RWS Holdings: Trading Statement

RWS Holdings PLC

27 October 2026

 

For immediate release                                                                                                   27 October 2026

RWS Holdings plc

Year End Trading Statement and Notice of Results

Return to growth, with profit up c.9% and substantive strategic progress

RWS Holdings plc (AIM: RWS.L) ("RWS", "the Group"), a global AI solutions company empowering the world's most trusted enterprise AI, today provides an update on its unaudited financial performance for the year ended 30 September 2026 ("FY26"), ahead of the announcement of its full year results on 15 December 2026.

FY26 Performance

Organic constant currency ("OCC")¹ revenue growth was c.3% for the full year (FY25: -0.7%). Reported revenue is expected to be c.£700m, a c.2% increase on prior year (FY25: -4%).

The Group expects to deliver adjusted Profit before Tax (“PBT”)² in line with market expectations, c.9% ahead of prior year (even with the impact of the £1m loss from Obviously Group in the period) and an adjusted PBT margin² of c.9.4% (FY25: 8.8%). 

Continued strong cash conversion, ahead of expectations, led to net debt³ of c.£38m at the end of September 2026 after the £16.5m initial Obviously Group consideration (31 March 2026: £32.5m).

Growth engines performing, Transform on track

Reflecting the success of our new operating model and through greater accountability across the Group, all three segments delivered revenues in line with our expectations:

• Generate: double-digit OCC¹ revenue growth, led by a very strong year for TrainAI, in the first half in particular and benefiting from a growing customer base and sustained activity from frontier model developers.

• Transform: mid-single digit OCC¹ revenue decline. Services held up well in EMEA, APAC and with global technology clients. We are encouraged by the market reaction to Language Weaver Pro and the initial revenues we saw in H2. We also rationalised some parts of the client portfolio. In September RWS was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Localization Services, Q3 2026, the evaluation recognising the Group’s leadership in hyperlocalisation, AI-readiness services and multimodal localisation.

• Protect: mid-single digit OCC¹ revenue growth from winning new customers and a broadened product portfolio. We successfully completed the integration of Obviously Group, entering the brand protection market and materially expanding the segment’s overall addressable market. We invested in people and technology to support future growth.

Significant strategic progress

We have made clear progress on all three pillars of the strategy we set out in December 2025.

• Go-to-market: new clients won across several end markets; investment in our sales capability; and the agreed acquisition of Acolad, which significantly widens our reach in Europe and our base for cross-selling.

• Technology and innovation: Language Weaver Pro, built with Cohere, launched in March; our next-generation translation management platform launches in November; and the acquisition of Obviously Group added an IP management platform to Protect.

• Simplification and efficiency: simpler processes, leaner delivery and more automated workflows across the Group, with an expected improvement in our productivity KPIs.

Update re Agreement to acquire Acogroup, the parent company of Acolad

We have received the necessary regulatory clearance from the French Ministry for the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty and from the relevant French Works Councils. We expect to announce completion of the transaction within the next two weeks.

Ben Faes, Chief Executive Officer of RWS:

"I am pleased with the progress that the Group has made in FY26. We returned to growth, grew profit and operating margin, and generated strong cash.

"The Generate and Protect segments are driving profitable growth. In Transform, we are moving at pace to AI-led technology. Language Weaver Pro is in market and our next generation translation management platform launches next month.

"We enter FY27 in a stronger position. The acquisition of Acolad is expected to complete shortly, adding scale in Europe and a larger enterprise client base for all three segments. Our investment in sales capability is intended to support improved organic growth in FY27, including in Transform technology revenue.

"AI is reshaping our industry and RWS is leading that change. Our vision is clear: to be the cultural intelligence layer for enterprise AI. I would like to thank the whole RWS team for their commitment, energy and focus during the year."

Board

Patrick De Smedt joined the Board as Chair on 8 October, following the announcement of his appointment on 17 September. The Board would like to thank Andrew Brode for his leadership as interim Chairman over the last nine months.

Notice of Full Year Results

RWS will provide a further update with its full year results on 15 December 2026. To register your interest in attending the results presentation, please email RWS@mhpgroup.com.

Notes:

¹  Adjusted to reflect a like-for-like comparison between reporting periods and assumes constant currency across both reporting periods.

²  RWS uses adjusted results as key performance indicators as the directors believe these provide a more consistent measure of operating performance.

³ Net cash/net debt comprises cash and cash equivalents less loans but before deducting lease liabilities.

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About RWS:

RWS is a global AI solutions company empowering the world’s most trusted enterprise AI.

Our proprietary Cultural Intelligence Layer, powered by 250,000+ data specialists, cultural and language experts and deep domain professionals, backed by 45+ patents, makes enterprise AI culturally fluent, contextually accurate and secure, ensuring every interaction reflects a brand’s tone, context and customer values.

Through our Generate, Transform and Protect segments, we deliver intelligent content, enterprise knowledge, large-scale localisation and IP protection for global growth. Trusted by 80+ of the world’s top 100 brands, RWS provides the confidence, governance and expertise organisations need to deploy AI safely, responsibly and at scale.

Headquartered in the UK, RWS is listed on AIM (RWS.L).

For further information, please visit: rws.com.

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