GlobalData PLC Half Year Results

RNS Number : 4884Y

GlobalData PLC

31 July 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014/EU) AS THE SAME HAS BEEN RETAINED IN UK LAW AS AMENDED BY THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR").

GlobalData Plc

Half Year Results

30 June 2024

Continued momentum in earnings and Adjusted EBITDA margin at 41%

GlobalData Plc (AIM: DATA, GlobalData, the Group), a leading data, analytics, and insights platform, today publishes its results for the half year ended 30 June 2024 (HY24).

· Continued improvement in Adjusted EBITDA¹ (£57.8m, +8%) and Adjusted EBITDA margin¹ (41%)

· Underlying revenue¹ growth of 5%, with foreign exchange diluting total reported revenue growth to 3% at £139.6m

· Profit before tax grew by 13% to £26.9m (HY23: £23.9m)

· Inflexion 40% investment into our Healthcare business is complete with gross cash proceeds of £451.4m reshaping the Group Balance Sheet

· Proposed acquisition of digital media and industry news assets, and have completed a minority investment in technology enabled solution provider

Mike Danson, Chief Executive Officer of GlobalData Plc, commented: "We have started the year well and remain confident in GlobalData's continued ability to generate sustainable value for its stakeholders. Now in the first year of our Growth Transformation Plan 2024-2026, we have been laying the foundations for future success. We are exiting this ramp-up phase of our ambitious plan in a strong position. We have made several key senior hires across the business, implemented a refreshed approach to customer proposition and invested in our go-to-market approach, strengthening our sales and AI resources.

We entered FY24 in a strong position with good traction in subscription revenue and over 80% revenue visibility and remain on track to deliver on our expectations for the full year. With the investment from Inflexion now complete, combined with a highly profitable, cash generative business model, we enter H2 in a strong financial position able to pursue growth more aggressively through organic and inorganic means, as we drive toward our target of £500m annual revenue by the end of the three-year growth plan."

Highlights

Financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2024.

Key performance metrics	HY 2024	HY 2023	Growth	Underlying growth¹
Revenue	£139.6m	£135.9m	+3%	+5%
Operating profit	£37.8m	£36.9m	+2%
Operating profit margin	27%	27%	+0pts
Adj. EBITDA	£57.8m	£53.5m	+8%	+12%
Adj. EBITDA margin	41%	39%	+2pts
Profit before tax (PBT)	£26.9m	£23.9m	+13%
Earnings per share (EPS)	2.5p	2.2p	+14%
Adj. EPS¹	3.8p	3.4p	+12%
Interim dividend	1.5p	1.4p	+7%
Invoiced Forward Revenue¹	£125.9m	£122.9m	+2%	+3%
Net cash/ (bank debt)¹	£188.3m	(£230.8m)	-182%

Financial Highlights

· Good underlying revenue performance across the Group.

o Total revenue growth of 3% at £139.6m (HY23: £135.9m).

o Underlying revenue growth of 5% (HY23: 8%) underpinned by high quality subscription revenue which represented 78% of total revenues (HY23: 78%).

o Healthcare segment revenue at £53.7m (HY23: £50.5m), non-Healthcare segment at £85.9m (HY23 £85.4m).

· Continued Growth in Adjusted EBITDA, up 8% to £57.8m (HY23: £53.5m).

o Adjusted EBITDA margin at 41% reflecting the continued impact of our significant operational gearing (HY23: 39%).

o Healthcare segment Adjusted EBITDA at £30.3m (HY23: £27.6m), non-Healthcare segment at £27.5m (HY23 £25.9m).

· Profit before tax grew by 13% to £26.9m (HY23: £23.9m).

· Operating cash flow grew by 19% to £75.2m (HY23: £63.0m), which reflects an operating cashflow conversion of 130% (HY23 118%).

· Invoiced Forward Revenue grew to £125.9m (30 June 2023: £122.9m), reflecting underlying growth of 3%.

· Interim dividend of 1.5p (HY23: 1.4p).

Operational Highlights

· Investment of 40% into the Healthcare business by Inflexion supports mid-term strategic goals

o Gross proceeds of £451.4m to support organic growth and value-creating M&A.

o Existing debt facilities fully settled and extinguished.

o Group now in net cash position of £188.3m.

· Significant transformational progress against our Growth Transformation Plan 2024-26

o Customer Obsession: Reorganisation into three customer focused divisions - Healthcare, Consumer and Technology - is well underway with Healthcare now fully operating as its own segment. The early stages of the Growth Transformation Plan have focused on building the foundations of the customer focused divisional management teams and we have made significant progress in bringing new talent into teams.

o World-Class Product: Improving our product through continued investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation programme. Following successful clients trials of AI Hub, we are now starting to roll out AI Hub across all clients and we expect to see a significant impact in usability and client experience as a result. As at July 2024, 29% of clients had access to AI Hub (December 2023: 8%).

o Sales Excellence: Good progress in increasing sales capacity and capability, with 53 new positions filled by the end of June, including senior leaders and major client specialists.

o Operational Agility: Investment in our People function has accelerated as a core enabler of our growth transformation strategy; new key hires and increased scale of M&A team creating high performance culture. We have started to deploy capital towards M&A and have entered into a conditional agreement for a small acquisition to purchase digital media and industry news assets for £10m (subject to customary adjustments), and have completed a £4m minority investment in a tech enabled solution provider.

Capital allocation

· Objective continues to be to achieve long-term compounding growth and to enhance shareholder value

o Completion of the Healthcare transaction gives us the flexibility to launch a more ambitious approach to growth investment across our portfolio.

o In this first year of our Growth Transformation Plan 2024-2026, we are continuing to invest in sales headcount, product development and our wider AI transformation programme.

· Remain committed to progressive dividend policy, following rebase from H2 2024

o We intend to rebase the dividend payout from 1 July 2024 onwards (following the completion of the Healthcare transaction). It is the intention to allocate most of the future free cash flow generated by the Healthcare business towards M&A. The Group will therefore allocate dividends from the remaining available free cash flow, whilst also balancing the strategic M&A ambition of the rest of the Group. H1 2024 interim dividend unaffected.

o Following the rebase, which will be reflected in the final 2024 payout, the Group will maintain a progressive policy in future years.

o Whilst maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation, we will look to use some funds for further share buybacks. Mechanism for share buybacks under review and could include a tender offer of shares.

o On-market buyback of up to £10m launched today.

Current Trading and Outlook

· Well positioned to maintain strong and resilient growth.

· Following a strong first half performance and continued momentum into H2, we remain on track to deliver results in line with our expectations for FY24.

· We remain on track to progress towards 45% Adjusted EBITDA margin over the course of our 3-year plan and maintain our ambition of high single to double-digit underlying organic revenue growth, supplemented by strategic M&A to surpass £500m annualised revenue.

Note 1: Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 14.

-ENDS-

ENQUIRIES

GlobalData Plc
Mike Danson, Chief Executive Officer	0207 936 6400
Graham Lilley, Chief Financial Officer

J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Nomad, Joint Broker)	0203 493 8000
Bill Hutchings
Mose Adigun

Panmure Liberum (Joint Broker)	0207 886 2500
Rupert Dearden
Dougie McLeod

Investec Bank plc (Joint Broker) Henry Reast Virginia Bull	0207 597 5970

FTI Consulting (Financial PR)	0203 727 1000
Edward Bridges	globaldata@fticonsulting.com
Dwight Burden
Emma Hall

Notes to Editors

About GlobalData Plc
GlobalData Plc (AIM: DATA) is a leading data, insights, and analytics platform for the world's largest industries. Our mission is to help our clients decode the future, make better decisions, and reach more customers.

One Platform Model

GlobalData's One Platform model is the foundation of our business and is the result of years of continuous investment, targeted acquisitions, and organic development. This model governs everything we do, from how we develop and manage our products, to our approach to sales and customer success, and supporting business operations. At its core, this approach integrates our unique data, expert analysis, and innovative solutions into an integrated suite of client solutions and digital community platforms, designed to serve a broad range of industry markets and customer needs on a global basis. The operational leverage this provides means we can respond rapidly to changing customer needs and market opportunities, and continuously manage and develop products quickly, at scale, with limited capital investment as well as providing unique integration opportunities for M&A.

Strategic Priorities

GlobalData's four strategic priorities are: Customer Obsession, World-Class Product, Sales Excellence and Operational Agility.

