Brave Bison interim results: net revenue jumps 98% as System1 offer takes centre stage

Brave Bison Group PLC has reported a substantial increase in first-half revenue and profit, helped by acquisitions, strong Sport & Entertainment trading and double-digit organic growth at MiniMBA.

For the six months ended 30 June 2026, net revenue rose 98% to £23.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA also increased 98% to £4.5 million, while adjusted profit before tax climbed 120% to £4.1 million.

Those are strong headline numbers. However, investors need to separate acquisition-led expansion from organic progress and consider the effect of new share issuance. Brave Bison's firm offer for System1 also means the investment case now carries greater strategic and financial complexity.

The full figures are available in the original company announcement.

Brave Bison's key first-half figures

Metric	H1 2026	H1 2025	Change
Net revenue	£23.9 million	£12.0 million	98%
Adjusted EBITDA	£4.5 million	£2.3 million	98%
Adjusted EBITDA margin	19%	19%	No change
Adjusted profit before tax	£4.1 million	£1.9 million	120%
Adjusted basic EPS	3.7p	2.9p	31%
Statutory profit before tax	£2.1 million	£0.1 million	1,938%
Net cash excluding lease liabilities	£4.7 million	£3.9 million	21%

EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Brave Bison's adjusted measure also adds back acquisition costs, restructuring costs and share-based payments.

The adjusted EBITDA margin remained at 19%. That is important because it shows the group maintained profitability as it integrated acquired businesses and invested to support growth.

The lack of margin expansion is not necessarily a concern at this stage, but it does mean the 98% EBITDA increase mainly reflects a much larger revenue base rather than a major improvement in group-wide efficiency.

Platform-based operations are becoming more important

One of the more encouraging details is the contribution from Brave Bison's scalable, platform-based solutions.

These operations generated 32% of net revenue but 41% of divisional EBITDA during the period. This suggests they are producing a disproportionately large share of profit.

Platform businesses can often serve additional customers at a relatively low marginal cost, meaning the expense of supplying one more customer can be limited. Brave Bison highlighted MiniMBA as a central part of this model.

MiniMBA achieved record contract wins, including a multi-year agreement with Omnicom. The business, acquired in August 2025, also delivered double-digit organic growth year on year.

Organic growth is particularly useful because it excludes the immediate uplift created by buying another company. It therefore provides some evidence that Brave Bison is improving the underlying businesses it acquires, rather than relying solely on further deals to become larger.

Sport & Entertainment also delivered a resilient performance, while new business wins across the group included Nestlé, ServiceNow, Heineken, Zoopla, Booking.com, McLaren, Nature's Menu, Omnicom and Versuni.

Why adjusted and statutory profit differ

Statutory profit before tax increased from £0.1 million to £2.1 million, but it remained well below adjusted profit before tax of £4.1 million.

The largest adjustment was £1.4 million of amortisation relating to acquired intangible assets, up from £0.2 million. Amortisation spreads the accounting value of intangible assets, such as acquired customer relationships and brands, across their expected useful lives.

Brave Bison also excluded £0.3 million of acquisition costs, £0.3 million of restructuring costs and £0.1 million of share-based payments from its adjusted result. These were partly offset by a £0.1 million gain from remeasuring contingent consideration.

Acquisition and restructuring costs fell to £0.6 million from £1.5 million, although the board expects acquisition costs to increase during the second half.

Investors should therefore consider both sets of figures. Adjusted profit helps illustrate underlying trading, but statutory profit captures the accounting costs attached to Brave Bison's acquisition strategy.

Cash, debt repayments and share issuance

Net cash excluding lease liabilities stood at £4.7 million at 30 June 2026, compared with £4.3 million at the end of 2025.

Cash and cash equivalents were £8.3 million, while bank loans totalled £3.6 million. Brave Bison repaid £2.6 million of bank borrowing during the half and a further £1.5 million in July.

Cash generated before working-capital movements was partly absorbed by a £2.6 million working-capital outflow. The company said this followed strong cash collection in the final quarter of 2025. Reported cash inflow from operating activities was £1.3 million.

The group also spent £1.3 million acquiring System1 shares and paid £0.5 million in dividends. Meanwhile, the exercise of Mark Ritson's share option brought in approximately £2.0 million.

Share issuance deserves attention. Brave Bison issued 9,763,821 shares to System1 founder John Kearon as part of its strategic investment and another 4,081,632 shares for cash to an entity controlled by MiniMBA founder Mark Ritson.

This helps explain why adjusted basic earnings per share grew by 31%, substantially less than the 120% increase in adjusted profit before tax. The business is producing more profit, but that profit is being spread across a larger share base.

The System1 offer raises the stakes

Brave Bison acquired approximately 28% of System1 in March 2026 at a blended average price of 242p per share. That holding had a market value of £11.0 million at 30 June, compared with a carrying value of £8.9 million.

After the period ended, Brave Bison made a firm offer for the remaining System1 shares. The proposed consideration is 135p in cash plus 2.04 new Brave Bison shares for each System1 share, valued at 327p using the specified Brave Bison reference price.

You can read more about the terms in my earlier coverage of Brave Bison's firm offer for System1.

Management believes System1's advertising-effectiveness platform would complement Brave Bison's existing operations and form the cornerstone of a new division. The strategic logic is understandable, but completing and integrating the transaction would bring execution risk, additional acquisition expenses and potential dilution from issuing more shares.

What investors should watch in the second half

Trading remains in line with the board's expectations, but performance is expected to be weighted towards the second half. MiniMBA's course calendar runs from April to July and September to December, creating seasonal variation.

The main points to monitor are:

• whether MiniMBA maintains its organic growth and converts contract wins into profit and cash
• whether the adjusted EBITDA margin remains resilient as the group invests for growth
• the level of acquisition costs associated with System1
• further working-capital movements and cash conversion
• the number of new shares required if the System1 offer succeeds
• management's ability to integrate acquisitions without weakening operational focus

Brave Bison's first-half numbers show clear financial momentum, with higher revenue, profit, earnings per share and net cash. The platform-based contribution also points towards a potentially more scalable earnings mix.

The next phase is more demanding. Investors must now judge whether management can convert that momentum into durable per-share growth while pursuing a significantly larger strategic combination with System1.