Half Year 2026 Trustpilot Group PLC Earnings Call

September 15, 2026

Speaker #1: Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us today for Trustpilot's half-year 2026 results call. The presentation will commence shortly. After the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session.

Operator: Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us today for Trustpilot's H1 2026 Results call. The presentation will commence shortly. After the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will be able to submit these via the Ask a Question button on the Spark Live page. I would now like to hand the call over to Adrian Blair, Chief Executive Officer, to open the presentation. Please go ahead.

Operator: Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us today for Trustpilot's half year 2026 Results call. The presentation will commence shortly. After the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will be able to submit these via the Ask a Question button on the Spark Live page. I would now like to hand the call over to Adrian Blair, Chief Executive Officer, to open the presentation. Please go ahead.

Speaker #1: If you wish to ask a question, you will be able to submit these via the 'Ask a Question' button on the SparkLife page. I would now like to hand the call over to Adrian Blair, Chief Executive Officer, to open the presentation.

Speaker #1: Please. Go ahead.

Speaker #2: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the webcast today for Trustpilot's first half 2026 results. Hanno and I look forward to walking you through what was next in the first half, with strong growth and strategic progress.

Adrian Blair: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the webcast today for Trustpilot's H1 2026 results. Hanno and I look forward to walking you through what was next in the H1 with strong growth and strategic progress. Before we get into the numbers, I want to put on record my sincere thanks to our outgoing CFO, Hanno Damm, for his extraordinary contribution to Trustpilot over the last 11 years. Hanno has been instrumental in taking a startup into the era of profitable growth we are now in. I am sure I speak for everyone on this call in wishing Hanno well for the future. Following on from that, I am delighted to introduce our new CFO, Marcus Roy, who joined us yesterday following an extremely successful five years as CFO of The Economist Group. Welcome, Marcus.

Speaker #2: Before we get into the numbers, I want to put on record my sincere thanks to our outgoing CFO, Hanno Damm, for his extraordinary contribution to Trustpilot over the last 11 years.

Speaker #2: Hanno has been instrumental in taking a startup into the era of profitable growth we're now in. I'm sure I speak for everyone on this call in wishing Hanno well for the future.

Speaker #2: Following on from that, I'm delighted to introduce our new CFO, Marcus Roy. He joined us yesterday, following an extremely successful five years as CFO of The Economist Group.

Speaker #2: Welcome, Marcus.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Adrian, and good morning, everyone. I'm delighted to be joining Trustpilot as CFO, and I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming days.

Marcus Roy: Thanks, Adrian, and good morning, everyone. I am delighted to be joining Trustpilot as CFO. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming days. I am honored to play a part in the business's future success, and will now pass back to Adrian and Hanno to take you through today's results.

Speaker #3: I'm honored to play a part in the business's future success, and will now pass back to Adrian and Hanno to take you through today's results.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Marcus, and welcome on board. Given Marcus's short tenure, Hanno, of course, will be supporting me on today's call. As usual, I'll run through operational highlights before handing you over to Hanno for the financials. I'll then finish up with a deeper look at our strategic progress.

Adrian Blair: Thanks, Marcus, and welcome on board. Given Marcus's short tenure, Hanno, of course, will be supporting me on today's call. As usual, I will run through operational highlights before handing you over to Hanno for the financials. I will then finish up with a deeper look at strategic progress. Three headlines for today's results. First, the business is delivering financially. We grew bookings 18% in constant currency, with particularly outstanding performance in North America, up 27%. This drove adjusted EBITDA to increase by 46% to $26.3 million, and a margin of 17.4%. Second, we are winning in enterprise. Annual recurring revenue from customers paying over $20,000 a year grew 35%, with a host of new product features increasing our appeal to large businesses across sectors. Third, AI is deepening our influence. Trustpilot is the number one cited review platform globally, according to research by Seer Interactive.

Speaker #2: Three headlines for today's results: First, the business is delivering financially. We grew bookings 18% in constant currency, with particularly outstanding performance in North America, up 27%.

Speaker #2: This drove adjusted EBITDA to increase by 46% to $26.3 million, with a margin of 17.4%. Second, we're winning in enterprise. Annual recurring revenue from customers paying over $20,000 a year grew 35%, with a host of new product features increasing our appeal to large businesses across sectors.

Speaker #2: Third, AI is deepening our influence. Trustpilot is the number one cited review platform globally, according to research by Sierra Interactive. We saw a more than 400% year-on-year increase in ChatGPT citations.

Adrian Blair: We saw a more than 400% year-on-year increase in ChatGPT citations. Let's take a deeper look now at operational performance. As you know, a strong growth flywheel underpins our business. In essence, Trustpilot products collect customer feedback and turn it into impact on the actions of people and businesses. Because the feedback has impact, people are motivated to write it, and businesses want to engage with Trustpilot. Increasingly, that impact extends to AI as well as people. In H1, our users submitted 20% more reviews year-on-year, and our dataset expanded to 394 million active reviews. Just after the period closed in July, we celebrated crossing the major milestone of 400 million reviews on the platform. Impressions of our brand on other websites grew 15% year-on-year, and Trustpilot reviews received 29 billion Google impressions in the H1.

Speaker #2: Let's take a deeper look now at operational performance. As you know, a strong growth flywheel underpins our business. In essence, Trustpilot products collect customer feedback and turn it into impact on the actions of people and businesses.

Speaker #2: Because the feedback has impact, people are motivated to write it, and businesses want to engage with Trustpilot. Increasingly, that impact extends to AI as well as people.

Speaker #2: In H1, our users submitted 20% more reviews year on year, and our dataset expanded to 394 million active reviews. Just after the period closed in July, we celebrated crossing the major milestone of 400 million reviews on the platform.

Speaker #2: Impressions of our brand on other websites grew 15% year-on-year, and Trustpilot reviews received 29 billion Google impressions in the first half. This flywheel of more consumers writing and reading reviews, and more businesses deeply engaging with the platform, continues to reinforce itself around the world and underpins all the growth you'll hear about today.

Adrian Blair: This flywheel of more consumers writing and reading reviews, more businesses deeply engaging with the platform, continues to reinforce itself around the world and underpins all the growth you'll hear about today. Bookings grew 18% on a constant currency basis, with healthy growth across focus markets, including an outstanding performance in North America. Key verticals driving growth in the period included lending, insurance, health and wellbeing, and utilities. Gross retention remained at the record 87% level we delivered in 2025. On the new sales side, enterprise momentum is excellent. We're increasingly seeing large multinational brands prioritize AI search optimization. We recently won Expedia as a customer, and spending time with businesses like that has made clear to me that they understand LLMs need relevant, authoritative, and recent review data to recommend their offerings.

Speaker #2: So, bookings grew 18% on a constant currency basis, with healthy growth across focused markets, including an outstanding performance in North America. Key verticals driving growth in the period included lending, insurance, health and wellbeing, and utilities.

Speaker #2: Gross retention remained at the record 87% level we delivered in 2025. On the new sales side, enterprise momentum is excellent. We're increasingly seeing large multinational brands prioritize AI search optimization.

Speaker #2: We recently won Expedia as a customer, and spending time with businesses like that has made it clear to me that they understand LLMs need relevant, authoritative, and recent review data to recommend their offerings.

Speaker #2: Customer logos paying more than $20,000 per year grew 29% year-on-year, and we also saw significant growth in customers signing contracts over $100,000 in the half.

Adrian Blair: Customer logos paying more than $20,000 per year grew 29% year-on-year, and we also saw significant growth in customers signing contracts over $100,000 in the H1. As this enterprise base expands, it becomes much more relevant to view our growth through a global lens. With large multinational customers, we're seeing a natural shift in how some of these accounts manage their billing relationships, a dynamic I'll come back to on the next slide. Because of the inherent operating leverage in our model, this top-line growth translated into a 46% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $26.3 million, delivering a margin of 17.4%, up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year. Later, Hanno will take you through where we're seeing the operating leverage come through in more detail. Let me now touch on each region individually. Starting with the UK, where we delivered bookings of $64 million, up 11% on a constant currency basis.

Adrian Blair: Customer logos paying more than $20,000 per year grew 29% year-on-year, and we also saw significant growth in customers signing contracts over $100,000 in the half. As this enterprise base expands, it becomes much more relevant to view our growth through a global lens. With large multinational customers, we're seeing a natural shift in how some of these accounts manage their billing relationships, a dynamic I'll come back to on the next slide. Because of the inherent operating leverage in our model, this top-line growth translated into a 46% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $26.3 million, delivering a margin of 17.4%, up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year. Later, Hanno will take you through where we're seeing the operating leverage come through in more detail. Let me now touch on each region individually. Starting with the UK, where we delivered bookings of $64 million, up 11% on a constant currency basis.

Speaker #2: As this enterprise base expands, it becomes much more relevant to view our growth through a global lens. With large multinational customers, we're seeing a natural shift in how some of these accounts manage their billing relationships—a dynamic I'll come back to on the next slide.

Speaker #2: Because of the inherent operating leverage in our model, this top-line growth translates into a 46% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $26.3 million, delivering a margin of 17.4%, up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year.

Speaker #2: Later, Hanno will take you through where we're seeing the operating leverage come through in more detail. But let me now touch on each region individually.

Speaker #2: Starting with the UK, where we delivered bookings of $64 million, up 11% on a constant currency basis. The net retention rate here remains above the group average, and with a 60% contribution margin, the UK continues to demonstrate the highly cash-generative profile the wider group can grow into at scale.

Adrian Blair: The net retention rate here remains above the group average, and with a 60% contribution margin, the UK continues to demonstrate the highly cash generative profile the wider group can grow into at scale. Sales growth was particularly strong among customers paying more than $20,000 per year, up 27% year-on-year. Notable customer wins included Halfords, Space NK, and EE. Growth was particularly strong in the telecoms, automotive, and electronics verticals, which all grew well in excess of 20%. Our business in the UK is incredibly diversified across the economy, with revenue above $1 million in 41 separate industry verticals, and the top 10 accounting for just 39% of total ARR. With overall market penetration still low at around 5%, the runway for growth remains significant in both the number of customers and the revenue per customer.

Speaker #2: Sales growth was particularly strong among customers paying more than $20,000 per year, up 27% year-on-year. Notable customer wins included Halfords, Space NK, and EE.

Speaker #2: Growth was particularly strong in the telecoms, automotive, and electronics verticals, which all grew well in excess of 20%. Our business in the UK is incredibly diversified across the economy, with revenue above $1 million in 41 separate industry verticals, and the top 10 accounting for just 39% of total ARR.

Speaker #2: With overall market penetration still lower, at around 5%, the runway for growth remains significant—in both the number of customers and the revenue per customer.

Speaker #2: A growing number of our largest enterprise customers are moving their billing relationships overseas as they expand internationally. Expedia is a good example—a global deal won by our UK team, but billed out of the US and therefore captured in our North America bookings figure.

Adrian Blair: A growing number of our largest enterprise customers are moving their billing relationships overseas as they expand internationally. Expedia is a good example, a global deal won by our UK team, but billed out of the US and therefore captured in our North America bookings figure. Overall, this had a one to two percentage point impact on reported UK growth. It is a reminder that particularly on the enterprise side, customer billing location is not a perfect proxy for underlying market penetration, given how these multinational accounts actually operate. Turning now to Europe and the rest of the world. We delivered strong bookings growth of 19% at constant currency to $68 million, with growth across the region in both number of customers and average contract value. DACH, that is Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, delivered a particularly strong performance, up 30% in constant currency year-on-year.

Speaker #2: Overall, this had a 1–2 percentage point impact on reported UK growth. It’s a reminder that, particularly on the enterprise side, customer billing location is not a perfect proxy for underlying market penetration, given how these multinational accounts actually operate.

Speaker #2: Turning now to Europe and the rest of the world, we delivered strong bookings growth of 19% at constant currency to $68 million, with growth across the region in both the number of customers and average contract value.

