Hello everyone, good morning, and welcome to the Fintel 2025 Interim Results Presentation. I'm Matt Timmins, I'm the CEO of Fintel, and I'm delighted today to be joined by David Thompson, CFO of Fintel. The start of 2025 has been a really important period for the business. We have delivered strong trading and also integrated nine acquisitions into the business, and more importantly than that, we've gone through a period of strategic transformation in the business. We have moved from three operating divisions to two divisions, one of those divisions being Software and Data , and the other division services, so as we move forward from today, we move forward as one Fintel with two divisions set for growth. As I said, a really important period, the first half of this year, strong trading, integrated nine acquisitions, and strategically transformed the business.
In terms of the highlight for the period, we have delivered 18.6% revenue growth, 17% growth in Adjusted EBITDA, 21% growth in SaaS and subscriptions revenue, GBP 8.4 million in cash, and a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.3. On top of that, we have also delivered an 8% growth in our dividends. For those of you who are less familiar with the business, we started life in 2002 as a business called SimplyBiz, providing compliance and regulatory support to financial intermediaries. In 2019, we started a pivot in the business, moving from a people-based business to a Software and Data business. We continued that in 2023 and 2024, adding nine further acquisitions to the business, extending out our data, software, and technology capabilities, and now in 2025, we have integrated those acquisitions and delivered strategic transformation, operating the business under two divisions of Software and Data and Services.
Since IPO, we have delivered a 9.1% compound annual growth rate, and our growth in Software and Data has risen from under 3% of total revenues in 2018 to over 30% as we stand today in 2025. We have exceptional technology within the business, and our Defaqto Engage product supports GBP 49 billion worth of advised wealth transactions each year. We research and rate over 45,000 financial products, and we continue to be experts in financial services regulation, supporting around a third of directly authorized advisors through a membership model which provides compliance and regulatory support.
The great thing about our business is this wonderful flywheel effect, where the more intermediaries that we serve through compliance and membership services, and also software and technology, the more product providers we work with, and the more products that we review and rate, and the more revenue that we generate as a distribution business. So that flywheel effect is important in terms of the number of intermediaries that we serve through software and through membership services, and the number of products that we research and rate, and product manufacturers that we work with. We have some great customers in the business. We support IFAs, mortgage brokers, wealth managers, and also discretionary managers. The average tenure in our membership model is over eight years, and we have relationships with the largest banks, insurers, and lenders in the market, too.
Our Defaqto business also works with the major price comparison websites, and we work across all 13 of those price comparison websites and aggregators, providing technology and data solutions across the market. Previously, we operated under three segments supporting the diverse business model that we have. Those segments were Fintech and Research , Distribution, and Intermediary Services . As we move forward, today we operate under two key divisions: a Software and Data division and a Services division. So the nine acquisitions that we've made over the last two years have been integrated into one of those two divisions, depending upon the business and its product lines. Both divisions serve retail financial services, and both divisions have the same customer sets of product providers, intermediaries, consolidators, and aggregators, but they operate with distinct and expert capabilities.
Our Software and Data division produces and provides market-leading software and technology and product research and ratings across the insurance and banking sector. Our Services division delivers integrated regulatory business and support services on a membership model, and both of those divisions operate with strong levels of recurring revenue. In the Software and Data division, the majority of our revenue comes from SaaS and data products, and within services, our recurring revenue is built around a membership subscription model. In terms of the two divisions, we have grown revenue by 16.5% in our Software and Data business, delivering GBP 18.4 million of revenue in the period. We've also increased EBITDA by 14.7%, delivering GBP 6.9 million of EBITDA in the Software and Data division during the first half of the year.
Our services business grew revenue by 20.3%, delivering GBP 24 million of revenue, and EBITDA increased by 8.7%, delivering GBP 6.5 million of EBITDA in the services division. In addition to that, we have reduced the central costs within the business, reducing that from GBP 2.4 million- GBP 2.2 million within the half year. Operationally, as I said, we've moved to two operating segments in order to massively simplify the business and make sure the acquisitions are in the right home going forward. In terms of those two divisions, each one of those divisions has three key revenue lines. Within Software and Data , we have software, data, and marketing, and consultancy. Around 90% of revenues in that division comes from the top two there, Software and Data . In services, we provide membership services, distribution to product providers, and a surveying business.
Around 80% of revenues and over 90% of earnings come from those top two segments again, membership services and distribution of financial products. We operate in a very competitive market. We operate across four key quadrants, and each one of those quadrants has competitive forces and really good businesses operating within them. We are the only business to operate across all four quadrants, and we are the only business to offer a combination of technology, support, regulatory services, and data into the market. In each one of those quadrants, as I said, there are many competitors, and there's also key opportunities for us to consolidate a fragmented market. So plenty of opportunities for future M&A. In our software division, we delivered GBP 49 billion of advised wealth transactions through our Defaqto Engage product. We have over 70% consumer awareness of our Defaqto Star Ratings.