Cautionary Statement

This interim statement has been prepared solely to provide information to shareholders to assess how the directors have performed their duty to promote the success of the company.

The interim statement contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements are made by the directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this report and such statements should be treated with caution due to the inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business risk factors, underlying any such forward-looking information.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW

2024 marks the start of our next growth chapter. Following a detailed review of our growth opportunity, we launched our new Growth Transformation Plan 2024-2026, which focuses on expanding our sales headcount, product development and our wider AI transformation programme, as well as scaling up our M&A ambitions. The transformative deal with Inflexion, now complete, gives us the capital to significantly expand GlobalData's scale and ability to accelerate investment.

We entered 2024 with a clear vision and a strong team ready to execute our new Growth Transformation Plan. This will significantly expand GlobalData's scale, speed up our growth and sustain value creation for our shareholders. I'm pleased to report the year has started well. This year is all about building on the good foundational work achieved to date and we have made significant progress in launching the Growth Transformation Plan, investing in our people and infrastructure as well as the reorganisation required to begin to execute on the plan.

HY24 performance and a transformative deal in our Healthcare business

With continued strong performance during the first half, we have continued to progress our Adjusted EBITDA margin to 41% whilst also continuing to invest in a number of initiatives to secure future growth. In HY24 revenue was £139.6m (HY23: £135.9m), reflecting growth of 3%, with 5% underlying growth.

Subscription revenue grew by 3% and 5% on an underlying basis, which represents 78% of total revenue (HY23: 78%). We continued to see consistent renewal rates across our (>£20k) subscription clients, on a volume basis our renewal rates were 83% (HY23: 83%). The value renewal rate has reduced from 98% for the twelve months ending June 2023 to 92% as at June 24, which is reflective of slightly softer performance on price increases and upsell and cross sell.

We remain confident that our platform is in a strong position to drive further margin enhancement through organic and inorganic growth, with 45% Adjusted EBITDA margin target and ambition for £500m of annualised revenue by the end of 2026.

Following the announcement made on 21 December 2023 regarding the proposed investment by Inflexion into GlobalData's Healthcare business, the transaction is now complete and the Group has received gross cash proceeds of £451.4m. This is a key milestone and gives us the flexibility to launch a more ambitious approach to investment across our portfolio and accelerate the execution of our Growth Transformation Plan.

Furthermore, on completion of this transaction the Group's existing debt facilities were fully settled and extinguished, leaving GlobalData with a net cash balance sheet providing additional flexibility for accelerated value-creating M&A activity.

Executing our Growth Transformation Plan

In this first year of our Growth Transformation Plan 2024-2026, we will continue to invest in sales headcount, product development and our wider AI transformation programme.

Building on our success to date, and with multiple levers for growth, during the first half we have continued to focus on our key growth pillars: Customer Obsession, World-Class Product, Sales Excellence and Operational Agility.

We are currently in the process of creating a new customer focused divisional structure, with Healthcare now operating as its own segment. We believe that re-emphasising our customer obsession is the key enabler for sustainable value creation performance, as we get even closer to our customers and user workflows; target a material organic growth opportunity, adopt transformational AI, and continue investing in our people and transformational M&A.

Investment in our People has accelerated as a core enabler of our growth transformation strategy. Investments have included increasing the recruitment capability and capacity, bringing in additional expertise in our sales teams, and creating high performance culture. In line with our commitment to expand our front-line sales teams by more than 150 additional salespeople during the Growth Transformation Plan, we've made progress by increasing the sales capacity and capability to 53 new positions filled by the end of June as well as hiring a Head of Sales Enablement.

As we recalibrate the business to focus on key customer focused divisions, we've made a number of senior hires and created new roles to lead our Healthcare and other divisions. In addition, a number of strategic and major accounts managers were hired across the Group to drive the execution of our plan and build customer relationships including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer roles within the business. In addition to pursuing organic growth, we also remain focused on value-enhancing M&A opportunities and have increased the scale of our M&A team through a number of new hires.

The AI landscape is moving quickly, and we are well-placed to capitalise on the emerging growth opportunities through our continued investment spread across core product enhancements and AI capability. During the first half, we have particularly focused on enhancing and expanding our proprietary data offering. We are excited about the opportunities that Generative AI brings when we combine our proprietary datasets with this increasingly powerful technology.

Progress during the half year has been made against our four strategic pillars:

1) Customer Obsession remains our number one priority

Customer Obsession remains our number one priority and is central to our strategy. Through the Growth Transformation Plan, we are pivoting towards market-led divisions and are building individual management teams to drive execution of the plan.

Building stronger relationships with our customers is key to bringing value-enhancing revenue to the business. We have set a target to increase the volume of renewal rates to more than 90% over the medium term, having delivered 83% in HY24 (HY23: 83%).

The frequency and quality of client engagement across our divisions is in focus. We've set ourselves a target to increase our analyst-client interactions to more than 30,000 in 2024, and consultant-client interactions to more than 20,000 in 2024. As of June 30, the number of analyst-client interactions was approximately 11,500 (an increase of 31% compared with the HY23).

Our reorganisation is also underpinned by the move to a solution-based sales model, where the combination of our AI capability and proprietary data enables us to provide comprehensive intelligence solutions to our customers more quickly and efficiently. Through the use of AI tracking sales calls - we can now; better understand customer interaction, coach customer teams, personalise the selling process and enable coordination across teams. This approach also helps us target specific client requests and offer tailored recommendations driving customer success.

This combination of AI and human expertise is what continues to set us apart from our peers.

2) Continued focus on investment in product development and AI capability

In the first half of this year, we have continued our investment in core product enhancements and focused on the expansion of AI coverage. In particular, we have continued investing in our proprietary data offering.

Our AI transformation programme is underpinned by a comprehensive strategy and product roadmap to improve productivity and enhance customer experience. Our upskilling programmes are well underway with AI training sessions tailored to functional roles. We have introduced a foundational AI program to create a unified understanding of AI across the business. This equips employees to use AI in daily tasks, improve productivity, enhance customer experiences, and better understand AI's role for our customers. Phase 1 of the AI training program has seen positive engagement and phase 2 is set to launch in the second half of 2024, continuing our commitment to AI education and application.

We maintain our commitment to have 300 AI experts employed by GlobalData by 2025.

Following the successful beta trial of AI Hub, we are now starting to roll out AI Hub across all clients and we expect to see a significant impact in usability and client experience as a result. As at July 2024, 29% of clients had access to AI Hub (December 2023: 8%).

Our competitive differentiation is a key value driver, and through ongoing innovation we will continue investing in our product and data sets.

3) Maintaining our sales excellence to drive organic growth

As we reorganise the business, our sales teams are also being recalibrated to capture the significant market opportunity through our organic value creation plan. Our ambition is to drive the increase in the volume renewal rates towards our 90% target. As at 30 June, our volume renewal rates are at 83% (HY23: 83%). We are also relying on AI to optimise our internal processes, including our renewals workflow. Embedding AI tools into the renewal workflow provides a customer health scorecard, making the renewal process more efficient.

We are making significant investments in our sales talent, focusing on scaling, and developing strategic and major account capabilities to strengthen relationships with our most important customers. In the first half of 2024, we have added 53 new sales positions. Our investment in sales hiring will continue through the second half of the year, further enhancing our sales capabilities and customer relationships. We maintain our target of hiring more than 150 additional salespeople during the Growth Transformation Plan.

We continue to invest in our GlobalData curve strategy, aimed at brand enhancement and increased engagement with our clients and prospects across the GlobalData assets. The proposed acquisition of Business Trade Media International Limited will further accelerate our capability in this area, giving us access to a greater audience across our vertical coverage.

4) Maintaining our operational agility through strategic M&A

The completed investment by Inflexion in our Healthcare business provides us with the ability and firepower to support strategic, value-enhancing acquisitions across the three business divisions. With gross cash proceeds of £451.4m received, we will ensure the business remains appropriately invested for sustainable growth and opportunistic M&A and investment activity.

