Foresight Group Reports Record Fundraising and Double-Digit Profit Growth in FY26 Results

Record Retail Fundraising Is a Big Positive for Foresight Shares

The standout operational detail here is retail fundraising. Foresight delivered its fifth successive year of record annual fundraising for higher-margin retail vehicles, bringing in £630 million, up 7% from £587 million in FY25 and up 93% from £327 million in FY23.

That is important because higher-margin products can support profitability better than lower-fee strategies. Put simply, not all assets are equal, and Foresight is raising money in areas that should be more valuable to the business.

Institutional progress was a bit more mixed, but still constructive. The regional private equity strategy brought in £95 million of gross inflows in FY26, including the launch of a 16th fund.

FEIP II fundraising is promising, but still has work to do

Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners II SCSp, or FEIP II, has secured €595 million of commitments so far against a €1.25 billion target. That is meaningful progress, but it also tells you the fund is not yet near the finish line.

The portfolio currently includes three investments with €183 million committed across battery storage, solar and onshore wind. Strategically, that fits nicely with the long-term themes investors tend to like in the energy transition space.

Foresight Profit Growth Looks Good, But Revenue Quality Was Slightly Less Clean

Revenue rose 11% to £164.9 million, while core EBITDA pre-SBP increased 10% to £68.6 million. EBITDA is a profit measure before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, and pre-SBP means before share-based payments.

Adjusted earnings per share climbed 13% to 46.4p, which is a strong result. The margin was basically flat at 41.6%, down just 0.2 percentage points, so the business is still converting revenue into profit at a healthy rate.

The only mild snag is the recurring revenue mix. Recurring revenue rose in absolute terms to £135.3 million, but fell as a share of total revenue to 82.1% from 86.1%.

That sounds worse than it really is, because the drop was driven by higher performance fees from successful Australian exits. Performance fees can be lucrative, but they are lumpier than ongoing management fees, so this year’s mix was a little less predictable than management’s target range of 85-90%.

Australian exits boosted profits but reduced AUM

Successful realisations in Australia included Zenith Energy and Kinetic. These exits contributed material performance fees, helped the profit line, and strengthened the team’s track record.

The flip side is that realisations reduce assets once investments are sold, and these exits decreased AUM by £250 million. So this is one of those cases where lower AUM is not necessarily bad news – it came with cash-generative gains.

Dividend Increase and Share Buyback Show Strong Cash Generation

Income investors will like this part. The board has recommended a final dividend of 19.0p, taking the total dividend for FY26 to 27.1p, up 12% from 24.2p in FY25.

The final dividend will be paid on 2 October 2026, with an ex-dividend date of 17 September 2026 and a record date of 18 September 2026. A rising dividend alongside profit growth is usually a good signal that management is comfortable with cash generation.

Foresight is also part-way through its up to £50 million share buyback programme over three years. A net £9.6 million was used in FY26, leaving £40.4 million expected to be utilised over FY27 and FY28, although the board said it will reassess this against capital allocation priorities.

There is another shareholder-friendly detail here: any repurchased ordinary shares not needed for Performance Share Plan awards will be cancelled twice a year. That can help support earnings per share over time by reducing the share count.

Sale of Foresight Capital Management Could Make the Business Easier to Understand

One of the more interesting strategic moves is the agreed sale of the public markets division, announced on 11 June 2026. Completion is expected during the third quarter of 2026.

For investors, this looks sensible. A cleaner focus on Real Assets and Private Equity should make the story easier to follow and may improve the quality of earnings if the remaining business is built around long-duration capital and visible fees.

The results in this RNS are already presented on a continuing operations basis, reflecting that agreed sale. That is useful because it gives a clearer read on the business Foresight expects to keep.

My Take on Foresight Group FY26 Results for Retail Investors

Overall, this looks like a positive update. The company is growing, retail fundraising is hitting records, profits are up by double digits, and shareholders are getting a higher dividend plus ongoing buybacks.

The less positive angle is that some of the profit uplift came from performance fees, which are naturally less predictable than recurring fee income. The recurring revenue ratio also slipped below management’s 85-90% target range, even if the reason was not especially worrying.

So the bigger picture is this: Foresight appears to be executing well, but the market will still want to see continued fundraising and steady conversion of that into recurring fees. If it can keep building AUM in higher-margin strategies while completing the public markets disposal cleanly, the investment case should look stronger and simpler.

Investors wanting more detail can view the FY26 Annual Report via the National Storage Mechanism, visit Foresight’s website, or register for the retail presentation through Investor Meet Company.