Gentrack said it had also bought Dubai Technology Partners (DTP), a 60-staff maker of “AI-powered operations tools” for airports, for an undisclosed sum. The purchase would add AI-centric technology and Middle East depth.
Profit falls by a third
Amova Asset Management research analyst Tim O’Loan said there were no surprises in today’s first-half numbers.
“This was a weak but expected result.”
First-half net profit fell 29% from the year-ago $7.2m to $5.1m, including a $3.9m tax credit.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) fell 39% from $13.0m to $7.9m.
Revenue fell 1.7% from $112.0m to $110m as a 2.9% increase from Gentrack’s airport software unit, Veovo, was offset by a 2.6% fall in income from its much larger utilities billing software division, which has faced rising competition from Octopus Energy-owned Kraken.
A bright spot was recurring revenue, which rose 11.6% to $85.3m.
Net cash increased 3.4% to $73.2m as of March 31.
Sticks to revised guidance, which saw shares dive
Gentrack stuck with its recently revised-down full-year guidance for ebitda between $13.5m and $20m (excluding acquisition costs) and revenue between $229m and $238m.
The firm said: “It is too early for us to provide guidance for FY27.″
A $20m share buyback was announced at the same time.
Shares (which peaked at $14.05 in November 2024) fell 34% to $3.94 on May 5 after Gentrack pulled back from its previous FY26 full-year revenue guidance of $248.5m.
The lowered forecast was blamed on contract delays.
AI disruption
“The rapid adoption of AI is reshaping expectations across the sectors we serve,” Gentrack said.
“Energy and water companies are under pressure to demonstrate an effective AI strategy, and this urgency will only grow. The question for most is no longer whether to act, but whether their technology platform is ready to act on.”
The firm is pitching its tools, now bolstered by Factor and DTP, as the answer.
On the analyst call, in response to a question about staffing in the age of artificial intelligence, Gentrack CFO John Priggen said, “An AI-linked retrenchment programme would be short-sighted.”
The pipeline
In a May 6 note, Forsyth Barr analysts James Lindsay and Georgio Toulis maintained their “outperform” rating but slashed their 12-month target price by 37% to $5.80.
“The top end of [revised] guidance implies an FY26 ebitda margin of 8.4%, below our prior 14%,” the pair said.
On the analyst call, Miles said his firm’s utilities pipeline over the next 12 months includes “more than 10 new customer opportunities’ covering around 30 million meter points” across Europe and Asia Pacific.
“We target to close three to four deals, expected from now through to March 2027,” he said.
There was limited detail on Gentrack’s pipeline, the pair wrote. More visibility would be required to restore investor confidence.
Miles recently topped the Herald’s CEO Pay Survey, with his $17.3m package.
The firm was the NZX’s top stock of 2024 with this 90.3% rise, but has so far been one of 2025’s worst performers with its 52.8% year-to-date fall.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