On 31 July 2024 we entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Business Trade Media International Limited reflecting an enterprise value of £10m subject to adjustment via a customary completion accounts mechanism. The transaction is conditional on shareholder approval as Business Trade Media International Limited is a related party so must be approved pursuant to s.190 of the Companies Act 2006. The acquisition is not a related party transaction for the purposes of the AIM Rules due to its size. A circular convening a general meeting for the purposes of obtaining shareholder approval for the acquisition will be posted shortly. The bolt-on acquisition adds a number of established digital media and industry news brands, which align to our sector coverage, and brings an additional annual digital audience of 4m business leaders and decision-makers and will help accelerate the GlobalData 'Curve' Strategy. The deal is expected to complete on 30 August 2024.

In support of GlobalData's Growth Transformation Plan, the Group has launched a Venture programme ("GlobalData Ventures"), with the ambition to shape the future of information services by supporting early-stage growth businesses, establishing strategic partnerships and joint ventures, and incubating nascent product ideas.

Driven by a passion for the opportunities that are being unlocked from the convergence of data, people, and technology - particularly AI - and how this will transform daily productivity across every industry and function, the objective is to deliver financial and strategic value to the GlobalData Group, as well as the partners and portfolio companies we work with, in support of better serving our respective markets and customers.

Focusing on B2B data and software businesses, GlobalData Ventures will back talented, ambitious entrepreneurs and management teams who have the drive to disrupt markets and build category leaders. As entrepreneurs and operators that have lived and breathed the journey of owning and growing information services businesses, we have a compelling and distinct proposition.

As part of this programme, we are pleased to announce that we have secured a strategic partnership, minority stake, and Board position in SIA - Strategy in Action Limited (SiA), an innovative solution designed to empower organisations to formulate and execute successful business strategies, underpinned by a cutting-edge strategy workflow product.

Update on capital allocation and use of proceeds

GlobalData's objective continues to be to achieve long-term compounding growth and to enhance shareholder value. Completion of the Healthcare transaction gives us the flexibility to launch a more ambitious approach to growth investment across our portfolio. In this first year of our Growth Transformation Plan 2024-2026, we are continuing to invest in sales headcount, product development and our wider AI transformation programme. Furthermore, on completion of the Transaction, the Group's existing debt facilities were fully settled and extinguished, leaving the Group with a net cash balance sheet representing additional flexibility for accelerated value-creating M&A activity across the Group.

In order to support longer term liquidity for M&A, as well as the cash funds received from the Healthcare transaction, we are also in an advanced process to enter into new debt facilities (undrawn on signing), to maintain our firepower and ability to execute on significant M&A as we move forwards.

The Board remains committed to its progressive dividend policy, as a demonstration of its commitment to good financial discipline and careful stewardship. To reflect the impact of the Healthcare transaction, the dividend will be rebased from 1 July 2024, following the completion of the Healthcare transaction, and a progressive policy applied in future years, taking into account growth in profitability, free cash flow performance as well as investment and M&A opportunity.

ESG

As a further demonstration of our commitment to creating an ethical and sustainable business, our near term and Net Zero targets have been validated and were published by SBTi in June, and we are progressing with actions to meet those targets. As part of this, 93% of energy purchased for our offices, where we have the ability to directly select our energy supplier, now comes from green sources and we expect that this will be 100% by the end of 2024.

Following the appointment of our Chief People Officer (CPO) in January, we are enhancing our commitment to investing in our people as a core component of our growth transformation strategy. This includes evolving into a divisionally aligned business with key talent leading each market segment, strengthening our leadership capabilities.

In the first half of the year, we concentrated on acquiring the right skills and capabilities to drive our business forward. In the second half, we will embed these skills and launch further initiatives to continue our growth and development.

Our Colleagues

In this challenging macroeconomic environment, we are proud to have such dedicated colleagues whose continued focus and expertise are the driving force behind our success. As we continue to invest in our people's development, building new skillsets critical to our growth, particularly in AI, and enabling our colleagues to accelerate the speed at which we execute our Growth Transformation Plan, will be key.

We are confident that FY24 will be a year of further operational achievements and milestones, and I would like to thank all our team members for their continued effort to make GlobalData the source of "gold standard" data for our customers. I would also like to welcome our new colleagues who joined the Company this year. As we re-organise our business into customer focused divisions, I am confident that their expertise will prove invaluable in shaping the future of GlobalData in this new chapter.

Current Trading and Outlook

Looking ahead, we are well positioned to maintain strong and resilient growth. Our Growth Transformation Plan and investment from Inflexion will accelerate sustainable growth, and we are entering H2 from a position of strength.

Following a strong first half performance and continued momentum into H2, we remain on track to deliver results in line with our expectations for FY24. During the half we have made some key hires to strengthen our team and with the additional firepower received from our Inflexion deal this provides the Board with confidence as we focus on stepping up over the next three years of the plan.

We remain on track to progress towards 45% Adjusted EBITDA margin over the course of the plan period and maintain our ambition of high single to double-digit underlying organic revenue growth, supplemented by strategic M&A to surpass £500m annualised revenue by the end of our 3-year plan.

Our M&A pipeline is robust, and we remain focused on identifying assets with the right cultural characteristics and growth opportunity to maximise value creation.

Mike Danson

Chief Executive Officer

31 July 2024

FINANCIAL REVIEW

£m			Unaudited 6 months to June 2024	Unaudited 6 months to June 2023
Revenue			139.6	135.9
Operating profit			37.8	36.9
Adjusting items
Depreciation			2.9	3.2
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets			4.3	4.7
Amortisation of software			0.9	0.7
Share-based payments charge			9.6	9.7
Restructuring and refinancing costs			2.5	0.4
Revaluation loss/(gain) on short- and long-term derivatives			0.2	(1.7)
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain			(0.4)	(1.7)
M&A and contingent consideration costs			-	1.3
Adjusted EBITDA			57.8	53.5
Adjusted EBITDA margin¹			41%	39%

Profit before tax			26.9	23.9
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets			4.3	4.7
Share-based payments charge			9.6	9.7
Restructuring and refinancing costs			2.5	0.4
Revaluation loss/(gain) on short- and long-term derivatives			0.2	(1.7)
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain			(0.4)	(1.7)
M&A and contingent consideration costs			-	1.3
Revaluation of interest rate swap			(2.8)	-
Adjusted profit before tax			40.3	36.6
Adjusted income tax expense¹			(8.3)	(8.7)
Adjusted profit after tax			32.0	27.9
Allocated to equity holders of the parent			30.7	27.9
Allocated to non-controlling interest			1.3	-

Cash flow generated from operations		75.2		63.0
Interest paid		(12.3)		(12.1)
Income taxes paid		(17.2)		(2.7)
Contingent consideration paid		(0.5)		(0.2)
Principal elements of lease payments		(2.9)		(2.4)
Purchase of intangible and tangible assets		(3.1)		(1.9)
Free cash flow¹		39.2		43.7
Operating cash flow conversion %¹		130%		118%
Free cash flow conversion %¹		97%		119%

Earnings attributable to equity holders:
Basic earnings per share (pence)	2.5			2.2
Diluted earnings per share (pence)	2.5			2.2
Adjusted basic earnings per share (pence)	3.8			3.4
Adjusted diluted earnings per share (pence)	3.8			3.4

¹ Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 14.

The financial position and performance of the business are reflective of the core financial elements of our business model: visible and recurring revenues, high incremental margins, scalable opportunity and strong cash flows.

The Directors believe that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted profit before tax, Adjusted profit after tax and Adjusted earnings per share provide additional useful information on the operational performance of the Group to shareholders, and internally we review the results of the Group using these measures. The term 'adjusted' is not a defined term under IFRS and may not therefore be comparable with similarly titled profit measures reported by other companies. It is not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures of profit.

Revenue

Underlying revenue grew by of 5%, which was partially offset by movements in foreign exchange resulting in total revenue growth of 3% to £139.6m (HY 2023: £135.9m). Subscription revenue (representing 78% of revenue, 2023; 78%) grew by 3% underpinned by underlying growth of 5%.

The volume renewal rate (measured over the last twelve months) has remained consistent at 83% (HY 23: 83%) for clients spending >£20k, however the value renewal rate has reduced from 98% for the twelve months ending June 2023 to 92% as at June 24, which is reflective of slightly softer performance on price increases and upsell and cross sell.

Other revenue was 1% down in the first half (4% underlying growth), which was impacted by a decline in H1 delivery of non-Healthcare consulting projects versus HY23. However, demand and pipeline for consulting projects look healthy for the second half.