Speaker #2: DACH, that is Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, delivered a particularly strong performance, up 30% in constant currency year-on-year. As a result of this sustained momentum, our DACH ARR has now surpassed $20 million, and Germany is our third biggest country after the UK and US.

Adrian Blair: As a result of this sustained momentum, our DACH ARR has now surpassed $20 million, and Germany is our third biggest country after the UK and the US. We recorded our best ever H1 sales from customers paying more than $20,000 per year, and the share of bookings from that cohort in DACH was up five percentage points to 59%. We continue to win enterprise accounts across the region, including Bending Spoons and Isybank in Italy. Moving to North America, which comprises the US and Canada. We delivered outstanding bookings growth of 27% on a constant currency basis. As I touched on earlier, this top-line figure is also supported by the expansion of our multinational base with billing relationships in North America. We saw excellent new business momentum, and new business sales up 76% year-on-year.

Speaker #2: We recorded our best-ever H1 sales from customers paying more than $20,000 per year, and the share of bookings from that cohort in DACH was up 5 percentage points to 59%.

Speaker #2: We continue to win enterprise accounts across the region, including Bending Spoons and EasyBank in Italy. Moving to North America, which comprises the US and Canada, we delivered outstanding bookings growth of 27% on a constant currency basis.

Speaker #2: As I touched on earlier, this top-line figure is also supported by the expansion of our multinational base, with billing relationships in North America. We saw excellent new business momentum, with new business sales up 76% year-on-year.

Speaker #2: Both sides of the flywheel strengthened in the half, with organic reviews up 50% year-on-year, and the number of paying customers 11% higher year-on-year. We welcomed notable enterprise clients in the half, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Intact Insurance, and Sunrun.

Adrian Blair: Both sides of the flywheel strengthened in the half, with organic reviews up 50% year-on-year and the number of paying customers 11% higher year-on-year. We welcome notable enterprise clients in the half, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Intact Insurance, and Sunrun. I will now hand you over to Hanno to take you through the financials in more details.

Speaker #2: I'll now hand you over to Hanno to take you through the financials in more detail.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Adrian, and good morning, everyone. We delivered another strong half for bookings, EBITDA growth, margin, and continued cash generation. Let's go through the numbers in more detail.

Hanno Damm: Thank you, Adrian, and good morning, everyone. We delivered another strong half for bookings, EBITDA growth, margin, and continued cash generation. Let us go through the numbers in more detail. Bookings grew 18% in constant currency to $171 million in H1, continuing a clear and consistent track record of top-line growth. Our LTM net dollar retention rate was 101%. As you can see on the right, we continue to scale profitably. Adjusted EBITDA grew 46% to a record $26.3 million, a record margin of 17.4%, which is up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year at the top end of our guidance, and we delivered $16 million of adjusted free cash flow in the period. Our LTM gross dollar retention rate remains strong at 87% through H1. Since 2023, we have placed significant focus on improving gross retention and delivered a three percentage point improvement over the past three years.

Speaker #3: Bookings grew 18% in constant currency to $171 million in H1, continuing a clear and consistent track record of top-line growth. Our LTM net dollar retention rate was 101%.

Speaker #3: As you can see on the right, we continue to scale profitably. Adjusted EBITDA grew 46% to a record $26.3 million, a record margin of 17.4%, which is up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year at the top end of our guidance, and we delivered $16 million of adjusted free cash flow in the period.

Speaker #3: Our LTM gross dollar retention rate remained strong at 87% through H1. Since 2023, we have placed significant focus on improving gross retention and delivered a 3-percentage-point improvement over the past three years.

Speaker #3: Within that, it's worth highlighting the UK's particularly strong gross retention rate of 88%. Net expansion of 14% brought net dollar retention to 101%, from 103% in the LTM ending H1 25, as we completed the annualization of previously flagged package migrations.

Hanno Damm: Within that, it is worth highlighting the UK's particularly strong gross retention rate of 88%. Net expansion of 14% brought net dollar retention to 101% from 103% in the LTM ending H1 2025, as we completed the annualization of previously flagged package migrations. Retention rates of 100% plus reflect the strength of our growth flywheel, product innovation, and our enterprise strategy. This chart shows the compounding power of our subscription model with each new cohort of bookings stacking on top of a highly retentive, expanding existing base. The mix shift towards our highest margin enterprise segment continues to accelerate. Customers paying us over $20,000 a year now represent 47% of total bookings, up from 27% back in H1 2023. The underlying unit economics of these accounts also remain excellent, with gross dollar and net dollar retention for the segment well ahead of the group.

Speaker #3: Retention rates of 100% plus reflect the strength of our growth flywheel, product innovation, and our enterprise strategy. This chart shows the compounding power of our subscription model, with each new cohort of bookings stacking on top of a highly retentive, expanding existing base.

Speaker #3: The mix shift towards our highest-margin enterprise segment continues to accelerate. Customers paying us over $20,000 a year now represent 47% of total bookings, up from 27% back in H1 2023.

Speaker #3: The underlying unit economics of these accounts also remain excellent, with gross dollar and net dollar retention for the segment well ahead of the group.

Speaker #3: Momentum in the US has been particularly notable here. The proportion of ARR coming from customers paying over $20,000 a year in the US is now approaching similar levels to the UK, which stands at 49% of ARR, albeit the US is coming from a much lower base.

Hanno Damm: Momentum in the US has been particularly notable here. The proportion of ARR coming from customers paying over $20,000 a year in the US is now approaching similar levels to the UK, which stands at 49% of ARR, albeit the US is coming from a much lower base. That is a real marker of how quickly North America is scaling and how our value proposition there is strengthening. Let us look at the income statement from a management view down to adjusted EBITDA, excluding stock-based compensation, G&A and non-recurring items. As always, an IFRS statement and reconciliations are in the appendix. We delivered revenue of $151.4 million and a gross margin of 83%, up 0.8 percentage points year-on-year, reflecting infrastructure and hosting optimizations as volume scaled, partially offset by continued investment in our customer success teams following the sales reorganization.

Speaker #3: That's a real marker of how quickly North America is scaling and how our value proposition there is strengthening. Let's look at the income statement from a management view down to adjusted EBITDA, excluding stock-based compensation, D&A, and non-recurring items.

Speaker #3: As always, an IFRS statement and reconciliations are in the appendix. We delivered revenue of $151.4 million and a gross margin of 83%, up 0.8 percentage points year on year, reflecting infrastructure and hosting optimizations as volume scales, partially offset by continued investment in our customer success teams following the sales reorganization.

Speaker #3: Sales and marketing was $41 million, or 27% of revenue, in line with H1 25. We continue to make investments into new customer acquisition and are improving efficiency every year.

Hanno Damm: Sales and marketing was $41 million or 27% of revenue, in line with H1 2025. We continue to make investments into new customer acquisition and are improving efficiency every year. Technology and content improved to 23% of revenue, down half a percentage point as revenue growth outpaced our continued investment in technology capabilities, including our nearshore engineering partnership and new AI adoption capabilities. We rolled out Claude across our tech product and finance team towards the end of the period, and we see this as a foundational investment with potential to expand to additional teams in H2, which we expect to build efficiency gains over time. G&A was 14% of revenue, down 1.2 percentage points, reflecting good underlying cost discipline. Whilst this slide presents the income statement as management views it is worth spending a few minutes explaining the non-recurring items on the face of the income statement.

Speaker #3: Technology and content improved to 23% of revenue, down half a percentage point, as revenue growth outpaced our continued investment in technology capabilities, including our nearshore engineering partnership and new AI adoption capabilities.

Speaker #3: We rolled out Claude across our tech, product, and finance teams towards the end of the period, and we see this as a foundational investment with potential to expand to additional teams in H2, which we expect will build efficiency gains over time.

Speaker #3: GNA was 14% of revenue, down 1.2 percentage points, reflecting good underlying cost discipline. Whilst this slide presents the income statement as management views it, it's worth spending a few minutes explaining the non-recurring items on the face of the income statement.

Speaker #3: We excluded the previously announced Italian regulatory fine, which we are robustly appealing. We also excluded a provision relating to a historical U.S. sales tax exposure.

Hanno Damm: We excluded the previously announced Italian regulatory fine, which we are robustly appealing. We also excluded a provision relating to a historical US sales tax exposure. We identified this following revised external advice on state indirect tax nexus rules, where sales tax had not been applied to certain customer invoices. This has resulted in a $2.6 million restatement of prior period and $0.8 million in the current period. The adjustment has no impact on current period trading performance, adjusted EBITDA or our FY 2026 guidance. We delivered record-adjusted EBITDA of $26.3 million, up 46%, and a margin of 17.4%, up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year, which keeps us firmly on the path to our 25% adjusted EBITDA margin target in 2028 and 30% in 2030. The clearest measure of underlying performance is cash generation. We delivered $60 million of adjusted free cash flow, up 5% year-on-year.

Speaker #3: We identified the following revised external advice on state indirect tax nexus rules, where sales tax hadn't been applied to certain customer invoices. This has resulted in a $2.6 million restatement of the prior period and $0.8 million in the current period.

Speaker #3: The adjustment has no impact on current period trading performance, adjusted EBITDA, or our FY26 guidance. We delivered record adjusted EBITDA of $26.3 million, up 46%, and a margin of 17.4%, up 2.8 percentage points year-on-year, which keeps us firmly on the path to our 25% adjusted EBITDA margin target in 2028 and 30% in 2030.

Speaker #3: The clearest measure of underlying performance is cash generation. We delivered $16 million of adjusted free cash flow, up 5% year-on-year. Our cash flow is very seasonal, with H1 burdened by the company bonus payment and H2 typically much stronger, so it makes sense to look at it for the entire fiscal year.

Hanno Damm: Our cash flow is very seasonal, with H1 burdened by the company bonus payment and H2 typically much stronger, so it makes sense to look at it for the entire fiscal year. Last year, we also benefited from a rent-free period in the London office and higher interest income on our cash balances. While this year we paid more cash taxes as the business becomes more profitable. Adjusted diluted free cash flow per share was up 13% to $0.039. As we said before, for the full year, we expect our free cash flow margin to be slightly below our adjusted EBITDA margin. We closed the period with $21.9 million in cash after returning $25.8 million to shareholders through buybacks in H1, plus a further $16.5 million purchased by our employee benefit trust. Moving down the P&L.

Speaker #3: Last year, we also benefited from a rent-free period in the London office and higher interest income on our cash balances, while this year we paid more cash taxes as the business becomes more profitable.

Speaker #3: Adjusted diluted free cash flow per share was up 13% to 3.9 cents. As we said before, for the full year, we expect our free cash flow margin to be slightly below our adjusted EBITDA margin.

Speaker #3: We closed the period with $21.9 million in cash after returning $25.8 million to shareholders through buybacks in H1, plus a further $16.5 million purchased by our employee benefit trust.

Speaker #3: Moving down the P&L, the non-cash IFRS stock-based compensation charge was $9.8 million, up from $6.3 million a year ago. This consists of an $8.2 million non-cash charge reflecting the annualization of high-performance RSUs, our new share-save scheme, new senior leadership LTIP awards, and accelerated executive severance agreements.

Hanno Damm: The non-cash IFRS stock-based compensation charge was $9.8 million, up from $6.3 million a year ago. This consists of an $8.2 million non-cash charge, reflecting the annualization of high performance RSUs, our new Share Save scheme, new senior leadership LTIP awards, and accelerated executive severance agreements. Additionally, the charge includes an associated Social Security charge of $1.5 million. Despite this higher charge, total diluted share count continued to fall, down 5% year-on-year to 424 million as grants were more than offset by forfeitures, employee benefit trust utilization, and our ongoing buyback program. We anticipate a similar SBC charge in H2 given new execs joining the team. This brings me to the capital allocation framework, which remains consistent and unchanged. First, we invest in organic growth. $13 million were invested in the business in H1, deliberately deploying capital into go-to-market, product innovation, and trust and content integrity.

