RWS Returns to Organic Growth, Raises Adjusted Profit 9% in FY2026
Key Facts
RWS Holdings said constant-currency organic revenue rose about 3% in the financial year ended September 30, 2026, and adjusted profit before tax increased about 9%. The company reported the figures in its year-end trading statement issued on October 27, 2026. The results mark the group’s return to organic growth after reported revenue and adjusted profitability fell in the previous financial year. In 2025, reported revenue fell 4% to £690.1 million, and adjusted profit before tax declined 43% to £60.4 million. The reported loss before tax that year was £99.7 million.
Signs of improvement had emerged in the first half of FY2026, when reported revenue rose 5% to £360.3 million, compared with £344.3 million in the corresponding period. On an organic, constant-currency basis, growth was about 7%, against 1.4% in the first half of 2025. Adjusted profit before tax also increased 33% to £24.0 million from £18.0 million. The company attributed part of the improvement in profitability to its ongoing efficiency programme. Full-year growth was therefore slower than the pace of organic growth the group recorded in the first half.
Expansion was uneven across the group’s businesses in the first half: Generate revenue grew 52% organically at constant currency, Protect revenue rose 3.3%, while Transform revenue contracted 4.6%. RWS said TrainAI’s exceptional performance was linked to an additional programme for an existing client and initial revenue from a new global technology client. The share of products and services related to artificial intelligence rose to 32% of group revenue, from 26% in the corresponding period. The company attributed the increase in this share to TrainAI’s growth. These indicators show that group growth coincided with a clear divergence between divisions, with Transform continuing to contract organically in the first half.
In Protect, the company linked revenue growth to strong performance in renewals. It said growing momentum during the second quarter strengthened its confidence in the second half of the financial year. At group level, Chief Executive Ben Faes described first-half performance as reflecting “the initial positive effects of the new operating model” and progress across the three strategic growth pillars. In June, the company had forecast mid-single-digit annual growth in organic constant-currency revenue, alongside improved profitability and continued strong conversion of earnings into free cash flow. The annual increase in adjusted profit came after the company said its efficiency programme had supported growth in the first half.
The company’s recent track record also includes a binding proposed agreement to acquire Acogroup, the parent company of Acolad, for an enterprise value of £22.4 million, or €26.0 million. RWS said completion of the deal is expected no later than the first half of FY2027. Acolad generated revenue of £182 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of £13 million in the year ended December 31, 2025. The agreement provides additional context for the group’s moves in the new financial year, alongside its operating results. The official financial calendar lists the year-end trading statement on October 27, 2026, without giving a date for the final annual results.