£m	HY 2024	HY 2023	Growth
Revenue	139.6	135.9	+3%
Add back currency movements	2.7	-
Underlying Revenue	142.3	135.9	+5%

£m	HY 2024	HY 2023	Growth
Data, Analytics and Insights: Healthcare	53.7	50.5	+6%
Data, Analytics and Insights: Non-Healthcare	85.9	85.4	+1%
Total	139.6	135.9	+3%

Invoiced Forward Revenue

Invoiced Forward Revenue grew from £122.9m as at 30 June 2023 to £125.9m as at 30 June 2024. Invoiced Forward Revenue is a major component of our significant revenue visibility for the forthcoming period.

£m	30 June 2024	30 June 2023
Deferred revenue	121.3	117.5
Amounts not due/subscription not started at 30 June	4.6	5.4
Invoiced Forward Revenue	125.9	122.9

Foreign exchange impact on results

The Group derives around 60% of revenues in currencies other than Sterling, compared with around 40% of its cost base. The impact of currency movements in the period reduced revenue by £2.7m, which mainly reflected Sterling weakness against US Dollar over the last 12 months (compared with the 12 months prior to June 2023).

£m	Revenue	Net operating costs¹	Adjusted EBITDA	Adjusted EBITDA Margin	Invoiced Forward Revenue
Reported	139.6	(81.8)	57.8	41%	125.9
Add back currency movements
US Dollar	2.1	(0.9)	1.2		1.0
Euro	-	-	-		(0.0)
Other	0.6	0.2	0.8		0.2
Constant currency	142.3	(82.5)	59.8	42%	127.1
2023 Reported	135.9	(82.4)	53.5	36%	122.9
Constant currency growth²	+5%	-	+12%	+6pts	+3%

¹ Net operating costs is defined as operating expenses, losses on trade receivables and other income excluding depreciation, amortisation of software and adjusting items (see note 7).

² Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 14.

Profit before tax

Profit before tax for the year grew by £3.0m to £26.9m (HY 2023: £23.9m), which reflects the operating leverage which has driven an increase in Adjusted EBITDA of £4.3m to £57.8m (HY 2023: £53.5m) as well as a reduction in finance charges, partly offset with increases in other operating costs.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 8% to £57.8m (HY 2023: £53.5m). The growth in Adjusted EBITDA was driven by our revenue growth and our ability to control our relatively fixed cost base. We have an established operating cost base and despite significant investments in our people, we have been able to absorb the resulting increases by finding other efficiencies in our cost base, our overall adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 2 percentage points to 41% (HY 2023: 39%).

£m	Healthcare			Non-Healthcare
£m	HY 2024	HY 2023	Growth	HY 2024	HY 2023	Growth
Revenue	53.7	50.5	+6%	85.9	85.4	+1%
Operating costs	(23.4)	(22.9)	+2%	(58.4)	(59.5)	-2%
Adjusted EBITDA	30.3	27.6	+10%	27.5	25.9	+6%
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	56%	55%	+1pt	32%	30%	+2pts

Finance costs

Net finance costs have decreased by £2.1m to £10.9m (HY 2023: £13.0m), including IFRS16 leases interest cost of £0.5m (HY 2023: £0.6m). The reduction is as a result of the gain on the revaluation of interest rate swap totalling £2.8m during the period (HY 2023: £nil). The cash paid in interest in HY 2024 was £12.3m (HY 2023: £12.1m).

Adjusting items

Adjusting items (detailed in note 7) totalled £16.2m during the period (HY 2023: £12.7m). Significant items include:

· Share based payment charge totalling £9.6m (HY 2023: £9.7m).

· Restructuring costs of £2.4m were incurred, with £1.3m relating to group restructuring associated with the 40% disposal of the Healthcare business and £1.1m relating to other group restructuring.

· Revaluation gain on short- and long-term derivatives and unrealised operating foreign exchange contributed a total gain in the first half of £0.2m (HY 2023 £3.4m gain). This is a result of fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Leases

Within our operating costs, depreciation in relation to right-of-use assets was £2.4m (HY 2023: £2.5m). Our net finance costs include interest of £0.5m in relation to lease liabilities (HY 2023: £0.6m).

Taxation

The interim period income tax expense has been calculated using the forecast effective tax rate that would be applicable to expected total annual earnings, i.e. the estimated average annual effective income tax rate applied to the pre-tax income of the interim period. To the extent practicable, where different income tax rates apply to different categories of income, a separate rate has been used for each individual category of interim period pre-tax income.

Using this approach, the overall annual effective income tax rate is currently forecast to be 29.9% (HY 2023: 26.5%). This broadly represents the blended corporation tax rate for FY 2024 in the UK of 25.0% adjusted for the higher rates of overseas tax in the jurisdictions where the Group operates (3.5%) and expenses which are not deductible for tax purposes (1.4%).

A standard rate of corporation tax has been applied in each jurisdiction to interim items affecting taxable income because of the Inflexion investment into the Healthcare business. This is due to the nature, size, and incidence of the transaction.

Reconciliation of statutory income tax charge to adjusted income tax charge is presented below:

£m	HY 2024	HY 2023
Statutory income tax charge	6.0	6.1
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets	1.0	1.0
Share-based payments charge	2.1	2.5
Restructuring and refinancing costs	0.1	-
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain	(0.1)	(0.9)
Revaluation of interest rate swap	(0.8)	-
Adjusted income tax charge	8.3	8.7

Earnings per share

Basic EPS was 2.5 pence per share (HY 2023: 2.2 pence per share). Diluted EPS was 2.5 pence per share (HY 2023: 2.2 pence per share).

Adjusted EPS grew from 3.4 pence per share to 3.8 pence per share, representing 12% growth. Adjusted diluted EPS grew from 3.4 pence per share to 3.8 pence per share, representing 12% growth.

Dividends

We are pleased to declare an interim dividend of 1.5 pence per share (HY 2023: 1.4 pence), an increase of 7%, reflective of our pre-existing progressive dividend policy. The Board has deemed it appropriate that from 1 July 2024, that under its capital allocation strategy going forwards, the Group will rebase the dividend payout to channel more free cash flow towards M&A. The interim dividend will be paid on 4 October 2024 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 6 September 2024. The ex-dividend date will be on 5 September 2024.

Reconciliation of net bank debt

The Group defines net bank debt as short- and long-term borrowings less cash and cash equivalents. The amount excludes items related to leases.

£m	30 June 2024	30 June 2023
Short- and long-term borrowings	-	(258.9)
Cash	188.3	28.1
Net cash/ (bank debt)	188.3	(230.8)

A reconciliation of cash generated from operations, free cash flow and opening and closing net bank debt is set out below.

£m	Period ended 30 June 2024	Period ended 30 June 2023	Growth
Cash flow generated from operations	75.2	63.0	+19%
Interest paid	(12.3)	(12.1)	+2%
Income taxes paid	(17.2)	(2.7)	+537%
Contingent consideration	(0.5)	(0.2)	150%
Principal elements of lease payments	(2.9)	(2.4)	21%
Purchase of intangible and tangible assets	(3.1)	(1.9)	+63%
Free cash flow	39.2	43.7	-10%
Dividends paid	(25.7)	(20.8)	+24%
Net M&A	(4.0)	-	+100%
Receipt of loan from related party	8.0	-	-100%
Proceeds from disposal of non-controlling interest	443.4	-	-100%
Transaction costs recognised directly in equity	(3.8)	-	+100%
Acquisition of own shares	(23.4)	(2.6)	+800%
Net cash flow	433.7	20.3	+2,036%
Opening net bank debt	(243.9)	(249.6)	-2%
Non-cash movement in borrowings	(1.3)	(0.3)	+333%
Currency translation	(0.2)	(1.2)	-83%
Closing cash/ (net bank debt)	188.3	(230.8)	-182%
Last 12 months Adjusted EBITDA¹	115.1	100.9	+14%
Net bank debt leverage	1.6x	-2.3x	+3.9x

¹Reflects 12 month rolling Adjusted EBITDA results. £115.1m reconciles as H2 2023 (£57.3m) and H1 2024 (£57.8m), £100.9m reconciles as H2 2022 (£47.4m) and H1 2023 (£53.5m).

Cash generated from operations grew by 19% to £75.2m (HY 2023: £63.0m), representing 130% of Adjusted EBITDA (HY 2023: 118%). We typically expect operating cash flow to be in excess of 100% of Adjusted EBITDA over the full financial year.

