Brave Bison Reports Stellar H1 2026: Net Revenue Surges 97%

Brave Bison H1 2026 trading update looks strong on growth, profit and cash

Brave Bison has put out a punchy first-half trading update, and the headline numbers are hard to ignore. Net revenue rose 97% year-on-year to £23.7 million, Adjusted EBITDA climbed 87% to £4.2 million, and the group ended the period with net cash of £4.7 million on an unaudited basis.

That is a very solid combination. It is one thing to grow quickly, but it matters much more when that growth is also feeding through into profit and cash. On the face of it, this reads like a business that is scaling up without losing financial discipline.

Brave Bison key H1 2026 numbers retail investors should notice

Metric | H1 2026 | H1 2025 | Change | FY25
Net revenue | £23.7 million | £12.0 million | +97% | £34.1 million
Adjusted EBITDA | £4.2 million | £2.3 million | +87% | £6.8 million
Net cash | £4.7 million | £3.9 million | +22% | £4.3 million

Adjusted EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, with acquisition costs, restructuring costs and share-based payments added back. It is a common profit measure, but investors should remember it is not the same as statutory profit. Net cash here excludes lease liabilities, which is also worth keeping in mind.

Why Brave Bison’s near-doubling of net revenue matters

The big story is that growth came from both acquisitions and organic progress. In plain English, Brave Bison is not just buying revenue – it is also getting existing operations to sell more.

Management highlighted “accretive acquisitions”, which means deals that are adding to earnings rather than diluting them. That is exactly what investors want to hear after a roll-up strategy, because acquisitions can look exciting on paper but disappoint if integration goes wrong or if the group overpays.

On the organic side, MiniMBA seems to be the standout performer. The company said it grew organically by over 20% cohort-to-cohort, which suggests healthy demand for its eLearning offering. That is encouraging because training and platform-style products can often be more scalable than agency-style work.

Which parts of the business drove the H1 2026 outperformance?

Brave Bison said first-half net revenue was ahead of budget and Board expectations. The outperformance was driven by MiniMBA, performance marketing and Sport & Entertainment activities.

That mix matters. It tells you growth is not hanging on one single division, even if MiniMBA is clearly an important engine. A broader spread of momentum usually makes revenue quality look better.

There was one softer spot. The insights practice was “marginally offset” by client budgets being negatively impacted by the Middle East crisis. That is a reminder that marketing spend can still be sensitive to wider geopolitical and economic pressure.

Brave Bison profitability and net cash show more than just flashy top-line growth

Revenue growth is great, but the stronger signal here may be the balance sheet. Brave Bison said that despite taking its largest-ever loan in 2025, it is now in a net cash position. That is a useful marker of financial resilience.

For smaller listed companies, cash strength can change the investment case quite a bit. It gives management more options, reduces pressure if trading wobbles, and can help fund further growth without immediately reaching for shareholders’ pockets.

The company also said it expects further cash generation in the second half of the year, absent any additional acquisitions. That caveat is important. It tells investors that cash could be redeployed if management sees another deal it likes.

Second-half weighting is important for the Brave Bison 2026 outlook

Brave Bison said profitability in the first half was in line with budget and full-year expectations remain in line with previous guidance. So there is no upgrade here, despite the strong first-half revenue number.

That might disappoint anyone hoping for management to raise expectations immediately. But the company also explained that MiniMBA’s first cohort runs from April to July, meaning profitability is structurally weighted towards the second half.

In other words, the better earnings contribution comes later in the year. That makes the lack of an upgrade easier to understand. It does not look like caution for caution’s sake – more like normal seasonality in how this business earns its money.

High-margin platform revenue gives Brave Bison a more attractive shape

One of the more interesting lines in this update is that scalable, platform-based solutions delivered 46% of Group divisional EBITDA and 33% of net revenue in H1. That suggests a meaningful chunk of the business has stronger economics than a standard people-heavy agency model.

The company described this part of the group as “high-margin” with “low marginal cost” economics. Put simply, once the platform is built, extra sales can be more profitable because they do not require costs to rise at the same pace.

That is the sort of operating profile investors tend to pay attention to. If Brave Bison can keep increasing the contribution from these platform-based activities, it could improve the quality of earnings over time.

New client wins add support to the Brave Bison growth story

New business wins in the period included Nestle, a multi-year engagement with Omnicom, ServiceNow, Heineken, Zoopla, McLaren and Nature’s Menu. That is a credible list and suggests the group is winning work from large and recognised brands.

I would not overstate this point, because the announcement does not disclose contract values. Still, the names are helpful. They indicate commercial traction and back up management’s claim that the business is performing well.

The System1 stake could matter, but it is not in these H1 figures

Brave Bison also reminded the market that the half-year financial results do not include any contribution from, or revaluation of, its 28% strategic investment in System1 Group plc. Management said this is despite strong trading and a substantial increase in market value.

That is potentially interesting because it hints at hidden value not captured in this trading update. But investors should stay disciplined here. The company has not given a figure for that increase in value in this RNS, so it is best treated as a supporting point rather than part of the core investment case for these results.

What looks positive and what still needs watching after this Brave Bison update

The positives

Net revenue up 97% to £23.7 million is a standout top-line result.

Adjusted EBITDA up 87% to £4.2 million shows growth is translating into profit.

Net cash of £4.7 million gives the group flexibility and lowers financial stress.

MiniMBA and platform-based solutions appear to be improving the quality of the business mix.

Full-year expectations remain in line, which suggests management is not seeing deterioration.

The watch-outs

There is no upgrade to guidance, despite the strong first half.

Part of the growth came from acquisitions, so investors will want to see continued integration and delivery.

The insights practice has already felt pressure from the Middle East crisis.

Adjusted EBITDA is not the same as statutory profit, and the RNS does not disclose statutory earnings here.

The value uplift in the System1 stake is mentioned, but not quantified in this announcement.

My take on the Brave Bison H1 2026 trading update

This is a positive update. Not a messy one, not a “good if you ignore the footnotes” one – just a genuinely strong trading statement with growth, profit progression and cash generation all moving in the right direction.

The most attractive feature, in my view, is not just the 97% revenue jump. It is the fact that Brave Bison is building a larger contribution from scalable, higher-margin activities while still ending up with net cash. That makes the story more durable than a simple revenue chase.

The market will still want proof in the full half-year results and in the second half, especially around the sustainability of growth and the role of acquisitions. But based on this RNS alone, Brave Bison looks like a company carrying solid momentum into the rest of 2026.