Bango Delivers Strong First Half with 31% Recurring Revenue Growth and Improved Profitability

Bango 1H26 trading update: recurring revenue and profit both moved the right way

Bango’s first-half update is a good one. The headline is not just growth, but better quality growth – with recurring revenue rising strongly and profitability improving at a faster rate than total revenue.

Total revenue for 1H26 is expected to be $25.9M, up 3% from $25.2M in 1H25. That is not a flashy top-line number on its own, but the more important detail sits underneath: Subscriptions are growing well, margins are improving, and cash generation has stepped up materially.

Metric | 1H26 | 1H25 | Change
Total Revenue | $25.9M | $25.2M | Up 3%
Subscriptions revenue | $12.3M | $10.9M | Up 13%
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) | $20.4M | $15.6M | Up 31%
Payments revenue | $13.6M | $14.3M | Down 5%
Adjusted EBITDA | At least $9.0M | $6.7M | Up 34%
Cash EBITDA | $3.7M | Not disclosed | Up by at least $4.3M
Net Debt | $8.7M | $9.2M at 31 Dec 2025 | Improved slightly

Why Bango’s 31% ARR growth matters more than the 3% revenue growth

The standout number here is ARR, or Annual Recurring Revenue. In simple terms, that is the annualised value of contracted recurring revenue expected over the next 12 months, and it climbed 31% to $20.4M.

That matters because recurring revenue tends to be more predictable, more scalable, and usually more highly valued by investors than one-off or transactional revenue. If you are trying to work out whether Bango is becoming a stronger software-style business, this is exactly the metric you would want to see moving up hard.

Subscriptions revenue itself rose 13% to $12.3M. That is a healthy number, but ARR growing faster than reported subscriptions revenue suggests the engine underneath is building momentum.

Another strong sign is Net Revenue Retention, or NRR, of 119%. That means Bango’s existing customers, as a group, spent 19% more than they did a year earlier, after taking account of expansion and any churn. Anything above 100% is good. 119% says customers are not just sticking around, they are buying more.

Bango customer wins show momentum, but a little caution is still sensible

Bango said it won 6 new customer logos in the Subscriptions segment during the first half, with 3 already contracted. One of those included a deal that had previously slipped from Q4 FY25.

That is positive, but it is worth being precise. Not all 6 are contracted yet, based on the wording in the update. So while the sales pipeline appears active, investors should avoid treating every win as fully banked revenue until contracts are signed and implementation follows.

Still, the message is encouraging. Management says the use cases for the Bango Digital Vending Machine are broadening, with customers ranging from global brands to financial services and telecoms firms. That hints at a platform that may be finding more than one route to growth.

Bango profitability improved sharply in 1H26 – and that is the real story

This update gets more interesting when you move below revenue. Adjusted EBITDA – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted for items management considers non-core – is expected to be at least $9.0M, up 34% from $6.7M.

That is a much faster growth rate than total revenue, which tells you margins improved. Bango points to higher quality revenue and the efficiency measures taken in FY25, and the numbers support that explanation.

Cash EBITDA reached $3.7M in the first half alone. That is notable because it already exceeds the $2.3M delivered during the whole of FY25.

Cash EBITDA is Adjusted EBITDA less net capital expenditure, so it gives a better feel for how much cash the business is actually generating from operations after investment in the business. It is not the same as free cash flow, but it is a useful marker – and here it improved meaningfully.

Why this matters for retail investors

Plenty of smaller listed tech companies can grow revenue. Far fewer can show that growth converting into better profitability and better cash output at the same time.

That is why this update reads well. Bango is not simply chasing sales for the sake of it. It appears to be pushing towards a model with stronger recurring income and better economics.

Bango Payments revenue fell 5% – but management says that is deliberate

The weak spot in the statement is the Payments segment, where revenue declined 5% to $13.6M from $14.3M. Normally, falling revenue would be a straightforward negative. Here, the company is framing it differently.

Bango says the decline is in line with management expectations and reflects the planned restructuring of legacy routes, with a focus on profit margin expansion and revenue quality. In plain English, it seems willing to accept lower revenue in Payments if that means better profitability and a cleaner business mix.

That can be the right call. Low-quality revenue can flatter the top line while doing very little for shareholders. But it does come with execution risk, because management now has to prove that lower Payments revenue really does lead to better margins and stronger cash generation on a sustained basis.

For now, the first-half EBITDA performance suggests that strategy is working. But this is one area I would keep watching closely.

Net debt is edging down, not collapsing – but the direction is encouraging

Net debt at 30 June 2026 was $8.7M, compared with $9.2M at 31 December 2025. That is only a modest improvement, so this is not a balance sheet transformation yet.

Still, given stronger Cash EBITDA, a small reduction in net debt is better than a move in the wrong direction. It suggests the business is at least beginning to turn improved profitability into slightly better balance sheet health.

Bango says FY26 remains in line with market expectations

The Board says it remains confident of delivering FY26 in line with market expectations. Those expectations, as far as the Board was aware on 8 July 2026, were revenue of $53.8M, Adjusted EBITDA of $19.5M and Cash EBITDA of $8.3M.

On the face of it, the first half leaves work to do in the second half, but nothing here screams trouble. Revenue of $25.9M and Adjusted EBITDA of at least $9.0M keep the company in range, and management also says it entered the second half with confidence.

What this update does not do is raise guidance. So the tone is positive, but not euphoric. Investors hoping for an outright upgrade did not get one.

Board changes add a little governance support

Bango also highlighted governance changes, with Darcy Antonellis becoming Independent Non-Exec Chair and Duncan Magrath joining as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. That will not drive the numbers in the short term, but stronger governance is usually a plus for an AIM company as it scales.

My take on the Bango 1H26 results: a solid update with the right kind of growth

This looks like a positive trading update. The best parts are the 31% ARR growth, the 119% NRR, and the 34% jump in Adjusted EBITDA. Those numbers suggest Bango is getting more value from its existing customers, adding new ones, and doing it in a way that improves profitability.

The main negative is that total revenue growth was only 3%, and Payments revenue fell 5%. That said, the company has been upfront that this is part of a deliberate repositioning towards better-quality revenue, and the first-half profit improvement gives that argument some credibility.

In short, this is not a “growth at any cost” story. It is increasingly a “better business mix, stronger recurring revenue, and improving cash generation” story. For retail investors, that is usually the more attractive combination.

If you want to dig deeper, Bango has pointed investors to its interactive Investor Centre.