Capital expenditure was £3.1m during the period (HY 2023: £1.9m). Capital expenditure represented 2.2% of revenue (HY 2023: 1.4%).

Free cash flow decreased by 10% to £39.2m, reflecting an increase in taxes paid as a result of the restructure required to effect the Healthcare transaction. An equivalent deferred tax asset offset the taxes paid and therefore the income statement charge remained consistent with the prior year. Free Cash Flow represented 97% of Adjusted Profit Before Tax (HY 2023: 119%).

Year on year, net cash increased to £188.3m as at 30 June 2024 (30 June 2023: net bank debt of £230.8m). Net bank debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage at 30 June 2024 was 1.6x, up from -2.3x last year and up from -2.2x as at 31 December 2023.

Explanation of non-IFRS Measures

Financial measure	How we define it	Why we use it
Adjusted diluted EPS	Adjusted profit after tax attributable to equity holders of the parent per diluted share (reconciliation between statutory profit and adjusted profit shown on page 9). Diluted share defined as total of basic weighted average number of shares (net of shares held in treasury reserve) and share options in issue at end of period (reconciliation between basic weighted average number of shares and diluted weighted average number of shares in note 9).	In order to assess the year-on-year operational business performance.
Adjusted EBITDA	Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted to exclude costs associated with acquisitions, restructuring of the Group, share-based payments, impairment, unrealised operating exchange rate movements and the impact of foreign exchange contracts. This is reconciled to operating profit on page 9.
Last 12 months Adjusted EBITDA	Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted to exclude costs associated with acquisitions, restructuring of the Group, share-based payments, impairment, unrealised operating exchange rate movements and the impact of foreign exchange contracts in the 12 months preceding the period end date. This is reconciled on page 13.
Adjusted EBITDA margin	Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. This is calculated on page 9.
Adjusted EPS	Adjusted profit after tax attributable to equity holders of the parent per share (reconciliation between statutory profit and adjusted profit shown on page 9).
Adjusted income tax expense	Represents the statutory income tax expense adjusted for the tax effect on adjusting items. In addition, the adjusted income tax expense includes the effect of any tax rate changes. This is reconciled to the statutory income tax expense on page 12.
Adjusted profit before tax	Profit before tax adjusted to exclude amortisation of acquired intangible assets, costs associated with acquisitions, restructuring of the Group, share-based payments, impairment, unrealised operating exchange rate movements and the impact of foreign exchange contracts. This is reconciled to profit before tax on page 9.
Constant currency growth	Underlying growth is calculated by excluding the impact of movement in exchange rates. Constant currency growth is reconciled to reported growth on page 11 for revenue, operating costs, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Invoiced forward revenue.	To give the reader an idea of the growth of the business without the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations, which may add to the transparency and understanding of the results.
Free cash flow	Cash flow generated from operations less interest paid, income taxes paid, contingent consideration paid, principal elements of lease payments and purchase of intangible and tangible assets. This is calculated on page 9.	Indicates the extent to which the Group generates cash from Adjusted profits.
Free cash flow conversion	Free cash flow divided by Adjusted profit before tax. This is calculated on page 9.
Invoiced Forward Revenue	Invoiced Forward Revenue relates to amounts that are invoiced to clients at the statement of financial position date, which relate to future revenue to be recognised. This is reconciled to deferred revenue on page 10.	Acts as an indication of revenue visibility for the forthcoming period.
Net bank debt	Short and long-term borrowings (excluding lease liabilities) less cash and cash equivalents. This is reconciled on page 12.	Provides an insight into the debt position of the Group, taking into account current cash resources.
Net bank debt leverage	Net bank debt calculated as a multiple of the last 12 months Adjusted EBITDA. Detailed calculation is provided on page 13.
Net cash flow	Free cash flow less dividends paid, net M&A costs, acquisition of own shares and cash received from repayment of loans. This is calculated on page 13.	Indicates the extent to which the Group generates cash from Adjusted profits.
Operating cash flow conversion	Cash flow generated from operations divided by Adjusted EBITDA. This is calculated on page 9.	Indicates the extent to which the Group generates cash from Adjusted EBITDA.
Underlying growth	Underlying growth is calculated by excluding the impact of movement in exchange rates and the results of acquired businesses, based upon the comparative period prior to acquisition. Underlying revenue is reconciled to reported revenue on page 10. Underlying Adjusted EBITDA and underlying invoiced forward revenue are reconciled to reported amounts on page 11.	The reason we use underlying growth as a metric is to give the reader an idea of the growth of the business without the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange fluctuations, which may add to the transparency and understanding of the results.

Responsibility Statement

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

a) the consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34, "Interim Financial Reporting";

b) the consolidated interim financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the issuer, or the undertakings included in the consolidation as a whole as required by DTR 4.2.4R;

c) the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R, namely;

i. an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year and their impact on the consolidated interim financial statements; and

ii. a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the financial year.

d) the interim management report includes, as required by DTR 4.2.8R, a fair review of material related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the financial year and any material changes in the related-party transactions described in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 that could have a material effect on the financial position or performance of the enterprise in the first six months of the current financial year.

Approved by the Board on 31 July 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Mike Danson

Chief Executive

Independent review report to GlobalData Plc

Conclusion

We have been engaged by the Company to review the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2024 which comprises the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of financial position, the consolidated statement of changes in equity, the consolidated statement of cash flows and related notes 1 to 14.

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2024 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34 and the AIM Rules of the London Stock Exchange.

Basis for Conclusion

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (UK) 2410 "Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity" issued by the Financial Reporting Council for use in the United Kingdom (ISRE (UK) 2410). A review of interim financial information consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

As disclosed in note 1, the annual financial statements of the group will be prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. The condensed set of financial statements included in this half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34, "Interim Financial Reporting".

Conclusion Relating to Going Concern

Based on our review procedures, which are less extensive than those performed in an audit as described in the Basis for Conclusion section of this report, nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the directors have inappropriately adopted the going concern basis of accounting or that the directors have identified material uncertainties relating to going concern that are not appropriately disclosed.

This conclusion is based on the review procedures performed in accordance with this ISRE (UK) 2410, however future events or conditions may cause the entity to cease to continue as a going concern.

Responsibilities of the directors

The directors are responsible for preparing the half-yearly financial report in accordance with the AIM rules of the London Stock Exchange.

In preparing the half-yearly financial report, the directors are responsible for assessing the group's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's Responsibilities for the review of the financial information

In reviewing the half-yearly financial report, we are responsible for expressing to the group a conclusion on the condensed set of financial statement in the half-yearly financial report. Our conclusion, including our Conclusions Relating to Going Concern, are based on procedures that are less extensive than audit procedures, as described in the Basis for Conclusion paragraph of this report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company in accordance with ISRE (UK) 2410. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company those matters we are required to state to it in an independent review report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company, for our review work, for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.

Deloitte LLP

Statutory Auditor

London, England

31 July 2024

Consolidated Income Statement

	Notes	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
Continuing operations		£m	£m
Revenue	5	139.6	135.9
Operating expenses	6	(101.8)	(98.2)
Losses on trade receivables	6	(0.2)	(1.3)
Other income		0.2	0.5
Operating profit		37.8	36.9
Net finance costs	8	(10.9)	(13.0)
Profit before tax		26.9	23.9
Income tax expense	3	(6.0)	(6.1)
Profit for the period		20.9	17.8

Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent		20.1	17.8
Non-controlling interest		0.8	-

Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of the parent:
Basic earnings per share (pence)	9	2.5	2.2
Diluted earnings per share (pence)	9	2.5	2.2

Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA:
Operating profit		37.8	36.9
Depreciation		2.9	3.2
Amortisation of software		0.9	0.7
Adjusting items	7	16.2	12.7
Adjusted EBITDA		57.8	53.5

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this financial report.

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
	£m	£m
Profit for the period	20.9	17.8
Other comprehensive income
Items that will be classified subsequently to profit or loss when specific conditions are met:
Cash flow hedge - effective portion of changes in fair value	-	8.0
Cash flow hedge - reclassification to profit or loss	-	0.4
Net exchange losses on translation of foreign entities	(0.2)	(1.2)
Other comprehensive (losses)/gains, net of tax	(0.2)	7.2
Total comprehensive income for the period	20.7	25.0

Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent	19.7	25.0
Non-controlling interest	1.0	-

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this financial report.