Speaker #3: Additionally, the charge includes an associated Social Security charge of $1.5 million. Despite this higher charge, total diluted share count continued to fall—down 5% year-on-year to 424 million—as grants were more than offset by forfeitures, employee benefit trust utilization, and our ongoing buyback program.

Speaker #3: We anticipate a similar SBC charge in the second half, given new executives joining the team. This brings me to the capital allocation framework, which remains consistent and unchanged.

Speaker #3: First, we invest in organic growth. $13 million were invested in the business in H1, deliberately deploying capital into go-to-market, product innovation, and trust and content integrity.

Speaker #3: Second, we retain flexibility for strategic M&A that can accelerate our roadmap. Finally, we return excess capital to shareholders, having executed $25.8 million of buybacks during the first half.

Hanno Damm: Second, we retain flexibility for strategic M&A that can accelerate our roadmap. Finally, we return excess capital to shareholders, having executed $25.8 million of buybacks during the first half. We're halfway through executing the £30 million program we announced in March, which consists of £7.5 million EBT purchases and £22.5 million of outright buybacks. As of 11 September, we've completed £15 million. We will complete this program prior to announcing another share buyback. As noted in the statement, we also recently identified a technical point relating to demonstrated distributable reserves impacting certain share purchases under prior buyback programs, which we will remediate in Q4. More details can be found in the statement in Note 10. Since we started our buyback program in 2024, we have returned $141 million to shareholders and repurchased 11% of the shares outstanding at the program's start. Turning to the outlook.

Speaker #3: We're halfway through executing the £30 million program we announced in March, which consists of £7.5 million EBIT purchases and £22.5 million of outright buybacks.

Speaker #3: As of September 11th, we've completed £15 million. We will complete this program prior to announcing another share buyback. As noted in the statement, we also recently identified a technical point relating to demonstrated distributable reserves impacting certain share purchases under prior buyback programs, which we will remediate in Q4.

Speaker #3: More details can be found in the statement in Note 10. Since we started our buyback program in 2024, we have returned $141 million to shareholders and repurchased 11% of the shares outstanding at the program's start.

Speaker #3: Turning to the outlook, following a strong first half, we maintain our guidance for high-teens constant currency revenue growth for the full year, alongside a 2 to 3 percentage point increase in adjusted EBITDA margin.

Hanno Damm: Following a strong first half, we maintain our guidance for high teens constant currency revenue growth for the full year, alongside a 2% to 3% percentage point increase in adjusted EBITDA margin. We remain confident in delivering sustainable growth and operating leverage over the long term, given the significant market opportunity ahead of us. Finally, as this is my last results presentation, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on my tenure at Trustpilot. It's been about 11 years since Peter, the founder, and I met for the first time in New York to talk about Trustpilot and its massive potential. During this time, Trustpilot has grown elevenfold from $30 million ARR at the end of 2015 to circa $330 million today, and we have taken it from loss-making to approaching 20% EBITDA margin and created an amazing business.

Speaker #3: We remain confident in delivering sustainable growth and operating leverage over the long term, given the significant market opportunity ahead of us. Finally, as this is my last results presentation, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on my tenure at Trustpilot.

Speaker #3: It's been about 11 years since Peter, the founder, and I met for the first time in New York to talk about Trustpilot and its massive potential.

Hanno Damm: It's been about 11 years since Peter, the founder, and I met for the first time in New York to talk about Trustpilot and its massive potential. During this time, Trustpilot has grown elevenfold from $30 million ARR at the end of 2015 to circa $330 million today, and we have taken it from loss-making to approaching 20% EBITDA margin and created an amazing business. The opportunity ahead remains vast, and with the AI tailwind, we are just getting started. I feel privileged to have helped lead such a fantastic organization and remain incredibly bullish on Trustpilot’s forward future. With that, I will hand back to Adrian.

Speaker #3: During this time, Trustpilot has grown eleven-fold from $30 million ARR at the end of 2015 to around $330 million today. We have taken it from loss-making to approaching a 20% EBITDA margin and created an amazing business.

Speaker #3: The opportunity ahead remains vast, and with the AI tailwind, we're just getting started. I feel privileged to have helped lead such a fantastic organization and remain incredibly bullish on Trustpilot's future.

Hanno Damm: The opportunity ahead remains vast, and with the AI tailwind, we are just getting started. I feel privileged to have helped lead such a fantastic organization and remain incredibly bullish on Trustpilot’s forward future. With that, I will hand back to Adrian.

Speaker #3: And with that, I'll hand back to Adrian.

Speaker #1: Thanks, Hanno. So in 2026, as we said in March, we have three clear priorities: scaling trust, accelerating with AI, and growing enterprise—all in service of one goal: to build trust in the age of AI.

Adrian Blair: Thanks. Thanks, Hanno. In 2026, as we said in March, we have three clear priorities, scaling trust, accelerating with AI, and growing enterprise, all in service of one goal, to build trust in the age of AI. Let me take each of these in turn, starting with trust. We think about this in three parts. First, review integrity. Our focus remains on an AI-led moderation approach, complemented by human expertise. We are continuously strengthening top-of-funnel detection to ensure the content on Trustpilot remains authentic and reliable. We removed 3.9 million fake reviews in H1, a 28% increase year-on-year, with the vast majority of those removed entirely automatically. Second, business misuse. We are continuing to take steps to remove ineligible businesses and warn consumers about bad actors. By bringing together fraud, technology, and engineering teams to build a dedicated rules engine spam domain model, we are seeing exceptional results.

Speaker #1: Let me take each of these in turn, starting with trust. We think about this in three parts. First, review integrity. Our focus remains on an AI-led moderation approach, complemented by human expertise.

Speaker #1: We'll continuously strengthen top-of-funnel detection to ensure the content on Trustpilot remains authentic and reliable. We removed 3.9 million fake reviews in the first half, a 28% increase year-on-year, with the vast majority of those removed entirely automatically.

Speaker #1: Second, business misuse. We're continuing to take steps to remove ineligible businesses and warn consumers about bad actors. By bringing together our fraud, technology, and engineering teams to build a dedicated rules engine and spam domain model, we're seeing exceptional results.

Speaker #1: Our automated systems remove domains and detect policy breaches at scale, and we've reduced threat response times down to a matter of hours. As a result, we've seen an 83% year-on-year increase in business profile warnings, reflecting the growing strength of our detection and enforcement approach.

Adrian Blair: Our automated systems remove domains and detect policy breaches at scale, and we have reduced threat response times down to a matter of hours. As a result, we have seen 83% year-on-year increase in business profile warnings, reflecting the growing strength of our detection and enforcement approach. These warnings do more than command consumer attention, as they actively signal to large language models that a brand may be untrustworthy. The third strand of our approach to trust is regulatory and policy engagement. We continue to see the regulatory landscape around reviews evolving as bodies like the CMA and FTC move into enforcement of rules they introduced in recent years. We welcome this and are well equipped to navigate this changing environment.

Speaker #1: These warnings do more than command consumer attention, as they actively signal to large language models that brands may be untrustworthy. The third strand of our approach to trust is regulatory and policy engagement.

Speaker #1: We continue to see the regulatory landscape around reviews evolving, as bodies like the CMA and FTC move into enforcement of rules they introduced in recent years.

Speaker #1: We welcome this, and are well-equipped to navigate this changing environment. For a deeper dive into the entire trust and safeguarding ecosystem, I encourage you to take a look back at the replay of the May 2026 Trust Capital Markets event that's available now on our investor site.

Adrian Blair: For a deeper dive into the entire trust and safeguarding ecosystem, I encourage you to take a look back at the replay of the May 2026 Trust Capital Markets event that is available now on our investor site. Moving to the second priority of accelerating with AI. Large language models prioritize the relevance, ranking, and recency of reviews. A recent research study from Seer Interactive showed that Trustpilot is the number one cited review platform globally. Research from Forrester in July highlighted that Trustpilot often outranks owned and paid media, heavily influencing large language models’ opinions of brands and how they show up in results. As you can see on the slide, we recently reached a Semrush domain authority score of 100, the maximum possible, up from 95 last year, and a score that belongs exclusively to the world’s most authoritative sites.

Speaker #1: Moving to the second priority of accelerating with AI, large language models prioritize the relevance, ranking, and recency of reviews. A recent research study from SEER Interactive showed that Trustpilot is the number one cited review platform globally.

Speaker #1: Research from Forrester in July highlighted that Trustpilot often outranked owned and paid media, heavily influencing large language models’ opinions of brands and how they show up in results.

Speaker #1: As you can see on the slide, we recently reached a SEMrush domain authority score of 100—the maximum possible—up from 95 last year, and a score that belongs exclusively to the world's most authoritative sites.

Speaker #1: This is calculated on a logarithmic scale, making a five-point jump at the top end extremely substantial. Where a business has no Trustpilot profile at all, AI is increasingly highlighting the absence of independent validation as a real trust gap.

Adrian Blair: This is calculated on a logarithmic scale, making a 5-point jump at the top end extremely substantial. Where a business has no Trustpilot profile at all, AI is increasingly highlighting the absence of independent validation as a real trust gap. By contrast, having an active profile drives up to 75 times greater citation visibility than having none at all, making Trustpilot essential for any business looking to enhance their AI visibility. Turning to our third priority of accelerating with enterprise. We are driving an unprecedented level of product innovation velocity with two major B2B release windows planned for 2026, alongside continuous feature improvements in between. in April, we released AI Search Analytics, an in-app review collector, Invitation Optimizer, and custom dashboards. We also launched a new lower cost digital-only starter pricing plan. While still early, this is already showing good momentum.

Speaker #1: By contrast, having an active profile drives up to 75 times greater citation visibility than having none at all, making Trustpilot essential for any business looking to enhance their AI visibility.

Speaker #1: Turning to our third priority of accelerating with enterprise, we're driving an unprecedented level of product innovation velocity, with two major B2B release windows planned for 2026, alongside continuous feature improvements in between.

Speaker #1: In April, we released AI Search Analytics, an in-app review collector, an invitation optimizer, and custom dashboards. We also launched a new, lower-cost digital-only Starter pricing plan.

Speaker #1: While it's still early, this is already showing good momentum. We have a second major release window this month, focused on helping our customers get AI-recommended.

Adrian Blair: We have a second major release window this month focused on helping our customers get AI recommended. I want to highlight two specific updates here that are particularly important for enterprise customers. First, multi-domain user management. Previously, user management was focused on individual domains. To help large enterprises operating across large domain portfolios, we are now launching a centralized space to operationalize feedback. This allows tracking of sentiment and performance side by side across every brand in one view. Second, review collection via QR codes. This allows businesses to capture feedback in the moment, creating a faster feedback loop and building review volume. By tagging these codes with specific location IDs, customers will be able to track performance across physical touchpoints. In between, we are continuing to ship updates, including our refreshed product review pages, which I will cover next, and our expanded Shopify partnership.

Speaker #1: I want to highlight two specific updates here, that are particularly important for enterprise customers. First, multi-domain user management. Previously, user management was focused on individual domains, but to help large enterprises operating across large domain portfolios, we've now launched a set we've now launching a centralized space to operationalize feedback.

Speaker #1: This allows tracking of sentiment and performance side by side across every brand in one view. Second, review collection via QR codes—this allows businesses to capture feedback in the moment, creating a faster feedback loop and building review volume.

Speaker #1: By tagging these codes with specific location IDs, customers will be able to track performance across physical touchpoints. In the meantime, we're continuing to ship updates, including our refreshed product review pages—which I'll cover next—and our expanded Shopify partnership.

Speaker #1: Back in June, we announced that Trustpilot is now a Shopify key product partner, and through our upgraded Shopify 2.0 app, merchants can seamlessly embed Trustpilot directly within their native ecosystem.