In our support services business, we support over 15,000 intermediary advisors across a wide range of businesses, and we support around 30% of all of the directly authorized market through compliance and regulatory support. In addition to streamlining the business into two divisions, we have also made two internal promotions. So John Milliken, who was previously CEO of Defaqto, is now running all of our Software and Data businesses. And Alex Whitson, who was previously the CEO of VouchedFor, has been promoted to run all of our services businesses. So John sits across Defaqto and the acquired technology and data businesses that we've acquired over the course of the last two years, and Alex sits across SimplyBiz, Threesixty, Owen James, and the other service-based acquisitions that we've made.
So in summary from me before I hand to David, we've traded well in the first half of the year, delivering revenue growth of over 18%, strong EBITDA growth, and also an increase in dividends. We have integrated nine businesses into a two-divisional structure, which strategically transformed the business, operating now with two key divisions and with acquisitions fully integrated into those two divisions, with strong leadership at the top of each one of those divisions. I'll now hand over to David, who will take you through the results in more detail. David, over to you.
Thanks, Matt. And good morning, everyone. Great to see you again. So as you've seen thus far, we've had two further acquisitions in the form of Threesixty Services and RSMR in the period, plus the strategic alignment into two distinct operating divisions. There's quite a lot of activity to cover. So we'll focus on the key revenue and profitability drivers in this section. I will say, though, that we've included additional financial analysis in the appendices that should cover any additional questions on the strategic alignment. And in particular, we've included pro- forma three-year track record financially of the new segment reporting. So that's half year 2023, full year 2023, half year 2024, full year 2024, and half year 2025. So hopefully that covers any additional questions you might have and provides context for the changes.
On this first slide, you can see group revenues are up GBP 6.7 million- GBP 42.4 million. And there's a series of revenue bridge slides shortly that show the contribution to growth from the organic business, from acquisitions, and the makeup of the new operating segments themselves. We also continue to deliver on profitability with the Adjusted EBITDA increasing 17% to GBP 11.2 million, with the margin EBITDA holding steady at 26.4% despite the integration of acquisitions at a slightly lower margin. On the next slide, you can see the constituent parts of how the revenue has grown over the prior period. And so in terms of growth organically and through acquisitions, so organic growth of GBP 1.5 million or 4%, plus growth from acquisitions of GBP 5.2 million period- on- period.
On the right-hand side, in terms of how the revenue grows by operating segment, you can see Software and Data has grown GBP 2.6 million or 16% to GBP 18.4 million, and services has grown 20% to GBP 24 million. Then on the next slide again, we break that down even further into the key drivers of growth in both operating segments. You can see Software and Data get the three main elements, as Matt said, and that's software, data, and marketing and consultancy. What I wanted to call out here is the growth in the software revenue of 7% being entirely organic period- on- period.
And on the right in the services business, that mix consists of membership and compliance being revenue-driven directly from wealth advice and mortgage firms, distribution, and that comprises marketing revenues from product manufacturers attracted by that significant membership, and commissions on mortgages and protection products written by our member firms, and finally surveying income from our leading independent valuation business. And as you can see, the takeaway there is all parts of the business are growing, period- on- period. So over on to the next slide again, you can see another key performance measure for us is the quality of the revenues generated by the business. So what we do is we aggregate the revenues generated by both SaaS products and subscription products and together express that as a percentage of total revenue. And at the period end, 57% of our group revenues came from either SaaS or subscriptions.
And period- on- period, that revenue grew 21% or GBP 4.2 million- GBP 24.2 million. You can see also the breakdown segmentally. So Software and Data has a ratio of 67%, and Services business has a ratio of 50%. An important call out there is the surveying business revenue dilutes that somewhat, but still overall 57% as a group. And then the next slide, if we look at underlying profitability in each operating division. So Software and Data has grown 14.7% to GBP 6.9 million, and you can see the proportion there from organic and acquisition in terms of contribution to profit. And Services has also similarly grown its profitability to GBP 6.5 million. Now, it's important here to, an important part of the change to the two-divisional structure, and again, capitalizing on the investment you would have seen in prior periods into new group-wide ERP and CRM systems.
What it means is we can report the operating segments at an EBITDA level now, whereas previously we reported at a gross profit level and had a significantly higher central cost basket, so in that way, we can segregate true central costs from the cost required to run both operating segments independently and autonomously. You can see central costs in the period were GBP 2.2 million, and really, by and large, that comprises PLC board costs, the costs of being a PLC, such as brokers, financial PR, listing fees, additional audit and insurance costs, and 10 people in the entire group who are operating truly central roles, so what that means is all other costs in the business are now allocated to either operating segment to give the truest EBITDA of both of those segments.