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

	Notes	30 June 2024 Unaudited	31 December 2023 Audited
		£m	£m
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment		24.3	26.6
Goodwill	10	311.1	311.1
Other intangible assets	10	59.2	61.7
Investments		4.0	-
Deferred tax assets		27.0	3.4
		425.6	402.8
Current assets
Trade and other receivables		64.5	69.2
Current tax receivable		-	-
Short-term derivative assets		0.2	0.5
Cash and cash equivalents		188.3	19.8
		253.0	89.5
Total assets		678.6	492.3
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		(64.0)	(32.4)
Deferred revenue		(121.3)	(104.6)
Short-term lease liabilities	11	(3.6)	(4.3)
Current tax payable		(13.8)	(2.8)
Short-term derivative liabilities		-	(0.1)
Short-term provisions		(0.1)	(0.1)
		(202.8)	(144.3)
Net current liabilities		50.2	(54.8)
Non-current liabilities
Long-term provisions		(1.5)	(1.4)
Deferred tax liabilities		(2.1)	(0.9)
Long-term derivative liabilities		-	(2.8)
Long-term lease liabilities	11	(19.7)	(21.4)
Long-term borrowings	11	-	(263.7)
		(23.3)	(290.2)
Total liabilities		(226.1)	(434.5)
Net assets		452.5	57.8
Equity
Share capital	12	0.2	0.2
Treasury reserve	12	(75.1)	(65.4)
Other reserve	12	(44.3)	(44.3)
Foreign currency translation reserve	12	(1.4)	(2.0)
Retained profit	12	572.3	169.3
Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent		451.7	57.8
Non-controlling interest	12	0.8	-
Total equity		452.5	57.8

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this financial report.

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

	Share capital	Treasury reserve	Other reserve	Foreign currency translation reserve	Cash flow hedge reserve	Retained profit	Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent	Non-controlling interest	Total equity
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Balance at 1 January 2023	0.2	(70.8)	(44.3)	(0.7)	(3.9)	167.8	48.3	-	48.3
Profit for the six-month period ended 30 June 2023	-	-	-	-	-	17.8	17.8	-	17.8
Other comprehensive income:
Cash flow hedge - effective portion of changes in fair value	-	-	-	-	8.0	-	8.0	-	8.0
Cash flow hedge - reclassification to profit or loss upon loan repayment	-	-	-	-	0.4	-	0.4	-	0.4
Net exchange loss on translation of foreign entities	-	-	-	(1.2)	-	-	(1.2)	-	(1.2)
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	(1.2)	8.4	17.8	25.0	-	25.0
Transactions with owners:
Share buy-back	-	(2.6)	-	-	-	-	(2.6)	-	(2.6)
Dividend	-	-	-	-	-	(20.8)	(20.8)	-	(20.8)
Vesting of share options	-	16.5	-	-	-	(16.5)	-	-	-
Share-based payments charge	-	-	-	-	-	9.7	9.7	-	9.7
Tax on share-based payments	-	-	-	-	-	(0.4)	(0.4)	-	(0.4)
Balance at 30 June 2023	0.2	(56.9)	(44.3)	(1.9)	4.5	157.6	59.2	-	59.2
Profit for the six-month period ended 31 December 2023	-	-	-	-	-	13.0	13.0	-	13.0
Other comprehensive income:
Cash flow hedge - effective portion of changes in fair value	-	-	-	-	(7.3)	-	(7.3)	-	(7.3)
Cash flow hedge - reclassification to profit or loss upon discontinuation of hedge accounting					2.8	-	2.8	-	2.8
Net exchange loss on translation of foreign entities	-	-	-	(0.1)	-	-	(0.1)	-	(0.1)
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	(0.1)	(4.5)	13.0	8.4	-	8.4
Transactions with owners:
Share buy-back	-	(9.3)	-	-	-	-	(9.3)	-	(9.3)
Dividend	-	-	-	-	-	(11.4)	(11.4)	-	(11.4)
Vesting of share options	-	0.8	-	-	-	(0.8)	-	-	-
Share-based payments charge	-	-	-	-	-	9.7	9.7	-	9.7
Tax on share-based payments	-	-	-	-	-	1.2	1.2	-	1.2
Balance at 31 December 2023	0.2	(65.4)	(44.3)	(2.0)	-	169.3	57.8	-	57.8
Profit for the six-month period ended 30 June 2024	-	-	-	-	-	20.1	20.1	0.8	20.9
Other comprehensive income:
Net exchange loss on translation of foreign entities	-	-	-	(0.4)	-	-	(0.4)	0.2	(0.2)
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	(0.4)	-	20.1	19.7	1.0	20.7
Transactions with owners:
Gain on disposal of non-controlling interest, net of transaction costs incurred	-	-	-	1.0	-	412.8	413.8	(0.2)	413.6
Share buy-back	-	(23.4)	-	-	-	-	(23.4)	-	(23.4)
Dividend	-	-	-	-	-	(25.7)	(25.7)	-	(25.7)
Vesting of share options	-	13.7	-	-	-	(13.7)	-	-	-
Share-based payments charge	-	-	-	-	-	9.6	9.6	-	9.6
Tax on share-based payments	-	-	-	-	-	(0.1)	(0.1)	-	(0.1)
Balance at 30 June 2024	0.2	(75.1)	(44.3)	(1.4)	-	572.3	451.7	0.8	452.5

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this financial report.

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

Continuing operations	Notes	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
Cash flows from operating activities		£m	£m
Profit for the period		20.9	17.8
Adjustments for:
Depreciation		2.9	3.2
Amortisation	10	5.2	5.4
Net finance costs		10.9	13.0
Other (gains) and losses		(0.2)	(0.5)
Taxation recognised in profit or loss		6.0	6.1
Share-based payments charge	12	9.6	9.7
Decrease in trade and other receivables		2.2	3.2
Increase in trade and other payables		17.4	6.8
Revaluation of short- and long-term derivatives		0.2	(1.7)
Movement in provisions		0.1	-
Cash generated from continuing operations		75.2	63.0
Interest paid		(12.3)	(12.1)
Income taxes paid		(17.2)	(2.7)
Contingent consideration paid		(0.5)	(0.2)
Total cash flows from operating activities		45.2	48.0
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	14	(4.0)	-
Purchase of property, plant and equipment		(0.4)	(0.3)
Purchase of intangible assets	10	(2.7)	(1.6)
Total cash flows used in investing activities		(7.1)	(1.9)
Cash flows from financing activities
Repayment of borrowings	11	(305.0)	(25.0)
Proceeds from borrowings	11	40.0	-
Proceeds from disposal of non-controlling interest	12	443.4	-
Receipt of loan from related party	13	8.0	-
Transaction costs recognised directly in equity	12	(3.8)	-
Acquisition of own shares	12	(23.4)	(2.6)
Principal elements of lease payments	11	(2.9)	(2.4)
Dividends paid		(25.7)	(20.8)
Total cash flows generated from/ (used in) financing activities		130.6	(50.8)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		168.7	(4.7)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		19.8	34.0
Effects of currency translation on cash and cash equivalents		(0.2)	(1.2)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		188.3	28.1

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this financial report.

Notes to the Interim Financial Statements

1. General information

Nature of operations

The principal activity of GlobalData Plc and its subsidiaries (together 'the Group') is to provide business information in the form of high quality proprietary data, analytics, and insights to clients in multiple sectors.

GlobalData Plc ('the Company') is a company incorporated in the United Kingdom (England & Wales) and listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), therefore is publicly owned and limited by shares. The registered office of the Company is John Carpenter House, John Carpenter Street, London, EC4Y 0AN. The registered number of the Company is 03925319.

Basis of preparation

These interim financial statements are for the six months ended 30 June 2024. They have been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34, "Interim Financial Reporting". They do not include all of the information required for full annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with GlobalData Plc's audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.

The financial information for the year ended 31 December 2023 set out in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies and can be found on the Group's website www.globaldata.com. The independent auditors' report on the full financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 was unqualified and did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph or any statement under section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.

These interim financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, except for derivative financial instruments, which are measured at fair value.

The interim financial statements are presented in Pounds Sterling (£), which is also the functional currency of the Company. These interim financial statements have been approved for issue by the Board of Directors.