Adrian Blair: Back in June, we announced Trustpilot is now a Shopify key product partner, and through our upgraded Shopify Online Store 2.0 app, merchants can seamlessly embed Trustpilot directly within their native ecosystem. We have had a basic product review offering for a long time and have just released a couple of major upgrades. First, a universal product catalog pools all product variants, such as size or color, into a single aggregated score, and product review pages give each product its own Trustpilot profile page. These product review pages are currently available across all English-speaking markets, and we are rolling them out in all other languages from 1 October. It is important to note that product reviews are not just for retail. Most businesses divide what they do up into different offerings. For example, a bank with different accounts, or TUI, who are using product reviews for specific holiday offerings.

Speaker #1: We've had a basic product review offering for a long time, and have just released a couple of major upgrades. First, a universal product catalog pools all product variants, such as size or color, into a single aggregated score.

Speaker #1: And product review pages give each product its own Trustpilot profile page. These product review pages are currently available across all English-speaking markets, and we're rolling them out in all other languages from the 1st of October.

Speaker #1: It's important to note that product reviews are not just for retail. Most businesses divide what they do up into different offerings—for example, a bank with different accounts, or TUI, who are using product reviews for specific holiday offerings.

Speaker #1: We tested these across a wider cohort of over 400 businesses during a beta trial, and saw an average increase in AI citation growth of over 15x, generating 2.4 million ChatGPT citation requests.

Adrian Blair: We tested these across a wider cohort of over 400 businesses during the beta trial and saw an over 15x average increase in AI citation growth, generating 2.4 million ChatGPT citation requests. Product reviews are an opportunity for many different customer types to become more visible in AI search, particularly in comparison inquiries. They are available as an add-on module for those already on paid plans. Our focus on large enterprise customers continues to deliver financially. Customers paying over $20,000 a year have grown at a compound 34% annual rate since Q1 2023. ARR from this segment is up 174% over the same period. Ultimately, the tangible financial impact of the product innovation we have just been discussing is showing up directly in these numbers, given the immense value customers get from the product.

Speaker #1: Product reviews are an opportunity for many different customer types to become more visible in AI search, particularly in comparison inquiries. They're available as an add-on module for those already on paid plans.

Speaker #1: Our focus on large enterprise customers continues to deliver financially. Customers paying over $20,000 a year have grown at a compound annual rate of 34% since H1 2023.

Speaker #1: ARR from this segment is up 174% over the same period. Ultimately, the tangible financial impact of the product innovation we've just been discussing is showing up directly in these numbers.

Speaker #1: Given the immense value customers get from the product, we're also seeing strong regional outperformance, particularly in the US, where growth of customers above 20,000 is up 43% year on year.

Adrian Blair: We are also seeing strong regional outperformance, particularly in the US, where $20,000-plus customer growth is up 43% year-on-year. As product value and AI visibility grow, our ability to attract and expand these large, high-value enterprise accounts accelerates alongside it. To ensure we continue accelerating this enterprise momentum and scale efficiently, we recently reorganized our sales operations. On the customer acquisition side, we introduced a new outsourced business development model. By shifting top-of-funnel lead generation to external specialists, internal sales teams can now focus on converting qualified pipeline and closing new relationships. On the customer value side, we have split our existing roles to better serve the growing customer base. We introduced a dedicated customer success role focused entirely on onboarding and product adoption. Alongside them, we now have dedicated account managers with a deep commercial focus on cross-selling, upgrading, and driving net revenue retention growth.

Speaker #1: As product value and AI visibility grow, our ability to attract and expand these large, high-value enterprise accounts accelerates alongside them. To ensure we continue accelerating this enterprise momentum and scale efficiently, we recently reorganized our sales operations.

Speaker #1: On the customer acquisition side, we introduced a new outsourced business development model. By shifting top-of-funnel lead generation to external specialists, internal sales teams can now focus on converting qualified pipeline and closing new relationships.

Speaker #1: On the customer value side, we've split our existing roles to better serve the growing customer base. We introduced a dedicated Customer Success role focused entirely on onboarding and product adoption.

Speaker #1: Alongside them, we now have dedicated account managers with a deep commercial focus on cross-selling, upgrading, and driving net revenue retention growth. It’s early days, and changes of this sort always take time to bed in, but we believe this model sets us up best to scale into the opportunity ahead.

Adrian Blair: It is early days, and changes of this sort always take time to bed in, but we believe this model sets us up best to scale into the opportunity ahead. To bring all this to life, the enterprise momentum, the product value, and the importance of independent trust signals, I want to highlight a fantastic recent example from Navy Federal Credit Union near Washington, DC. What stands out most to me is how their Chief Marketing Officer, Pam Paligian, describes our partnership. She notes that when it comes to brand metrics, trust is at the absolute top of the pyramid. A brand can no longer just tell people, "Trust me." They have to provide independent proof. That is exactly what Trustpilot delivers. We have a short video now to play here.

Speaker #1: Now, to bring all this to life—the enterprise momentum, the product value, and the importance of independent trust signals—I want to highlight a fantastic recent example from Navy Federal Credit Union, near Washington, D.C.

Speaker #1: What stands out most to me is how their Chief Marketing Officer, Pam Peligian, describes our partnership. She notes that, when it comes to brand metrics, trust is at the absolute top of the pyramid.

Speaker #1: But a brand can no longer just tell people, "Trust me." They have to provide independent proof. That's exactly what Trustpilot delivers. We have a short video now to play for you here.

Speaker #2: We are a credit union. We're 92 years young, founded to serve active-duty veterans and their families. We offer a full suite of retail banking products.

Pam Paligian: We are a credit union. We are 92 years young, founded to serve active duty veterans and their families, and we offer a full suite of retail banking products. We talk about brand metrics. Trust is at the top of the pyramid. Trust is the metric that matters the most, and we talk a lot about it has to be earned, not given. I cannot say, "Trust me." We have to earn it. So putting our own data on the website that says, "We say 95% of our members are happy," we felt like would not have a lot of credibility. So we wanted to make sure that we went to a third party outside, which is how we got to Trustpilot, to say, "Help us.

Pam Piligian: We are a credit union. We are 92 years young, founded to serve active duty veterans and their families, and we offer a full suite of retail banking products. We talk about brand metrics. Trust is at the top of the pyramid. Trust is the metric that matters the most, and we talk a lot about it has to be earned, not given.

Speaker #2: When we talk about brand metrics, trust is at the top of the pyramid. Trust is the metric that matters the most, and we talk a lot about how it has to be earned, not given.

Speaker #2: I can't say, "Trust me." We have to earn it. So putting our own data on the website that says, "We say 95% of our members are happy"—we felt like...

Pam Piligian: I cannot say, "Trust me." We have to earn it. So putting our own data on the website that says, "We say 95% of our members are happy," we felt like would not have a lot of credibility. So we wanted to make sure that we went to a third party outside, which is how we got to Trustpilot, to say, "Help us. We want the data that we get from our members to be visible to people." Without those metrics that really showed we had done what we promised to from a third party, Trustpilot, it was hard for somebody to believe.

Speaker #2: We have a lot of credibility, so we wanted to make sure that we went to a third party outside—which is how we got to Trustpilot—to say, "Help us."

Speaker #2: We want the data that we get from our members to be visible to people. And without those metrics that really showed we had done what we promised to from a third party, Trustpilot, it was hard for somebody to believe.

Pam Paligian: We want the data that we get from our members to be visible to people." Without those metrics that really showed we had done what we promised to from a third party, Trustpilot, it was hard for somebody to believe.

Speaker #1: Large language models are becoming a really important way that people decide who they can trust. How have you seen the feedback that you're getting on Trustpilot play into those large language models, and help you there?

Adrian Blair: Large language models are becoming a really important way that people decide who they can trust. How have you seen the feedback that you are getting on Trustpilot play into those large language models and help you there?

Speaker #2: Well, it shows up because it's a third-party endorsement. It's not just us saying what the service was like, but it is exactly our members saying what it was like.

Pam Paligian: Well, it shows up because it is a third-party endorsement. It is not just us saying what the service was like, but it is exactly our members saying what it was like. So it will show up in those different models, and what we have found is a lot of our content still matters. Third-party content matters, influencers matter, as well as third-party endorsements, which for us, Trustpilot, is a very high source of credibility.

Pam Piligian: Well, it shows up because it is a third-party endorsement. It is not just us saying what the service was like, but it is exactly our members saying what it was like. So it will show up in those different models, and what we have found is a lot of our content still matters. Third-party content matters, influencers matter, as well as third-party endorsements, which for us, Trustpilot, is a very high source of credibility.

Speaker #2: So it will show up in those different models, and what we have found is, you know, a lot of our content still matters. Third-party content matters.

Speaker #2: Influencers matter, as well as these third-party endorsements, which for us, Trustpilot is a very high source of credibility.

Speaker #1: And have you had to summarize the impact of TRUSTPILOT on Navy Federal in just one sentence? What would it be?

Adrian Blair: If you had to summarize the impact of Trustpilot on Navy Federal in just one sentence, what would it be?

Speaker #2: It would be earned trust. It's proof that we did what we said we would.

Pam Paligian: It would be earned trust. It is proof that we did what we said we would.

Pam Piligian: It would be earned trust. It is proof that we did what we said we would.

Speaker #1: So, to wrap up before we open the line for your questions: Financially, we achieved 18% constant currency bookings growth, while increasing adjusted EBITDA by 46% and margin by 2.8 percentage points.

Adrian Blair: To wrap up before we open the line for your questions. Financially, we achieved 18% constant currency bookings growth while increasing adjusted EBITDA by 46% and margin by 2.8 percentage points. Strategically, we firmly established Trustpilot as the leading AI trust signal, with the number one cited review platform globally, backed by a perfect domain authority score of 100. We are moving faster than ever to capitalize on this accelerating product innovation. The enterprise focus is proving highly effective, with ARR from customers paying more than 20K up 35% year-on-year. We are excited about the trajectory we are on, the value we are delivering to businesses and consumers, and the huge market opportunity ahead as AI continues to grow. We remain well-positioned for the H2 of the year. With that, thank you all. We are now ready to take your questions.

Speaker #1: Strategically, we firmly established Trustpilot as the leading AI trust signal. With the number one cited review platform globally, backed by a perfect domain authority score of 100, we're moving faster than ever to capitalize on this accelerating product innovation.

Speaker #1: The enterprise focus is proving highly effective, with ARR from customers paying more than $20,000 up 35% year on year. We're excited about the trajectory we're on, the value we're delivering to businesses and consumers, and the huge market opportunity ahead as AI continues to grow.

Speaker #1: We remain well positioned for the second half of the year, and with that, thank you all. We're now ready to take your questions.

Speaker #3: We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please use the "Ask a Question" button on the Spark Live page.

Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please use the Ask a Question button on the Spark Live page. We will pause for a moment to allow the queue to assemble. Our first question comes from Olivia Venancio at Barclays. Can you walk us through why no upgrade, apologies, team. Can you walk us through why no upgrade in the full year guidance, and how we should think about shape in H2? Can you walk us through dynamics region in EBITDA margin? Think UK is accretive, but is US still divisive? When should this change?

Speaker #3: We will pause for a moment to allow the queue to assemble. Our first question comes from Olivia Venciago at Barclays. Can you walk us through why there was no upgrade?

Speaker #3: Apologies, team. Can you walk us through why there is no upgrade in the full-year guidance, and how we should think about the shape in H2?

Speaker #3: Can you walk us through the dynamics in the EBITDA margin region? I think the UK is accredited, but is the US still divulging? When should this change?

Speaker #1: Well, I think we've been given pretty clear guidance of 2 to 3 percentage points margin improvement for the full year, and we're well on track for this.

Adrian Blair: Well, I think we have been given pretty clear guidance of 2% to 3% percentage point margin improvement for the full year. We are well on track on this. In the H1, we had 2.8 percentage point improvement on the margin, and we are well on plan to deliver this as well as reaffirming the guidance for the full year and the longer-term outlook, of course, of 25% EBITDA margin in 2028 and 30% by 2030. As you think about seasonality between H1 and H2, obviously, we talked about the sales reorganization happening in H1. The H1 margin tends to be lower than the H2. We typically have a steady margin progression in the business. If you followed it for a while, you will see that trend basically repeating every year. I do not think the progression should be a surprise to anyone.

