Gateley reports strong first-half growth

(Sharecast News) - Gateley reported strong organic revenue growth in the first half of its financial year on Tuesday, driven by improved fee earner utilisation and returns on recent investments, despite a slowdown in transactional services activity ahead of the UK Autumn Budget.

For the six months ended 31 October, group revenue rose 9.3% to £94.3m, with organic growth of 8.6%.

Legal services revenue grew 10.9% entirely organically, while consultancy revenues increased 5.5% to £27.1m.

Underlying operating profit fell 4.8% to £8.6m, and underlying profit before tax declined 10.8% to £9.5m, reflecting both a temporary dip in deal-related work in the second quarter and ongoing investments.

Underlying operating margins narrowed to 9.2% from 10.5%.

Net debt stood at £19.6m, compared with £1.2m net cash a year earlier, following acquisition payments, working capital movements and employee benefit trust share purchases.

The interim dividend was maintained at 3.3 pence per share.

Reported results showed a sharp improvement, with profit before tax rising to £6.3m from £3.3m a year earlier, and basic earnings per share increasing to 3.73p from 1.44p.

Gateley continued to expand and reshape its service offering.

It acquired Groom Wilkes & Wright in September for an initial £5.73m, with the business performing ahead of expectations.

The group also hired nine lateral partners, established a new corporate team in Dubai, and relocated its Middle East operations to the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Management said personnel costs were contained, rising only due to higher National Insurance contributions from the 2024 Budget.

The AIM-traded company met all 15 objectives in its 2024-2025 Responsible Business Report and launched a new set of goals for the current year.

Gateley estimated that pre-Budget uncertainty reduced first-half revenue by about £3m, which it expected to recover in the second half.

Management reiterated confidence in meeting full-year market forecasts, which called for revenue of £189.4m and underlying profit before tax of £23.8m.

"I am very pleased with the Group's trading performance in the first half of 2026," said chief executive Rod Waldie.

"Each of our platforms grew revenue despite inertia in transactional activity, induced by pre-Budget uncertainty as we progressed through the second quarter."

He added that the group's organic revenue growth "primarily resulted from, firstly, focusing on higher value work alongside the implementation of our previously announced enhanced pricing and conversion-to-fees policies and procedures and, secondly, solid returns from recent investments in some of our established, market-leading services."

Waldie said the improvements "validate our ongoing patient investment in new systems and service lines and underpins our confidence in delivering margin expansion despite the shorter-term impact of pre-Budget inertia.

"Our balance sheet provides a strong foundation to further invest in both legal and consultancy services," he added.

Gateley said activity levels were ahead of last year and that recent investments were generating strong returns, leaving the group well-positioned for the second half.

At 1219 GMT, shares in Gateley Holdings were up 2.97% at 106.06p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Gateley Holdings