Critical accounting estimates and judgements

When preparing the Interim Financial Statements, the Group makes a number of estimates, judgements and assumptions regarding the future. Estimates, judgements and assumptions are frequently evaluated based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. In the future, actual experience may deviate from these estimates and assumptions.

The judgements, estimates and assumptions applied in the Interim Financial Statements, including the key sources of estimation uncertainty, were the same as those applied in the Group's last annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023, with the exception of the Group's Segmental Reporting and Cash-Generating Units assessments, which have been revised as follows:

Segmental Reporting

IFRS8 "Operating Segments" requires the segment information presented in the financial statements to be that which is used internally by the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM) to evaluate the performance of the business and to decide how to allocate resources. The Group has identified the Chief Executive as its Chief Operating Decision Maker.

The fundamental principle of the GlobalData business model is to provide our clients with subscription access to our proprietary data, analytics, and insights platform, with the offering of ancillary services such as consulting, single copy reports and events. The Group has previously reported one operating segment, being Data, Analytics and Insights, however during H1 2024 there have been a number of restructuring and organisational changes within the Group associated with the transaction to sell 40% of the Group's Healthcare business to Inflexion which completed on 28 June 2024. These changes include a number of internal trade and asset transfers whereby the trade and assets of the Healthcare business were carved out into newly created Healthcare entities across each jurisdiction, in some instances a reverse carve out took place however the end result being that by 31st May 2024 all of the Group's Healthcare trade and assets resided within a ring-fenced Healthcare sub-group. This has resulted in discrete financial information being available at a Healthcare level. In addition, a dedicated Healthcare Board and Management team have been appointed and as such Management have assessed that the Group now operates under two segments: 'Data, Analytics and Insights: Healthcare' and 'Data, Analytics and Insights: Non-Healthcare'.

There is no difference between the Group's operating segments and the Group's reportable segments.

Identification of Cash-Generating Units

IAS36 'Impairment of Assets' requires that assets be carried on the statement of financial position at no more than their recoverable amount. An asset or cash-generating unit (CGU) is the smallest identifiable group of assets that generates cash inflows and is impaired when its carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount. Goodwill held by the Group is monitored at the CGU level. As at the reporting date (30 June 2024), Management have assessed that the Group had three CGUs, being DA&I: Healthcare; DA&I: Non-Healthcare and Media Business Insights ('MBI'). In the prior year Management assessed that the Group had two CGUs, being DA&I and MBI.

During H1 2024, the Group undertook a restructuring exercise to carve out the Healthcare business into separate legal entities. On this basis the Group is now able to directly identify the cash inflows of the Healthcare operations. The non-Healthcare DA&I assets and liabilities continue to exist within the remaining legal entities of the Group and as such Management are unable to ringfence separately identifiable cash inflows, therefore these assets are considered to be a single CGU. The previously named Data, Analytics and Insights (DA&I) CGU has therefore been split into two CGUs, DA&I: Healthcare and DA&I: Non-Healthcare.

There has been no change to Management's assessment that MBI is its own CGU, on the basis that there have been no significant changes made to the operation of this business within the financial year. Management previously concluded that MBI was its own CGU as the product is inherently different to the Groups' main offering, and the brand, strategy and management of the business is separate from the rest of the Group.

As a result of these conclusions, as at the reporting date (30 June 2024), the Group had three CGUs.

Principal and emerging risks and uncertainties

The Directors consider that the principal and emerging risks and uncertainties facing the Group as at 30 June 2024, and looking forwards into H2 2024, are consistent with those reported within the Strategic Report of the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023. The key risks identified were as follows:

· Business and strategic risks: Product; People and Succession; Competition and Clients; Economic and Global Political Changes; Acquisition and Integration Risk

· Operational risks: Financial; Personal Data; IT, Cyber and Systems Failure; Regulatory Compliance

We are a data, analytics, and insights company in which our products are created and distributed digitally. Our carbon footprint is considerably smaller than those of many other companies of our size. Therefore, we have concluded that environmental factors do not represent a principal risk to our business.

Going concern

The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through free cash flow. The Group has closing cash of £188.3m and no external debt as at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: cash of £19.8m and net bank debt of £243.9m, being cash and cash equivalents less short and long-term borrowings, excluding lease liabilities). During H1 2024, upon completion of the investment by Inflexion in our Healthcare business, the Group fully repaid the outstanding term loan of £265m and RCF of £40m. The Group is in the process of negotiating two new facilities to support the Group in delivering its M&A strategy, one for the DA&I: Healthcare business, and one for the remainder of the Group (DA&I: Non-Healthcare). The Group has generated £75.2m in cash from operations during the period ended 30 June 2024 (30 June 2023: £63.0m). Based on cash flow projections the Group considers the existing cash resources held by the Group to be adequate to meet short-term commitments.

The previously held finance facilities were issued with debt covenants which were measured on a quarterly basis. There have been no breaches of covenants in the period ended 30 June 2024.

The Directors have a reasonable expectation that there are no material uncertainties that cast significant doubt about the Group's ability to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due for the foreseeable future, being a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of the interim financial statements.

The Directors therefore consider the strong balance sheet, with good cash reserves and working capital, provide ample liquidity. Accordingly, the Directors have prepared the interim financial statements on a going concern basis.

2. Accounting policies

This interim report has been prepared based on the accounting policies detailed in the Group's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023, which have been applied consistently. The annual financial statements of the Group are prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. The financial statements also comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as issued by the IASB.

Presentation of non-statutory alternative performance measures

The Directors believe that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted profit before tax, Adjusted profit after tax and Adjusted earnings per share provide additional useful information on the operational performance of the Group to shareholders, and we review the results of the Group using these measures internally. The term 'adjusted' is not a defined term under IFRS and may not therefore be comparable with similarly titled profit measures reported by other companies. It is not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures of profit.

Adjustments are made in respect of:

Share-based payments and associated costs	Share-based payment expenses are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA as they are a non-cash charge, and the awards are equity-settled.
Restructuring, M&A (including contingent consideration) and refinancing costs	The Group excludes these costs from Adjusted EBITDA where the nature of the item, or its size, is not related to the operational performance of the Group and allows for comparability of underlying results.
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	The amortisation charge for those intangible assets recognised on business combinations is excluded from Adjusted EBITDA since they are non-cash charges arising from historical investment activities. Any impairment charges recognised in relation to these intangible assets are also excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. This is a common adjustment made by acquisitive information service businesses and is therefore consistent with peers. Revenues associated with acquisitions, in the year of acquisition, are excluded from the calculation of underlying revenue.
Revaluation of short- and long-term derivatives	Gains and losses are recognised within Adjusted EBITDA when they are realised in cash terms and therefore, we exclude non-cash movements arising from fluctuations in exchange rates which better aligns Adjusted EBITDA with the cash performance of the business.
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain/loss
Revaluation of interest rate swap	Gains and losses on the revaluation of the interest rate swap are excluded from Adjusted profit before tax which better aligns with the cash performance of the business.

3. Taxation

Income tax on the profit or loss for the period comprises current and deferred tax.

Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the period, using rates substantively enacted at the reporting date, and any quantifiable adjustments to the tax payable in respect of previous years.

Deferred taxation is provided in full on temporary differences between the carrying amount of the assets and liabilities in the financial statements and the tax base. Deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the temporary difference can be utilised. Deferred tax is determined using the tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting date and are expected to apply when the deferred tax liability is settled or the deferred tax asset is realised.

Tax is recognised in the income statement for interim reporting purposes using the tax rate that would be applicable to expected total annual earnings, being the estimated average annual effective income tax rate applied to the pre-tax income of the interim period. To the extent practicable, a separate estimated average annual effective income tax rate is determined for each tax jurisdiction and applied individually to the interim period pre-tax income of each jurisdiction. Similarly, if different income tax rates apply to different categories of income (such as capital gains), to the extent practicable, a separate rate is applied to each individual category of interim period pre-tax income.

A standard rate of corporation tax is applied in each jurisdiction to interim items affecting net income that are unusual because of their nature, size or incidence.

