NCC Group (LSE:NCC) announced it has appointed Guy Ellis as chief executive, replacing Mike Maddison with immediate effect, alongside a trading update guiding full-year results in line with market expectations for revenue and ahead of expectations for adjusted EBITDA.
The Manchester-headquartered cybersecurity consulting group, in Tuesday's trading update, also said it expects to report FY26 audited results on 10 December, with Cyber revenue, excluding non-core disposals, expected at approximately £235m for the year ended 30 September, up 3.7% on a constant-currency comparable basis from £227.4m in FY25.
Cyber gross margin is expected to reach a record 38.4%, up 1.8 percentage points, while Cyber adjusted EBITDA is expected at £16.3m, around 6.9% of revenue.
Net cash is expected at approximately £53m at the year-end, with 35% of the group's allocated £15m share buyback programme executed in the period, following an earlier £170m tender offer completed in August and a £40m initial buyback completed in April.
The disposal of Escode, completed in May, generated net cash proceeds of £262.8m and forms part of a wider de-risking that has also included the prior sales of Fox-IT DetACT and Fox-IT Crypto; the three disposals together realised enterprise value of approximately £349m, as previously disclosed at the company's June interim results. NCC is providing transitional services to Escode's buyer under an agreement running until 28 May 2027.
For the eight months to May, Escode is expected to have generated revenue of approximately £44m and adjusted EBITDA of £19.7m, taking total group revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the year to approximately £280m and £36m respectively.
Chris Stone, NCC's chair, said Maddison and the executive team had transformed the group into "a focused and strategically positioned cyber security business" over the past four and a half years, and credited Ellis, who joined the board as chief financial officer in June 2023, with having "played a central role in strengthening the Group's financial performance and commercial discipline including delivering the successful divestment of Escode."
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Andy Beaver, currently group financial director, becomes interim chief financial officer to support the transition.
Ellis said the group's strategy going forward is to "deepen client relationships, expand our managed services capabilities, scale our cyber expertise", targeting organic growth, recurring revenues and margin expansion toward a mid-teens EBITDA margin.
The board said its outlook and financial expectations for the year ending 30 September 2027 remain unchanged. NCC also confirmed it completed a refinancing in September with a new three-year £60m revolving credit facility, and will provide a more detailed update on its growth strategy alongside its FY26 audited results on 10 December.