the current year. This move affects two contracts representing approximately £2m of Group revenue in FY26.

The impact of these contract losses relates to FY27 and beyond and has been incorporated into the Group's planning.

The Board expects that the impact of the loss of these contracts will be largely offset by the programme of efficiency savings and AI-based refocusing of the business in 2027.

Board and management changes

As the Group enters its next phase, including a strategic refocus on AI-led growth and development the Board has approved the following leadership changes, effective immediately:

● Dr Dan Brown, who joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 6 August 2026, becomes Deputy Chairman; he will support the Interim management team in executing the Group's AI strategy and technology development. He will be directly engaged in AI transformation, with a remit to apply this across every aspect of the business throughout the Company. Dr Brown brings deep experience in building agile software teams into leaders in AI, along with significant operational success in commercial execution. His expertise in spearheading software adoption across large scale institutions in education and security and his achievements in building strategic partnerships and teams in its usage are expected to contribute substantially to the Company.

  • Greg Healey joins as interim Chief Operating Officer. Greg brings more than two decades of experience across finance, investment and operational leadership, supporting founders, investors and boards. He has executed multiple exits and transitions across AI, SaaS and Fintech businesses in the last 10 years as a senior partner overseeing a private equity portfolio of 40 businesses. Prior to this Greg spent seven years in M&A at Investment Bank Lazard. Greg will lead the execution of the Group’s strategic refocus on an interim consultancy basis.

Following these changes, the Board will comprise Martyn Rose (Chairman), Dr Dan Brown (Deputy Chairman), Scott Winner (CEO), Jon Sheffield (CFO and Company Secretary), Mark Rowse (NED & Founder) and Neil Kirton (NED).

Martyn Rose, Chairman of Ingenta plc, commented:

“The market for publishing software is evolving and the Board believes now is the right time to accelerate Ingenta's development. We see significant opportunities to apply AI across the Group's products and operations, creating additional value for customers and shareholders.

“The changes announced today strengthen the business operationally, commercially and strategically. Together, the experience of the interim management team, the addition of FirstAida and Dan Brown's new role as Deputy Chairman provide a strong platform for the next phase of the Group's development.

“The business remains in a strong position financially. Over 90% of remaining Group revenue is recurring, we have cash in excess of £4.6m and no debt. We are confident that the actions we are taking will provide our customers with immediate and long term benefits across our products.

“Supported by a strong balance sheet, a highly recurring revenue base and long-standing customer relationships, we are focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth into 2027 and beyond, and look forward to updating shareholders on our progress.”

Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.

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