Speaker #1: In the half year, we had a 2.8 percentage point improvement on the margin. And we're well on plan to deliver this, as well as reaffirming the guidance for the full year and the longer-term outlook, of course, of a 25% EBITDA margin in 2028 and 30% by 2030.

Speaker #1: And as you think about seasonality between H1 and H2, obviously we talked about the sales reorganization happening in H1. The H1 margin tends to be lower than H2.

Speaker #1: We typically have a steady margin progression in the business. If you’ve followed it for a while, you’ll see that trend basically repeats every year.

Speaker #1: And so, I don't think the progression should be a surprise to anyone. I mean, we talked about regional profitability, and I think if you look at contribution margin, we're highlighting the strength in the UK in particular. But we also talked about the US being highly profitable on a contribution margin basis.

Adrian Blair: When we talked about regional profitability and contribution margin, we highlighted the strengths in the UK in particular, but we also talked about the US being very profitable on a contribution margin basis. If you reallocate your product in tech and G&A expenses, I think you will also find that then the implied EBITDA margin for each of these regions is breakeven or positive.

Speaker #1: And if you reallocate your Product and Tech and G&A expenses, I think you'll also find that then the implied EBITDA margin for each of these regions is break-even or positive.

Speaker #3: Thank you. Our next question comes from Hai Hun. There are a couple of questions here. Number one, adjusted free cash flow fell from 85% to 61%.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Hai Huynh. There is a couple of questions here. Number one, adjusted free cash flow fell from 85% to 61%. What level do you regard as normalized once billing benefits, exceptional bonus, UK tax credits, and lease payments settle?

Speaker #3: What level do you regard as normalized once billing, benefits, exceptional bonus, UK tax credits, and lease payments settle?

Speaker #1: Yeah, like I said in the prepared remarks, I think it makes sense to look at cash flow on a trailing 12-month or a 12-month basis—really, a rolling 12-month basis.

Hanno Damm: Yeah. Like I said in the prepared remarks, I think it makes sense to look at cash flow on a trailing 12 months or a 12-month basis, really, a rolling 12-month basis. It is always around a point lower than the adjusted EBITDA margin. Last year, obviously, we had some H1 benefits with the free rent. The interest income, as we have utilized balance sheet cash to buy back shares and brought it down to more appropriate levels for the scale of business, has come down, and that has impacted the free cash flow. As the business continues to grow, that will be a less and less relevant factor in overall cash generation, of course. The working capital benefits of the prepayments are now at a normalized level, which will sort of offset CapEx.

Speaker #1: And it's always around a point lower than the adjusted EBITDA margin. Last year, obviously, we had some H1 benefits with the free rent. The interest income, as we've utilized balance sheet cash to buy back shares and brought it down to more appropriate levels for the scale of the business, has come down.

Speaker #1: And that has impacted the free cash flow as the business continues to grow. That will be a less and less relevant factor in overall cash generation, of course.

Hanno Damm: As the business continues to grow, that will be a less and less relevant factor in overall cash generation, of course. The working capital benefits of the prepayments are now at a normalized level, which will sort of offset CapEx. If for your modeling, I think using adjusted EBITDA margin and then taking a point off of that as a proxy for free cash flow for the full year is a good starting point, and then taking into account the seasonality. Obviously the implied H2 margin will be materially higher than the H1 margin given those seasonalities.

Speaker #1: And the working capital benefits of the prepayments are now at a normalized level, which will sort of offset capex. So, for your modeling, I think using adjusted EBITDA margin and then taking a point off of that as a proxy for free cash flow for the full year is a good starting point.

Hanno Damm: If for your modeling, I think using adjusted EBITDA margin and then taking a point off of that as a proxy for free cash flow for the full year is a good starting point, and then taking into account the seasonality. Obviously the implied H2 margin will be materially higher than the H1 margin given those seasonalities.

Speaker #1: And then, taking into account the seasonality—so obviously, the implied H2 margin will be materially higher than the H1 margin, given those seasonalities.

Speaker #3: And the second question: What was the parent company's disputed reserve balance in the newly filed interim accounts? And how much headroom will remain after completing the current £22.5 million buyback?

Operator: The second question: What was the parent company's distributable reserve balance in the newly filed interim accounts? How much headroom will remain after completing the current GBP 22.5 million buyback?

Speaker #1: So I don't have the headroom off the top of my head. I think we're in the process of doing another interim dividend from AS, our Danish operating entity, to the PLC in September.

Hanno Damm: I don't have the headroom off the top of my head. I think we are in the process of doing another interim dividend from Trustpilot A/S, our Danish operating entity, to the PLC in September. Then we will continue to file updated PLC financials. Those will then cover the remainder of the existing buyback and provide additional headroom. As we progress through the year and the time, we will continue to do interim dividends to generate distributable reserves up at PLC and then utilize those for buybacks.

Speaker #1: And then we'll continue to file updated PLC financials, and those will then cover the remainder of the existing buyback and provide additional headroom. And then, as we progress through the year and over time, we'll continue to do interim dividends to generate distributed reserves up at PLC.

Speaker #1: And then utilize those for buybacks.

Speaker #3: And third question, Trustpilot spent $42.5 million on conventional buybacks, and EBITDA purchases—EPT purchases—against $16 million of adjusted free cash flow. What minimum cash and liquidity buffer will the board maintain?

Operator: And third question. Trustpilot spent $42.5 million on conventional buybacks and EBT purchases against $16 million of adjusted free cash flow. What minimum cash and liquidity buffer will the board maintain? What level of EBT purchases should we model going forward?

Speaker #3: And what level of EBITDA purchases should we model going forward?

Speaker #1: So, we don't sort of look at EBITDA, purchases, and buybacks as materially different. I think we look at it combined. That's why I referenced the £30 million program at the beginning of the year, and the split between those two is sort of—we're certainly sort of agnostic to that.

Hanno Damm: We don't look at EBT purchases and buybacks

Hanno Damm: We don't look at EBT purchases and buybacks as materially different. I think we look at it combined. That is why I referenced the GBP 30 million program at the beginning of the year, and the split between those two is. We are certainly agnostic to that. The EBT obviously provides a great way to offset dilution from satisfying share grants that have been issued in the past and that are vesting, and to mop up excess liquidity upon vesting when employee vesting happens and there are shares sold to cover the taxes.

Hanno Damm: as materially different. I think we look at it combined. That is why I referenced the GBP 30 million program at the beginning of the year, and the split between those two is. We are certainly agnostic to that. The EBT obviously provides a great way to offset dilution from satisfying share grants that have been issued in the past and that are vesting, and to mop up excess liquidity upon vesting when employee vesting happens and there are shares sold to cover the taxes. I would not break those out separately. In the beginning of the buyback program in 2024, we had a ton of cash on the balance sheet as a result of the IPO, and the business became profitable and cash flow positive, so we generated more and more cash. We have used excess cash from free cash flow, but also from the balance sheet to bring down those balances.

Speaker #1: The EBITDA obviously provides a great way to offset dilution from satisfying share grants that have been issued in the past and that are vesting.

Speaker #1: And to mop up excess liquidity upon vesting, when employee vesting happens and there are shares sold to cover the taxes. And so I wouldn't sort of break those out separately.

Speaker #1: At the beginning of the buyback program in 2024, we had a ton of cash on the balance sheet as a result of the IPO, and the business became profitable and cash flow positive.

Hanno Damm: I would not break those out separately. In the beginning of the buyback program in 2024, we had a ton of cash on the balance sheet as a result of the IPO, and the business became profitable and cash flow positive, so we generated more and more cash. We have used excess cash from free cash flow, but also from the balance sheet to bring down those balances.

Speaker #1: So we generated more and more cash, and we've used excess cash from free cash flow, but also from the balance sheet, to bring down those balances.

Speaker #1: And obviously, I'm not going to get pinned down on the number of what's the right amount of cash. We're managing this. The business, as you pointed out earlier, has seasonality in cash flow.

Hanno Damm: I am not going to get pinned down on the number of what is the right amount of cash. We are managing this. The business, as you pointed out earlier, has seasonality in cash flow. So in H1, we probably need a higher cash balance than in H2. We are continuing to generate more and more cash flow. So I think we are actively considering this as the business progresses and grows and continues to become more and more profitable and cash generative.

Speaker #1: So, in H1, we probably need a higher cash balance. And in H2, we'll continue to generate more and more cash flow. And so I think we're sort of actively considering this as the business progresses and grows and continues to become more and more profitable and cash generative.

Speaker #3: Thank you. Our next question is from Joe George at J.P. Morgan. Could you please talk about the disconnect between the very strong adjusted EBITDA growth—up 46% year on year—and the slower SCF growth of 5% year on year?

Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Joseph George at J.P. Morgan. Could you please talk about the disconnect between the very strong adjusted EBITDA growth, +46% year-on-year, and the slower FCF growth, 5% year-on-year? How confident are you for the free cash flow conversion through full year 2026 as a whole?

Speaker #3: How confident are you in the free cash flow conversion for the full year 2026 as a whole?

Speaker #1: Thank you. And I'm not sure there's much more to say beyond the question I just answered in the prepared remarks. But I can continue to emphasize that, obviously, we have good forecast ability of our free cash flow.

Hanno Damm: Thank you. I am not sure what is more to say beyond the question I just answered in the prepared remarks, but I can continue to emphasize that obviously we have good forecastability of our free cash flow. In the back half of the year, we are accruing expenses, for example, for the company bonus, which is a burden on EBITDA, but it is not a cash outflow. In the first half of the year, all that cash flows out of the business. We also have, obviously, visibility around the timing of tax payments, et cetera, and we have good forecastability on our lease payments. So I am very confident with the guidance I gave you for the full year free cash flow of about point below adjusted EBITDA, and then the implied meaningful uptick in free cash flow in the second half.

Speaker #1: And in the back half of the year, we are accruing expenses, for example, for the company bonus, which is a burden on EBITDA, but it's not a cash outflow.

Speaker #1: And in the first half of the year, all that cash flows out of the business. We also have, obviously, visibility around the timing of tax payments, et cetera.

Speaker #1: And we have good forecast ability on our lease payments. And so I'm very confident with the guidance I gave you for the full-year free cash flow of about point below adjusted EBITDA, and then the implied meaningful uptick in free cash flow in the second half.

Speaker #3: Thank you. Our next question is from Gareth Davies at DB. Sometimes when you shift to a new sales model, you get a little short-term disruption.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Gareth Davies at Deutsche Bank. Sometimes when a shifting sales model, you get a little short-term disruption. Has there been any detrimental impact in the more established businesses as a result of the sales team shift?

Speaker #3: Has there been any detrimental impact in the more established businesses as a result of the sales team shift?

Speaker #1: So, look, I think our teams have done an exceptional job of performing strongly throughout the period. And you can see that in our results.

Adrian Blair: Look, I think our teams have done an exceptional job of performing strongly through the period. You can see that in our results, 18% constant currency bookings growth. That means, I joined the business almost exactly 3 years ago. I remember sitting here reporting a couple of days after joining H1 2023. We had grown by 16% constant currency bookings. We are actually growing faster now than we did back then. Now, of course, with the sales reorganization, every moment of time and energy that is spent on that is time that is not spent talking to customers. There is always some opportunity costs. As I say, these things are always something that an organization has to go through and get out the other side of. We have been doing that, but I am just impressed that the team has performed strongly through it.

Speaker #1: 18% constant currency bookings growth. That means I joined the business almost exactly three years ago. I remember sitting here, reporting a couple of days after joining. In the first half of 2023, we had grown by 16% constant currency bookings.