So on the next slide, we just tie this all together, and you can see the segmental income statements for both divisions. What we've done here is disaggregate the revenue into organic and inorganic so you can track the performance of the segments on a like-for-like basis. You can see the EBITDA margin reduced slightly in Software and Data to 37.5%, and that's driven by the acquisition of RSMR. That has an EBITDA margin of 35%, so it fits nicely into that profile. And in services, the main driver for the reduction to 27.1% EBITDA margin, which is still strong, is due to the inclusion of the property surveying business. That's got a single-digit EBITDA margin. Now, you recall that we previously reported that separately, but as part of the transition, we include it in our overall numbers now.
And then on the next slide, in terms of key metrics beyond the income statement, see EPS grew 14% to GBP 0.057 per share, and that reflects the growth in underlying profitability. Cash flow conversion remains strong at 124%, and our net debt position, again, after significant investment in our own products, in 11 businesses, and our own infrastructure and reporting, is GBP 30.1 million, representing a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio just over 1.3x . So on leverage, on the next slide, we include the track record of managing leverage in the business over the last few years to highlight our disciplined approach to investment, and our current leverage position after that significant investment phase for the business is still lower than our peak in the past, and well manageable and well within the board's appetite.
Of note, again, is the successful planned refinancing in July of this year of the revolving credit facility, so we've increased our access to liquidity from GBP 80 million- GBP 120 million and on better terms, as described in the RNS. And that enhanced facility just gives us greater optionality in executing any additional growth opportunities that we have in the future, then on the next slide, we'll look at more detail on how the cash generated has been invested or returned to shareholders in a year. So as we continue to invest in the business, we keep trying to provide greater clarity of how that investment's been made and the slides that plays to capital allocation, so if we start on the left with GBP 6.3 million of operating cash, we generated GBP 13.6 million in the period, and we drew GBP 8.5 million of our debt facility.
That gave us gross cash resources of just over GBP 28 million. What we did is we invested the majority of that into investments, GBP 14.8 million, acquisitions, and internal software development. We returned GBP 2.6 million to shareholders by way of our small but progressive dividend, and we paid GBP 2.6 million in tax and debt service costs, ending the closing cash balance of GBP 8.4 million at the 30th of June. And then on the next slide, we'll look at cash conversion. So we can see the operating cash conversion at 124%. The key driver of that that you can see is working capital inflows, and they largely stem from the acquisitions of Threesixty and RSMR, with a normalized cash conversion sitting at around 100%, and you can see that in the prior period.
And that's based on a consistent level of development expenditure that you can see in the bottom right-hand corner, because it's very important that we continue to reinvest in the business. And then on the next slide, what we've done here is, in order to track the acquisitions that we've made recently, now that most of them are folding into the organic business, we just include the recently acquired portfolio in their new respective divisions. And what we do is we calculate and track the basket IRR and the investments to show that we're on track and we've made value-accretive investments for the group. And as you can see, software is sitting at 16% IRR as a basket overall, and the services portfolio is 15.8% as a basket overall. So we can see that the investments that have been made have been value-accretive.
And then finally, from me in summary, so we continue to invest in our strong service offering, as you can see, to support the whole of the retail financial services market, with the benefit of the strong cash generation and liquidity from the recurring business model. And again, to make the point, finally, 9% growth in the interim dividend to GBP 0.013 per share, in line with our progressive policy. And with that, I'll hand back to Matt for summary and outlook.
Thank you, David. And in terms of the summary, we have market-leading software in our business used by over 15,000 intermediary firms and hundreds of product manufacturers. We provide software for financial planning. We provide software to help insurers understand insurance products. We provide Software and Data services into the price comparison websites. And that gives us a real competitive advantage through insight, technology, and distribution into this very fragmented market. We have a scalable platform, which is supported by structural market drivers. People within our sector are looking to use fewer technology vendors across the majority of their operations. We have larger consolidation businesses who are looking to gain real operational efficiency through the use of a single technology platform. We have a diverse and repeat customer base serving thousands of intermediary firms and hundreds of product manufacturers.
There are clear opportunities within the business to enhance organic growth and enhance margins. Investing into our two divisions gives us the best opportunity to grow going forward, concentrating on our Software and Data division and all of the products within it, and also our services division, where we continue to serve around a third of the intermediary market. There are further opportunities to make strategic acquisitions, and we have the RCF facility, as David described, to allow us to go out and make those acquisitions where we see opportunities. We're an incredibly cash-generative business with strong cash conversion and funded for growth. So in final summary from me, the first half of the year delivered strong trading, as we've outlined during this presentation. We have integrated nine businesses into our two divisions, creating real strategic transformation, streamlining the business, and promoting new leaders of the business within.
We are well funded with strong cash generation and well positioned to grow our products per customer and customers per product as we move forward.