A look at the Revenue mix

Fintel, which supplies software, data and support services to UK retail financial services firms and is a FTSE AIM UK 50 constituent, has made no regulatory announcement since 23 October 2026, when it reported the Mortgage Brain Acquisition and board changes. (LSE:FNTL) Setting the deal aside, this article uses the half-year results published on 15 September to examine a structural question: how the shift towards Recurring Revenue is showing up in profitability.

On the LSE delayed price for the 3 November session, the shares were 157.0p, down 2.48%.

Recurring revenue now dominates

In the six months to 30 June 2026, revenue from continuing operations rose 5.3% to £38.6m, of which SaaS and subscription revenue grew 7.9% to £26.1m. (LSE:FNTL) By our calculation, that is about 68% of continuing revenue. Software and Data, home to brands such as Defaqto ratings and VouchedFor, increased revenue 9.6% to £20.2m, with recurring revenue of £14.4m, up from £12.3m. The Services division, which provides regulatory and Business support to more than 18,000 advisers, was broadly flat at £18.4m, with recurring revenue of £11.6m.

Organic revenue, which strips out disposed businesses and the January acquisition of Pearson Ham's market pricing business, grew a more modest 2.0% to £37.4m.

Margins moved faster than sales

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations rose 16.6% to £12.4m, and the Margin widened to 32.1% from 28.9%. (LSE:FNTL) Organic adjusted EBITDA grew 11.2% to £11.8m on only £0.7m of additional organic revenue. The chief executive's statement described an incremental margin of over 90%, which the company attributes to operating model efficiency, operational gearing and integration of recent acquisitions.

On our reading, much of the margin gain reflects cost discipline and the higher-margin acquired data business rather than rapid top-line growth. (LSE:FNTL) Further down the income statement, profit before tax rose to £5.0m from £3.2m, and adjusted Earnings Per Share increased to 5.9p from 5.1p. That matters because cost savings tend to be finite, while recurring revenue growth can compound if retention holds.

Portfolio simplification

The April disposals of Gateway Surveying Services and APS Legal & Associates, now treated as discontinued, removed lower-margin activities from the continuing figures. Together they produced £3.5m of revenue and £0.3m of adjusted EBITDA in the half. Investment is now directed at Plannr, a client relationship management platform, and Matrix 360, a market intelligence tool that the company says serves 27 institutional customers across banking and wealth. The group also launched an AI-enabled compliance and oversight platform for adviser firms and Omnicore, a whole-of-market distribution platform intended to expand its distribution and mortgage propositions.

Balance sheet and risks

At 30 June, net Debt was £38.2m, or 1.4 times adjusted EBITDA, with £7.3m of cash and £76.5m of headroom on a £120m revolving facility. These figures predate the Mortgage Brain acquisition, so Leverage after that deal may differ. Risks include slower adviser spending, regulatory change in UK financial services, integration of acquired businesses, and the possibility that Plannr and other new products take longer to generate meaningful revenue than management expects. Organic revenue growth of 2% leaves limited room for error if cost efficiencies slow.

An Interim Dividend of 1.35p (HY25: 1.3p) was declared, with an intended payment on or around 30 October 2026 to holders on the register on 25 September.

What to watch

In September the board said current trading was in line with its expectations. The next scheduled disclosures have not been dated, but full-year results for 2026 will show whether recurring revenue growth and the higher margin were sustained through the second half, and how Mortgage Brain alters the revenue mix and leverage. Investors may also look for progress in Plannr licensee numbers, which the company describes as a significant pipeline.