Speaker #1: So, we've actually—we're actually going faster now than we did back then. Now, of course, with the sales reorganization, every moment of time and energy that's spent on that is time that isn't spent talking to customers.

Speaker #1: So there's always some opportunity cost. And, as I say, these things are always something that an organization has to go through.

Speaker #1: And get out the other side of it. So we've been doing that. But I'm just impressed that the team has performed strongly through it. As I say, these changes are all about setting ourselves up for scale on the new business side.

Adrian Blair: As I say, these changes are all about setting ourselves up for scale on the new business side, because we have got a vast opportunity to go into, and we need a mixed model to go after that. I think about the combination of digital acquisition, which we have expanded with the launch of our starter plan, that is going very well. I think about agentic AI, I think about outsourcing, and of course, in-house capability that we still have. We have got this kind of mixed approach to go after an opportunity that is absolutely vast. On the customer success side, we have got an increasingly diverse and complex portfolio of products. As discussed on this call, a lot of new product coming up.

Speaker #1: We've got a vast opportunity to pursue, and we need a mixed model to address that. So, I think about the combination of digital acquisition, which we've expanded with the launch of our Starter Plan.

Speaker #1: That's going very well. I think about agentic AI, I think about outsourcing, and of course, in-house capability that we still have. So we've got this kind of mixed approach to go after an opportunity that is absolutely vast.

Speaker #1: And then on the customer success side, we've got an increasingly diverse and complex portfolio of products, as discussed on this call. A lot of new product coming up.

Speaker #1: So, we really need that segmentation of roles between CS, which is all about helping the customer use the product, and account management, which is more about the commercial side and the renewals.

Adrian Blair: We really need that segmentation of roles between CS, that is all about helping the customer use the product, and account management, that is more about the commercial side and the renewals. I think we have done a good job of executing that in the period, delivering strong results at the same time, and setting ourselves up for the future, most importantly.

Speaker #1: So I think we've done a I think we've done a good job of executing that in the period, delivering strong results at the same time, and setting ourselves up for the future, most importantly.

Speaker #3: And we have a follow-up from Joe George at JP Morgan. What gives you the confidence that requisite controls are in place to ensure no further provisions will be required in relation to historical US sales taxes?

Operator: We have a follow-up from Joseph George at J.P. Morgan. What gives you the confidence that requisite controls are in place to ensure no further provisions will be required in relation to historical US sales taxes?

Speaker #1: Yeah, thanks, George. So, Joe, we've done a lot of work, obviously, in the half leading up to the provision that we made. We retained external advice from a Big Four firm.

Hanno Damm: Yeah. Thanks, Joe. We have done a lot of work, obviously in-house leading up to the provision that we made. We retained external advice from a Big Four firm, and we looked at this together with our auditors and gone through this on a state-by-state basis, and looked at the historical invoicing that we had done and where we should have applied taxes. We feel that we have a robust provision now on the balance sheet that will cover the potential past liabilities.

Speaker #1: And we looked at this together with our auditors and gone through sort of this on a state-by-state basis. And looked at sort of the historical invoicing that we had done and where we should have applied taxes and so we feel we feel that we have a robust provision now on the balance sheet that will cover the potential past liabilities.

Speaker #3: Thank you. Our next question comes from Jessica Park at Pearl Hunt. Is there an incremental cost to having outsourced business development capacity or capability? Can you give me color on the shape of the 100,000 contracts and what they normally consist of—e.g., multiple international domains, deeply complex integrations?

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Jessica Pok at Peel Hunt. Is there an incremental cost to having outsourced business development capability? Can you give me color on the shape of the USD 100,000 contracts and what they normally consist of, e.g., multiple international domains, deeply complex integrations? How are the new clients using your platforms at this level?

Speaker #3: How are the new clients using your platforms at this level?

Speaker #1: Yeah, happy to talk to both of those, Jessica. So, in terms of outsourcing, the model is more efficient in the sense that you can do more activity at a lower cost.

Adrian Blair: Yeah, happy to talk to both of those, Jessica. In terms of outsourcing, the model is more efficient in the sense that you can do more activity at lower costs. As I said in my earlier answer, the whole rationale of this is to have a model that is suited to the scale of the opportunity. When we look at the size of our addressable market across geographies, we are still very low penetration rates, particularly in the US, but also in the UK, and our other focus markets. We have a very long way to go. We have multiple industries with businesses that have a need for Trustpilot, and we need a cost-effective way to go out and capture that. As I say, that is not all about outsourcing, it is also about digital acquisition.

Speaker #1: And as I said in my earlier answer, the whole rationale behind this is to have a model that is suited to the scale of the opportunity.

Speaker #1: When we look at the size of our addressable market across different geographies, we still have very, very low penetration rates, particularly in the US, but also in the UK.

Speaker #1: And our other focus markets. So we've got a very, very long way to go. We've got multiple, multiple industries with businesses that have a need for Trustpilot.

Speaker #1: And we need a cost-effective way to go out and capture that. As I say, that's not all about outsourcing; it's also about digital acquisition.

Speaker #1: We're increasingly looking to AI, and how we can use AI to address it more efficiently, along with substantial in-house teams as well. But it's all about cost-effectively addressing that scale of opportunity.

Adrian Blair: We are increasingly looking to AI and how we can use AI to go after it more efficiently, along with substantial in-house teams as well. It is all about cost-effectively addressing that scale opportunity. Secondly, you ask about customers paying more than USD 100,000 a year. What gets businesses to those sorts of price points are a combination of a few things. First of all, the sheer scale and size of the customer, meaning that our product is going to have very significant impact on them. Then we have the grade of the product they are buying. Typically businesses at that scale would be on our enterprise plan, which contains all of the key features and is the most expensive. Then you have territories, countries, and then you have domains or brands that the business wants to use us across.

Speaker #1: And then secondly, you asked about customers paying more than $100,000 a year. So, what gets businesses to those sorts of price points are a combination of a few things.

Speaker #1: First of all, the sheer scale and size of the customer, meaning that our product is going to have a very significant impact on them. Then we've got the grade of the product they're buying.

Speaker #1: So, typically, businesses at that scale would be on our enterprise plan, which contains all of the key features and is the most expensive. Then you've got territories, countries, and then you've got domains or brands that the business wants to use.

Speaker #1: Across, typically once a customer gets to that level, they're using us across the full value proposition. So we talk about that when we speak to growth and improvement.

Adrian Blair: Typically, once a customer gets to that level, they are using us across the full value proposition. We talk about when we speak to businesses, we talk about build trust, grow, and improve. You collect feedback, you respond to it to build trust with customers. You showcase your feedback in the Trustpilot brand to help your business grow. Then you look at our analytics products to help you improve. Typically a customer at that level will be using us across all of those things, making us very important both on the marketing side and on the customer experience side for the customer.

Speaker #1: So, you collect feedback, you respond to it to build trust with customers, and you showcase your feedback in a Trustpilot brand to help your business grow.

Speaker #1: And then you look at our analytics products to help you improve, and typically a customer at that level will be using us across all of those things, making us very important both on the marketing side and on the customer experience side for the customer.

Speaker #3: Thank you. We have a couple of questions in from Sean Keeley, so I'm going to break these up. Number one, clearly you can provide visibility of citation uplifts for brands with an active Trustpilot profile.

Operator: Thank you. We have a couple of questions in from Sean Kealy, so I am going to break these up. Number 1, clearly you can provide visibility of citation uplifts for brands with an active Trustpilot profile. Where do you get that data from? Does it come in directly from Google or OpenAI, for example?

Speaker #3: Where do you get that data from? Does it come in directly from Google or OpenAI, for example?

Speaker #1: Yeah, so the answer to that is we do two things. First, we look at external sources, like Sierra Interactive, which I mentioned a couple of times in the prepared remarks.

Adrian Blair: Yeah. The answer to that is we do two things. First, we look at external sources, like Seer Interactive, which I talked about a couple of times in the prepared remarks. Secondly, and this is where the 75% figure comes from, we look at our own server logs, which tell us every time we get a request from one of the large language models. Now, those internal server logs are not a perfect representation of citations because the models are training on our data. They are not just doing real-time inference. What that means is they are very often citing Trustpilot without it actually hitting our server logs. The data we see in our server logs is a small subset of overall citations. But we combine those two things, the external sources and our internal server logs, to give us a good impression of what is going on.

Speaker #1: And secondly, and this is where the 75% figure comes from, we look at our own server logs, which tell us every time we get a request from one of the large language models.

Speaker #1: Now, those internal server logs aren't a perfect representation of citations, because the models are training on our data—they're not just doing real-time inference.

Speaker #1: And what that means is, they're very often citing Trustpilot without it actually hitting our server logs. So the data we see in our server logs is a small subset of overall citations.

Speaker #1: But we combine those two things—the external sources and our internal server logs—to give us a good impression of what's going on. The consistent theme across all of that is that relevance, recency, and ranking are the key things.

Adrian Blair: The consistent theme across all of that is that relevance, recency, ranking are the key things. In other words, having a large enough volume of reviews such that the LLM can surface an answer using reviews that is exactly relevant to the user's query. Then having reviews that are recent. If your reviews are stale and many months old, then it is much less likely to get cited by a large language model. Thirdly, ranking, which is the authority of the source effectively, which is where Trustpilot itself, with that domain authority of 100 we are talking about, the authority of us as a source becomes important. All of that means that basically the more feedback and the more frequent feedback companies are getting, the more likely they are to be showing up in large language model search.

Speaker #1: So, in other words, having a large enough volume of reviews such that the LLM can surface an answer using reviews that is exactly relevant to the user's query.

Speaker #1: Then having reviews that are recent—if your reviews are stale and many months old, then it’s much less likely to get cited by a large language model.

Speaker #1: And thirdly, ranking, which is the authority of the source, effectively. Which is where Trustpilot itself, with that domain authority of 100 we're talking about—the authority of us as a source becomes important.

Speaker #1: So all of that means that, basically, the more feedback and the more frequent feedback companies are getting, the more likely they are to be showing up in large language model search.

Speaker #3: And a follow-up from Sean. Is there more that you can do to support brands looking to assess their return on investment on their spend? For example, click-throughs from AI overviews, subsequent purchase behavior, or even tying AI search patterns into spend on other paid media sources.

Operator: And follow-up from Sean. Is there more that you can do to support brands looking to assess their return on investment on their spend? For example, click-throughs from AI overviews, subsequent purchase behavior, or even trying AI search patterns into spend on the other paid media sources?

Speaker #1: Yeah, so we are doing more with customers in this area. You'll have seen an ROI study that we did a while back with Forrester that showed a 401% ROI, on average, on customers' investment in Trustpilot.

Adrian Blair: Well, we are doing more with customers in this area. You will have seen an ROI study that we did a while back with Forrester that showed a 401% ROI on average on customers' investment in Trustpilot. But we are doing more, particularly with larger customers, to help them really quantify the ROI. It is not, of course, as straightforward as simply things like traffic metrics, because so much of the value is from citations or from the growth that they are driving through featuring Trustpilot in their own media. So getting a higher ROI on media budgets. So it is not as simple as just looking at, for example, how much traffic they are getting through Trustpilot. But when you add up all these sources, it is really substantial value creation. And we think that is only increasing as AI takes off.

Speaker #1: But we are doing more, particularly with larger customers, to help them really quantify the ROI. It isn't, of course, as straightforward as simply things like traffic metrics.

Speaker #1: Because so much of the value is from citations or from the growth that they're driving through featuring Trustpilot in their own media, they're getting a higher ROI on media budgets.

Speaker #1: So it's not as simple as just looking at, for example, how much traffic they're getting through Trustpilot. But when you add up all these sources, it's really substantial value creation.

Speaker #1: And we think that's only increasing as AI takes off.

Speaker #3: Thank you. And the final question: can you run us through, in some detail, what has happened with distributable reserves and what the likely impacts are if you expect to be able to plan or launch a further buyback in the future?

