Kelly Partners Group Holdings Limited

For the year, revenue was AUD 159.2 million, up 18.2% year over year. Organic revenue growth was 2.9% (4.5% excluding office consolidations and unprofitable client exits), and acquired growth was 15.3%. Underlying EBITDA was AUD 17.9 million; underlying NPATA to shareholders was AUD 10.8 million, up 18.9%; and NPATA was AUD 8.4 million, up 18%. Operating-business EBITDA margin was 28.4%, while Australian businesses achieved 31.9%. Cash from operations was AUD 32.4 million, up 30.1%, and free cash flow to the consolidated group was AUD 18.4 million, up 50.5%. Balance-sheet leverage was 1.52x net debt/EBITDA, with AUD 18.6 million of cash and headroom. For the parent, return on equity was 35.7%, and free cash flow per share was AUD 0.221, up 17.5%. Management did not provide next-quarter guidance; instead, it pointed to continued investment, further acquisitions, and long-term global scaling, with no dividend planned while returns remain well above the cost of capital.

Brett Kelly framed the quarter as evidence that the business model is still compounding well after 20 years, citing repeated doubling, strong returns on equity, and a disciplined share count. His tone was upbeat and highly confident, especially on the company’s ability to expand internationally, use AI, and keep building a global platform with partners rather than a top-down HoldCo. He also stressed that the recent share price decline has been painful but does not change the long-term outlook he sees for the business.

Kenneth Ko focused on the financial mechanics behind the results and spent time clarifying the group-versus-parent reporting structure. He highlighted revenue of AUD 159.2 million, underlying NPATA to shareholders of AUD 10.8 million, leverage of 1.52x, cash from operations of AUD 32.4 million, and cash/headroom of AUD 18.6 million. He also explained that debt rose because of 6 acquisitions, that AUD 28.5 million of total debt sits at the parent and AUD 46.3 million sits in operating businesses, and that the so-called nonrecurring expenses are largely noncash accounting items plus one-off acquisition costs.

Analysts asked about customer-acquisition risk, the slow pace of structural/funding changes, deal flow, U.S. profitability, dividends, buybacks, AI benefits, and whether Big 4 trust issues create an opening. Management said customer losses from client acquisitions are only a marginal risk, the long-term debt/listing work is still in progress, and the U.S. is simply earlier in its maturity curve than Australia. On capital return, Brett said there is no plan to pay dividends while internal returns remain attractive and that a meaningful buyback would require large external capital; on AI, he said the company is seeing clear benefits but would not disclose specifics. He also said Big 4 trust erosion and recent public listings by peers reinforce Kelly Partners’ opportunity as a focused, specialist consolidator.