Analysis: what is firm in the FY26 numbers and what is not

The most testable claim in the release is the one Netcall made about itself. Publishing the consensus it believes it is measured against, then guiding fractionally above each of the three figures, converts a vague statement about being in line into a checkable one. Revenue of £57.7m against £57.6m, adjusted EBITDA of £12.1m against £12.0m and net cash of £21.0m against £20.4m is a narrow beat on the cash line and a rounding-level result on the other two. That is a different message from the growth rates in the headline.

The contracted-value disclosure is where the acquisition question sits. Cloud ACV grew 37 percent while the underlying organic rate was 24 percent, and total ACV grew 27 percent, so the acquired base is doing visible work in the headline figures while organic cloud growth held close to the 25 percent reported at the half year. Total ACV of £53.7m against FY26 revenue of £57.7m is the measure a reader should track, because it describes contracted recurring value entering FY27 rather than revenue already recognised.

Three things the update does not establish are worth naming. First, the AI figures are ratios without a base: almost three times an undisclosed prior-year number, and more than 40 percent of new cloud orders by count rather than by value, so the contribution to ACV cannot be sized from this disclosure. Second, the profit measure is adjusted, and at the half year the distance between the two was material, with adjusted EBITDA of £6.45m against £5.70m while statutory profit before tax fell 31 percent to £2.54m from £3.69m. The audited full-year statement will show how amortisation, share-based payments and contingent consideration sit against the £12.1m. Third, the fall in net cash from £27.2m to £21.0m is explained by £13.4m of acquisition-related payments, which the company states was net of cash acquired, and the full cash flow statement is the document that confirms the operating side.

Netcall said the FY27 sales pipeline is at a record level. A pipeline is a leading indicator with no disclosed conversion rate attached, so the readable version of the same question arrives with the FY27 half-year ACV and net retention figures. Those, alongside the organic cloud ACV rate and the statutory profit line in the audited FY26 accounts, are where the July estimates get confirmed or revised.

What the documents say

Netcall plc (AIM: NET) told the market on 21 July 2026 that revenue for the year ended 30 June 2026 is expected to rise 20 percent to £57.7m, from £48.0m in FY25, and that sales of its AI-related products reached almost three times the prior-year level. The update is a management estimate and all numbers in it remain subject to audit.

What the trading update reported

Netcall said the board expects to report FY26 results in line with market expectations, and set out what it believes those expectations to be: revenue of £57.6m, adjusted EBITDA of £12.0m and net cash of £20.4m. Against that stated consensus, the company guided to revenue of £57.7m, adjusted EBITDA of £12.1m and net cash of £21.0m.

Of the 20 percent revenue increase, organic growth accounted for 12 percent, with the rest coming from acquisitions. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to rise 23 percent to £12.1m from £9.8m, taking the adjusted EBITDA margin to 21 percent from 20 percent. Netcall said approximately 30 percent of incremental organic revenue converted into adjusted EBITDA, which it attributed to operating leverage on subscription revenue.

The company sells the Liberty platform, which combines automation and customer engagement, to around 700 organisations in healthcare, government and financial services. Its own description of the customer base includes two-thirds of NHS Acute Health Trusts, one half of UK local authorities, and enterprises including Legal & General, Baloise and Santander.

Contracted value and the acquisition effect

The contracted metrics carry more information than the revenue line for a subscription business. Cloud annual contract value rose 37 percent to £46.3m from £33.9m, of which underlying organic growth was 24 percent. Total ACV rose 27 percent to £53.7m from £42.2m. Netcall defines ACV as the value of each cloud and support contract divided by the number of years of the contract, plus the annualised value of recurring intelligent document processing revenue.

The gap between the 37 percent headline and the 24 percent organic figure is the acquired contract base. The same pattern appeared at the half year. In its interim results for the six months to 31 December 2025, published on 4 March 2026, Netcall reported cloud ACV up 42 percent to £42.6m with underlying organic growth of 25 percent, and total ACV of £50.5m. Cloud ACV then represented 84 percent of total ACV, against 76 percent a year earlier, and recurring revenue was 83 percent of total revenue, against 79 percent. Cloud net retention was 115 percent in both periods.

On AI, the update gave proportions rather than amounts. Sales of AI-related products reached almost three times the prior-year level, and more than 40 percent of new cloud sales orders included those products. At the half year the company had described AI-related bookings as more than tripling year on year.

Cash, Jadu and the adjusted measures

Netcall ended FY26 with net cash, defined as cash less borrowings, of £21.0m against £27.2m a year earlier, after acquisition-related payments of £13.4m net of cash acquired. It acquired Jadu Holdings Limited in December 2025, a UK provider of digital experience platforms with annual recurring revenue of £5.9 million as at 30 September 2025, around 90 percent of it from cloud services. The stated rationale was to lift Netcall’s presence in UK local government from roughly one in three councils to roughly one in two, and to add a US partner channel. In the July update the company said organisational integration was complete, annualised cost savings of close to £1.0m had been achieved and initial cross-sales secured.

Adjusted EBITDA, as Netcall defines it, is profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, further adjusted to exclude share-based payments, impairment, profit or loss on disposals, contingent consideration and non-recurring transaction costs. Organic growth excludes revenue from the acquisitions of Jadu, Smart and Easy NV and Govtech Holdings Limited.