Operator: Thank you. And the final question, can you run us through in some detail what has happened with distributable reserves and what the likely impacts are, and if you expect to be able to plan or launch a further buyback in the future?

Speaker #1: Yeah, so the impact on the financial performance is nil. It's a technical sort of issue that we need to cure, but it doesn't change any of the numbers or any of the cash balances or whatever.

Hanno Damm: Well, the impact is on the financial performance is nil. It is a technical sort of issue that we need to cure, but it does not change any of the numbers or any of the cash balances or whatever. Also, I think what is really important to note and state for the record, is that the total amount of buybacks do not exceed the total amount of distributable reserves that were available in the period. I think what happened is largely an issue around when and what we demonstrated in the PLC filings in terms of available distributable reserves, and then having done subsequent interim dividends that were not reflected in the filings while the buybacks were ongoing and utilizing those reserves, which happened to other companies as well.

Speaker #1: And also, I think what's really important to note and state for the record is that the total amount of buybacks does not exceed the total amount of distributable reserves that were available in the period.

Speaker #1: I think what happened is largely an issue around when and what we demonstrated in the PLC filings in terms of available distributable reserves.

Speaker #1: And then, having done subsequent interim dividends that were not reflected in the filings while the buybacks were ongoing and utilizing those reserves, which happened to other companies as well.

Speaker #1: As you'll see in Note 10, in the context of the first buyback, we actually executed the buyback prior to having the reserves, which were subsequently generated through the share capital reduction in May 2024.

Hanno Damm: As you will see in the Note 10, in the context of the first buyback, we actually executed the buyback prior to having the reserves, which were then subsequently generated through the share capital reduction in May of 2024. All that was due to a sort of a technical accounting mistake where we had erroneously included share-based compensation reserves in the amount of retained earnings that we deemed distributable. Which upon further review, we identified as wrong and they shouldn't have been included. We thought at the time that we had demonstrated sufficient reserves when in fact we hadn't, and we should have filed interim updates on those PLC financials to also demonstrate them. We will now remediate this.

Speaker #1: And that was all due to a sort of technical accounting mistake, where we had erroneously included share-based compensation reserves in the amount of retained earnings that we deemed distributable.

Speaker #1: Which, upon further review, we identified as wrong, and they shouldn't have been included. And so we thought at the time that we had demonstrated sufficient reserves, when in fact we hadn't.

Speaker #1: And we should have filed interim updates on those PLC financials to also demonstrate them. And so, obviously, we will now remediate this—there's a well-trodden path on remediation.

Speaker #1: In the UK and once it's all remediated, we'll continue to obviously the business is generating profit and retained earnings. And we can then demonstrate such with PLC interim financials and full-year financials that we continue to file and that will then allow us to continue to do buybacks.

Hanno Damm: There's a well-trodden path on remediation in the UK, and once it's all remediated, we will continue to. Obviously, the business is generating profit and retained earnings, and we can then demonstrate such with PLC interim financials and full year financials that we continue to file, and that will then allow us to continue to do buybacks.

Speaker #2: But I guess the key point there is this has no impact on our trading, or on our actual cash, or anything to do with future performance.

Adrian Blair: But I guess the key point there is this has no impact on our trading, and on our actual cash or anything to do with future performance.

Speaker #3: And a couple of questions from David Nolan now, from Morgan Stanley. Number one: North America new business sales were up 76% year-on-year.

Operator: A couple of questions from David Nolan now from Morgan Stanley. Number one, North America new business sales were up 76% year-on-year. Is that level of acceleration broad-based and sustainable, or did H1 benefit from unusually strong large deal timing?

Speaker #3: Is that level of acceleration broad-based and sustainable, or did H1 benefit from unusually strong large deal timing?

Speaker #1: So, we were thrilled by the pace of growth. I think there are a few things to unpack. First of all, the market opportunity for us is vast.

Adrian Blair: We were thrilled by the pace of growth. I think a few things to unpick. First of all, the market opportunity for us is vast, and the growth flywheel, as we call it, is clearly accelerating. When we look at all of our flywheel metrics, whether it is review volume or TrustBox impressions, they are absolutely flying in the US. We can really see the proposition catching on there. We saw very significant growth in the enterprise segment. There was a tailwind from some of those billing relationships that we mentioned shifting from the UK to the US. But overall, we expect to continue to perform very strongly in the US, which is a huge opportunity for us.

Speaker #1: And the growth flywheel, as we call it, is clearly accelerating. So when we look at all of our flywheel metrics, whether it's review volume or TrustBox impressions, they're absolutely flying in the US.

Speaker #1: So, we can really see the proposition catching on there. We saw very significant growth in the enterprise segment. There was a tailwind from some of those billing relationships that we mentioned shifting from the UK to the US.

Speaker #1: But overall, we expect to continue to perform very strongly in the US, which is a huge opportunity for us.

Speaker #3: And the second question from David Noland: Group NDR is 101%, while larger customers historically have stronger retention and expansion. As enterprise mix increases, should we expect Group NDR to trend back up from here in financial year 2027?

Operator: The second question from David Nolan. Group NDR is 101%, while larger customers historically have stronger retention and expansion. As enterprise mix increases, should we expect group NDR to trend back up from here in financial year 2027?

Speaker #1: Yeah, so there's a lot going on under the hood with NDR. As you correctly point out, the enterprise segment has the most attractive NDR.

Adrian Blair: Mm-hmm. Yeah. There is a lot going on under the hood with NDR. As you correctly point out, the enterprise segment has the most attractive NDR, and that is part of the reason why it is strategically our priority and our fastest growing segment. We also, as we mentioned, launched in the period digital acquisition of our starter plan. That is having a very beneficial increase at the low end on logo growth. But those low-end logos obviously have lower net revenue retention rates. The way I look at it is, we always target NRR of 100% plus. What is great about the business today versus a few years ago is it is off a base of gross retention that is far healthier. We are at 87% GRR, where a few years ago that number was 84%, and that is a much healthier basis on which to deliver long-term sustainable NRR.

Speaker #1: And that's part of the reason why it's strategically our priority and our fastest-growing segment. We also, as we mentioned, launched in the period digital acquisition of our starter plan.

Speaker #1: So that's having a very beneficial increase at the low end on logo growth. But those low-end logos obviously have lower net revenue retention rates.

Speaker #1: The way I look at it is, we always target NRR of 100% plus. And what's great about the business today versus a few years ago is it's off a base of gross retention that is far healthier.

Adrian Blair: The way I look at it is, we always target NRR of 100% plus. What is great about the business today versus a few years ago is it is off a base of gross retention that is far healthier. We are at 87% GRR, where a few years ago that number was 84%, and that is a much healthier basis on which to deliver long-term sustainable NRR.

Speaker #1: So we're at 87% GRR, whereas a few years ago that number was 84%. That is a much healthier basis on which to deliver long-term sustainable NRR.

Speaker #1: What gives me confidence in it is the level of product innovation in the business. We talk, for example, about product reviews, which is an add-on module that customers need to buy.

Adrian Blair: What gives me confidence in it is the level of product innovation in the business. We talk, for example, about product reviews, which is an add-on module that customers need to buy with huge value associated with it. That is the sort of thing we are going to continue to do to bridge the 87% GRR with the 100% plus NRR that we aim to deliver going forward.

Speaker #1: with huge value associated with it. So that's the sort of thing we're going to continue to do to bridge the 87% GRR with the 100% plus NRR that we aim to deliver going

Speaker #3: Thank you. We're going to go back to Gareth Davies at DB. Accepting that the UK is selling globally, and would be healthy—teams including that benefit—the 11% felt a little sluggish.

Operator: Thank you. We are going to go back to Gareth Davies at Deutsche Bank. Accepting that the UK is selling globally and would be healthy teens including that benefit, the 11% felt a little sluggish. Penetration only 5%. What gives you the confidence that this is a business that can still grow teens? Or should we now see this as a single digit 10% growth profile looking forward? How much does the uncertain macro backdrop impact?

Speaker #3: Penetration is only 5%. What gives you the confidence that this is a business that can still grow? Or should we now see this as a single digit, around 10%?

Speaker #3: Or should we now see this as a single-digit, 10% growth profile looking forward? How much does the uncertain macro backdrop impact?

Speaker #1: Well, think about some of the stats we've been sharing today, Gareth. I mean, we saw enterprise growth of, what, 27%. We can see our GRR—gross retention—in the UK is exceptionally strong, above the group average: 88%.

Adrian Blair: Well, think about some of the stats we have been sharing today, Gareth. We saw enterprise growth of 27%. We can see our GRR, gross retention in the UK is exceptionally strong, above the group average, 88%. NRR is also ahead of the group average. The contribution margin, as Hanno pointed out, is really exceptional at 67%. What I have also pointed out today is how incredibly broad-based that growth is in the UK. We have over 40 different industry verticals where Trustpilot makes at least $1 million of ARR in the UK. If you think about that for a second, I used to run a business where we built the entire company off one of those industry verticals, which was the accounting vertical. We have paying customers more than $1 million ARR in more than 40 different industries.

Speaker #1: NRR is also ahead of the group average. The contribution margin, as Hanno pointed out, is really exceptional at 67%. And what I've also pointed out today is how incredibly broad-based that growth is in the UK.

Speaker #1: So we've got over 40 different industry verticals where Trustpilot makes at least $1 million of ARR in the UK. If you think about that for a second, you know, I used to run a business where we built the entire company off one of those industry verticals.

Speaker #1: Which was the accounting vertical. We've got paying customers, more than a million of ARR, in more than 40 different industries. And that's why we're very clear that the UK penetration is still extremely low, around 5%.

Speaker #1: The business has a very long way to go here. The way we look at growth across regions is always to optimize group performance, as we say.

Adrian Blair: That is why we are very clear that the UK penetration is still extremely low, around 5%. The business has a very long way to go here. The way we look at growth across regions, is always to optimize group performance, as we say. The question I think to ask is: How are we going to deliver long-term mid-teens bookings growth globally for Trustpilot? That is ultimately what we are aiming for and optimizing for, rather than the growth of any particular market. As we have seen in the US a few years ago, it was growing more slowly, now it has accelerated. Individual markets will fluctuate, but we always aim to deliver and optimize for group performance at the end of the day.

Speaker #1: So the question I think to ask is: how are we going to deliver long-term mid-teens bookings growth globally for Trustpilot? And that's ultimately what we're aiming for and optimizing for.

Speaker #1: Rather than the growth of any particular market. And as we've seen in the US a few years ago, it was growing more slowly—now it's accelerated.

Speaker #1: So, individual markets will fluctuate, but we always aim to deliver and optimize for group performance at the end of the day. I should also add we've got, next week, our biggest-ever customer event in the UK coming up.

Speaker #1: Trustpilot Horizon, where we'll be launching some of our new B2B products that I mentioned on this call, has had an absolutely fantastic take-up. So we're still very bullish about this market.

Adrian Blair: I should also add, we have next week, our biggest ever customer event in the UK coming up, Trustpilot Horizon, where we will be launching some of our new B2B products that I mentioned on this call. That has had an absolutely fantastic take-up. We are still very bullish about this market and pushing hard to acquire more new customers.

Speaker #1: And we're pushing hard to acquire more new customers.

Speaker #3: Thank you. And a final follow-up from Gareth. In the US, can you talk a little about sub-sector momentum? Any sub-sectors stand out as particularly strong?

Operator: Thank you. A final follow-up from Gareth. In the US, can you talk a little around sub-sector momentum? Any sub-sector stand out as particularly strong? Any newer areas of focus that have opened up?

Speaker #3: Are there any new areas of focus that have opened up?

Speaker #1: Sure, yeah, happy to do that. So we saw great growth in insurance, in well-being, in software, and technology. So we're starting to see, as in the UK, that our growth is catching on across different industries.

Adrian Blair: Sure. Yeah, happy to do that. We saw great growth in insurance, in well-being, in software technology. We are starting to see, as in the UK, that our growth is catching on across different industries. Often the way it works is one or two leading companies in a sector will start using Trustpilot, others will see that, and then it will catch on within that industry. We are still more concentrated in the US than we are in the UK, for example. Financial services in the US, insurance, credit, banking, absolutely fantastic vertical for us. But that is gradually broadening. As I say, we saw great growth in software well-being, parts of retail like appliances and electronics, doing extremely well too. But one of the lovely things about this company and running it is we are constantly choosing between attractive options.

Speaker #1: Often, the way it works is that one or two leading companies in a sector will start using Trustpilot. Others will see that, and then it will catch on within that industry.

Speaker #1: So we're still more concentrated in the US than we are in the UK, for example. So financial services in the US—insurance, credit, banking—are absolutely fantastic verticals for us.

Speaker #1: But that is gradually broadening. And as I say, we saw great growth in software, well-being, and parts of retail like appliances and electronics doing extremely well too.

Adrian Blair: As I say, we saw great growth in software well-being, parts of retail like appliances and electronics, doing extremely well too. But one of the lovely things about this company and running it is we are constantly choosing between attractive options. We have many different paths to deliver growth, and that includes different verticals within the US market.

Speaker #1: But one of the lovely things about this company and running it is we're constantly choosing between attractive options. We have many different paths to deliver growth.

Speaker #1: And that includes different verticals within the U.S. market.

Adrian Blair: We have many different paths to deliver growth, and that includes different verticals within the US market.

Speaker #3: Thank you. And a couple of questions from Chris Lewicks. Number one, on revenue: H1 came in at 19% constant currency, against a full-year high-teens guide.

Operator: Thank you. A couple of questions from Chris Luiks. Number one: On revenue, H1 came in at 19% constant currency against a full year high teens guide. Given the revenue base for H2 is largely locked in by H1 bookings, is the implied H2 deceleration a statement about booking momentum?

Speaker #3: Given the revenue base for H2 is largely locked in by H1 bookings, is the implied H2 deceleration a statement about booking momentum?

Speaker #1: No, I mean, I think that's a reflection on this year's bookings performance. I mean, as you rightly point out, revenue in the back half is largely a function of bookings last year and year to date.

Hanno Damm: No, I think it is a reflection on this year's bookings performance. As you rightly point out, revenue in the back half is largely a function of bookings last year and year to date. The guidance remains high teens for revenue and our bookings growth is mid-teens growth guidance. Then adjusted EBITDA margin improvement of 2 to 3 percentage points. I do not think it speaks to or implies any massive deceleration in any of these metrics.

Speaker #1: And I think the guidance remains kind of high teens for revenue, and our bookings growth is mid to like mid-teens guidance. And so I think we'll, and then adjust the DBTA margin improvement of two to three percentage points.

Speaker #1: I don't think it really speaks to or implies any massive deceleration in any of these metrics.

Speaker #3: Thank you. And Chris's second question: ChatGPT citations were up over 400% year-on-year, and 75 times citation visibility for active profiles. Where does that show up commercially?

Operator: Thank you. Chris's second question: ChatGPT citations were up 400% plus year on year, 75 times citation visibility for active profiles. Where does that show up commercially? Is it converting into higher win rates or shorter sales cycles or price? Is there evidence AEO is expanding willingness to pay, or is it mainly a retention argument so far?

Speaker #3: Is it converting into higher win rates, or shorter sales cycles, or price? Is there evidence AEO is expanding willingness to pay, or is it mainly a retention argument so far?

Speaker #1: So, in a sense, it's all of the above. I mean, you know, when we talk about 35% growth in customers paying more than $20K, almost every conversation we've had with those businesses involves AEO at some level.

Adrian Blair: So in a sense, it is all of the above. When we talk about 35% growth in customers paying more than 20K, almost every conversation we will have had with those businesses involves AEO at some level, large language models, how they are showing up. Is it supporting willingness to pay? Absolutely. It is helping in those conversations. It is helping with our GRR. I think it is just becoming a core part of our proposition of how we go to market. The great thing is we are not saying anything that is going against the flow. If you look at any kind of best practice around answer engine optimization, what everybody says is you should be engaging with real customer feedback out in the open in a way that larger language models can actually access. So we are helping businesses to do that in practice, and we are operating the world's largest open customer feedback platform.

Speaker #1: Large language models, how they're showing up. Is it supporting willingness to pay? Absolutely. It's helping in those conversations. It's helping with our GRR. I think it's just being it's just becoming a core part of our proposition of how we go to market.

Speaker #1: And the great thing is, we're not saying anything that goes against the flow. If you look at any kind of best practice around answer engine optimization, what everybody says is you should be engaging with real customer feedback out in the open, in a way that large language models can actually access.

Adrian Blair: The great thing is we are not saying anything that is going against the flow. If you look at any kind of best practice around answer engine optimization, what everybody says is you should be engaging with real customer feedback out in the open in a way that larger language models can actually access. So we are helping businesses to do that in practice, and we are operating the world's largest open customer feedback platform. So yes, it is a fantastic time to be doing that.

Speaker #1: So we're helping businesses to do that in practice. We're operating the world's largest open customer feedback platform. So yes, it's a fantastic time to be doing that.

Speaker #3: Thank you. And final one from Chris. On the US, you've given us 60% contribution margin for the UK. Can you give the equivalent for North America, or at least the direction of travel?

Adrian Blair: So yes, it is a fantastic time to be doing that.

Operator: Thank you, and final one from Chris. On the US, you have given a 60% contribution margin for the UK. Can you give the equivalent for North America or at least the direction of travel?

Speaker #1: Yeah, I think we've given a number at the full year, and we'll probably update it again at the full year. But it's continuing to improve as the business grows.

Speaker #1: Keep in mind, though, particularly in periods of very strong new business growth, the margin expansion is not as quick, because the new business obviously comes at a higher acquisition cost, which is reflected in the sales and marketing cost.

Hanno Damm: Yeah. I think we have given a number at the full year, and we will probably update it again at the full year, but it is continuing to improve as the business grows. Keep in mind, though, in particular in periods of very strong new business growth, the margin expansion is not as quick because the new business obviously comes at a higher acquisition cost, which is reflected in the sales and marketing costs, while the retention costs are all reflected in our gross margin. We are extremely pleased with the performance of the US, the 75% plus new business growth that we have seen year to date, which is testament to the ability to monetize the AEO tailwinds.

Speaker #1: While the retention costs are all reflected in our gross margin, we're extremely pleased with the performance of the US, and the 75% plus new business growth that we've seen year to date—which is testament to the ability to monetize the AEO tailwinds.

Speaker #1: But in periods of strong new business growth, the margin expansion is less pronounced. Given that sort of that comes with sales and marketing expense and commission expense that are higher in the period while the revenue from those bookings will sort of then follow subsequently and then drive sort of the margin and retention in the subsequent years.

Hanno Damm: But in periods of strong new business growth, the margin expansion is less pronounced, given that comes with sales and marketing expense and commission expense that are higher in the period, while the revenue from those bookings will then follow subsequently and then drive the margin and retention, in the subsequent years.

Speaker #3: Thank you. Our next question comes from Roger Phillips at Investech. Why did you do a sales reorganization in H1 in the first instance? Is top of funnel so good now that Trustpilot has critical mass in the US that you can afford to outsource new business generation?

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Roger Phillips at Investec. Why did you do a sales reorganization in H1 in the first instance? Is top of funnel so good now that Trustpilot has critical mass in the US that you can afford to outsource new business generation, or is pipeline conversion something to be improved with internal sales resource? In other words, can you phase this direction completely in different ways? What was the reasoning? Thank you.

Speaker #3: Or is pipeline conversion something that can be improved with internal sales resources? In other words, can you phrase this direction completely differently? So, what was the reasoning?

Speaker #3: Thank you.

Speaker #1: Yeah, I mean, I think I've already commented on why we did this part that you're referring to on new business, which is all about having a go-to-market that is suitable—that's designed for the scale of the opportunity.

Adrian Blair: Yeah, I think I have already commented on why we did this part that you are referring to on new business, which is all about having a go-to market that is suitable, that is designed for the scale of the opportunity. As I say, it is not only about outsourcing, it is having a mixed model. The mix is digital, outsourcing, in-house. We are starting to see good results from adding some AI into that mix as well. So it is a mixed model, but outsourcing was the new component for us in H1 that this reorg entailed. I think as it speaks to the US, it just highlights the need for something like this, which is, we are talking about the largest economy on the planet. We believe we have got a proposition that is accessible to ultimately dozens of different industries across that economy.

Speaker #1: And as I say, it's not only about outsourcing. It's having a mixed model that combines digital, outsourcing, and in-house, and we're starting to see good results from adding some AI into that mix as well.

Speaker #1: So it's a mixed model. But outsourcing was the new component for us in H1 that this reorg entailed. I think, as it speaks to the US, it just highlights the need for something like this, which is, we're talking about the largest economy on the planet.

Speaker #1: We believe we've got a proposition that is accessible to ultimately dozens of different industries across the economy. We're never going to have a large enough group of people in a place like New York—which is where most of our team are based—to go after as much of that opportunity as we can.

Adrian Blair: We are never going to have a large enough group of people, in a place like New York, which is where most of our team are based, to go after as much of that opportunity as we can. So it is all about finding the most scalable, cost-effective way to address an opportunity of that size. As I say, it is ultimately a mixed approach, mixing digital outsource and in-house, which is what we have now got.

Speaker #1: So it's all about finding the most scalable, cost-effective way to address an opportunity of that size. And as I say, it's ultimately a mixed approach—mixing digital, outsourced, and in-house—which is what we've now got.

Speaker #3: Thank you. And our final question today is a follow-up from Sean Keeley. In terms of product plans from here, what's next in the business information, research, or operational insights part of the offering?

Operator: Thank you. Our final question today is a follow-up from Sean Kealy. In terms of product plan from here, what is next in the business information research or operational insights part of the offering? Are there steps that you could take, e.g., to allow customers to access your audience for market research purposes?

Speaker #3: Are there steps that you could take, for example, to allow customers to access your audience for market research purposes?

Speaker #1: So, as we said, we've got a lot coming up this year. We've got a major event next week where we're planning to announce some of these enterprise features that we've talked about on this call, particularly multi-domain in the product.

Adrian Blair: As we said, we have got a lot coming up this year. We have got a major event next week where we are planning to announce some of these enterprise features that we have talked about on this call. Particularly multi-domain in the product is important for some of the largest brands because they will be operating lots of different domains on Trustpilot. At the moment, they have to log in separately for every one. Now they will be able to see an overview with all of their brands. We are improving our analytics products as well. You mentioned how we are planning to deepen those. Well, we are looking at search query insights. So when people are typing something into a large language model, what insights can a business get about that that is going to help them with product development, for example? So that is the sort of thing we are working on at the moment.

Speaker #1: It's important for some of the largest brands because they'll be operating lots of different domains on Trustpilot at the moment. They have to log in separately for every one.

Speaker #1: Now they'll be able to see an overview with all of their brands. We are improving our analytics products as well. You mentioned how we are planning to deepen those.

Speaker #1: Well, we're looking at search query insights. So, when people are typing something into a large language model, what insights can a business get from that that's going to help them with product development, for example?

Adrian Blair: We are improving our analytics products as well. You mentioned how we are planning to deepen those. Well, we are looking at search query insights. So when people are typing something into a large language model, what insights can a business get about that that is going to help them with product development, for example? So that is the sort of thing we are working on at the moment. We have got a lot of ideas for 2027, and no doubt we will have another very busy agenda for next year.

Speaker #1: So that's the sort of thing we're working on at the moment. We've got a lot of ideas for 2027, and no doubt we'll have another very busy agenda for next year.

Adrian Blair: We have got a lot of ideas for 2027, and no doubt we will have another very busy agenda for next year.

Operator: There are no further questions, so that concludes today's results presentation. Thank you all for joining. Have a nice day.