The major components of income tax expense in the interim consolidated income statement are:

Income taxes	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
	£m	£m
Current income tax expense	29.0	7.7
Deferred income tax credit relating to origination and reversal of temporary differences	(23.0)	(1.6)
Income tax expense recognised in income statement	6.0	6.1

The current income tax expense for the period ended 30 June 2024 includes the impact of transferring overseas assets into a stand-alone perimeter to facilitate the Inflexion investment in the Healthcare business (£21.4m expense). The deferred income tax expense for the period ended 30 June 2024 includes the recognition of a deferred tax asset arising from the corresponding stepped-up basis in the transferred assets (£23.4m income).

4. Segment analysis

The fundamental principle of the GlobalData business model is to provide our clients with subscription access to our proprietary data, analytics, and insights platform, with the offering of ancillary services such as consulting, single copy reports and events. The Group has previously reported one operating segment, being Data, Analytics and Insights ('DA&I'), however during H1 2024 there have been a number restructuring and organisational changes within the Group associated with the transaction to sell 40% of the Group's Healthcare business to Inflexion which completed on 28 June 2024. These changes include a number of internal trade and asset transfers whereby the trade and assets of the Healthcare business were carved out into newly created Healthcare entities across each jurisdiction, in some instances a reverse carve out took place however the end result being that by 31st May 2024 all of the Group's Healthcare trade and assets resided within a ring-fenced Healthcare sub-group. This has resulted in discrete financial information being available at a Healthcare level. In addition, a dedicated Healthcare Board and Management team have been appointed and as such Management have assessed that the Group now operates under two segments: 'Data, Analytics and Insights: Healthcare' and 'Data, Analytics and Insights: Non-Healthcare'.

There is no difference between the Group's operating segments and the Group's reportable segments.

Each segment generates revenue from services provided over a period of time such as recurring subscriptions and other services which are deliverable at a point in time such as reports, events and custom research.

The Group profit or loss along with Adjusted EBITDA by segment is reported to the Chief Executive on a monthly basis.

The Group considers the use of two operating segments to be appropriate due to:

· The Chief Executive reviewing Adjusted EBITDA at the Group level and segment level on a monthly basis;

· Each segment engages in business activities from which it earns revenues and incurs expenses;

· Discrete financial information is available for each segment.

Each operating segment is assessed by the Board on an Adjusted EBITDA basis. Group adjusting items, depreciation, amortisation, finance income and costs are not allocated to segments. Reportable segment Adjusted EBITDA is used to measure performance as Management believes that such information is most relevant in evaluating the results of the reportable segments. The Group has restated previously reported segment information to align with the information that is now regularly reported to the CODM.

A reconciliation of revenue to Adjusted EBITDA on a reportable segment and at a Group level to Profit before Tax is set out below. Segment assets and liabilities are not presented as these are not reported to the CODM.

Period ended 30 June 2024	DA&I: Healthcare Unaudited £m	DA&I: Non-Healthcare Unaudited £m	Total Unaudited £m
Revenue	53.7	85.9	139.6
Operating costs	(23.4)	(58.4)	(81.8)
Adjusted EBITDA	30.3	27.5	57.8
Unallocated group costs:
Restructuring and refinancing costs			(2.5)
Share-based payments charge			(9.6)
Revaluation loss on short- and long-term derivatives			(0.2)
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain			0.4
Amortisation of acquired intangibles			(4.3)
Depreciation			(2.9)
Amortisation (excluding amortisation of acquired intangible assets)			(0.9)
Finance costs			(10.9)
Profit before tax			26.9

Period ended 30 June 2023 (restated)¹	DA&I: Healthcare Unaudited £m	DA&I: Non-Healthcare Unaudited £m	Total Unaudited £m

Revenue	50.5	85.4	135.9
Operating costs	(22.9)	(59.5)	(82.4)
Adjusted EBITDA	27.6	25.9	53.5
Unallocated group costs:
Restructuring and refinancing costs			(0.3)
M&A costs			(0.3)
Contingent consideration			(1.0)
Share-based payments charge			(9.7)
Costs relating to share-based payment schemes			(0.1)
Revaluation gain on short- and long-term derivatives			1.7
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain			1.7
Amortisation of acquired intangibles			(4.7)
Depreciation			(3.2)
Amortisation (excluding amortisation of acquired intangible assets)			(0.7)
Finance costs			(13.0)
Profit before tax			23.9

¹ Comparative information has been restated to provide segmental disclosures in line with period ended 30 June 2024.

5. Revenue

The Group generates revenue from services provided over a period of time such as recurring subscriptions and other services which are deliverable at a point in time such as reports, events and custom research.

Subscription income for online services, data and analytics (typically 12 months) is normally invoiced at the beginning of the services and is therefore recognised as a contract liability, "deferred revenue", in the statement of financial position. Revenue is recognised evenly over the period of the contractual term as the performance obligations are satisfied evenly over the term of subscription.

The revenue on services delivered at a point in time is recognised when our contractual obligation is satisfied, such as delivery of a static report or delivery of an event. The obligation on these types of contracts is a discrete obligation, which once met satisfies the Group performance obligation under the terms of the contract.

Any invoiced contracted amounts which are still subject to performance obligations and where the payment has been received or is contractually due are recognised within deferred revenue at the statement of financial position date. Typically, the Group receives settlement of cash at the start of each contract and standard terms are zero days. Similarly, if the Group satisfies a performance obligation before it receives the consideration or is contractually due the Group recognises a contract asset within accrued income in the statement of financial position.

	Revenue recognised in the Consolidated Income Statement		Deferred Revenue recognised within the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
	Period ended 30 June 2024 Unaudited	Period ended 30 June 2023 Unaudited	As at 30 June 2024 Unaudited	As at 31 December 2023 Audited
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Services transferred:
Over a period of time	108.8	105.4	118.7	89.5
Immediately on delivery	30.8	30.5	2.6	15.1
Total	139.6	135.9	121.3	104.6

As subscriptions are typically for periods of 12 months the majority of deferred revenue held at the balance sheet date will be recognised in the income statement in the following 12 months. As at 30 June 2024, £1.3m (31 December 2023: £2.0m) of the deferred revenue balance will be recognised beyond the next 12 months.

In instances where the Group enters into transactions involving a range of the Group's services, for example a subscription and custom research, the total transaction price for a contract is allocated amongst the various performance obligations based on their relative stand-alone selling prices.

Geographical analysis

Our primary geographical markets are serviced by our global sales teams which are organised as Europe, US and Asia Pacific by virtue of the team location. The below disaggregated revenue is derived from the geographical location of our customers rather than the team structure the Group is organised by.

From continuing operations

6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	UK	Europe	Americas	Asia Pacific	MENA¹	Rest of World	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m		£m
Revenue from external customers	24.3	36.6	46.6	15.0	12.5	4.6		139.6

6 months to 30 June 2023

Unaudited

Europe

Americas

Asia Pacific

MENA¹

Rest of World

Total

£m

Revenue from external customers

25.7

34.3

43.6

16.4

11.8

4.1

135.9

1. Middle East & North Africa

6. Operating profit

Operating profit is stated after the following expenses relating to continuing operations:

	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
	£m	£m
Cost of sales	65.3	67.3
Administrative costs	36.5	30.9
	101.8	98.2
Losses on trade receivables	0.2	1.3
Total operating expenses	102.0	99.5

7. Adjusting items

	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
	£m	£m
Share-based payments charge	9.6	9.7
Amortisation of acquired intangibles	4.3	4.7
Restructuring and refinancing costs	2.5	0.3
Contingent consideration	-	1.0
M&A costs	-	0.3
Costs relating to share-based payments scheme	-	0.1
Revaluation loss/(gain) on short- and long-term derivatives	0.2	(1.7)
Unrealised operating foreign exchange gain	(0.4)	(1.7)
Total adjusting items	16.2	12.7

The adjustments made are as follows:

· The share-based payments charge is in relation to the share-based compensation plans (detailed in note 12) under which the entity receives services from employees as consideration for equity instruments (options) of the Group. The fair value of the employee services received in exchange for the grant of the options and awards is recognised as an expense in the income statement. The total amount to be expensed is determined by reference to the fair value of the options granted. For awards granted prior to November 2022, the original fair value on grant date is charged to the income statement based upon the Monte-Carlo method. Following modification on 30 November 2022, an additional charge for the beneficial modification was determined by the Black-Scholes method. For awards granted post November 2022, the fair value on grant date is charged to the income statement based on solely the Black-Scholes method.

· The amortisation charge for those intangible assets recognised on business combinations.

· Restructuring and refinancing costs relate to professional fees and redundancy payments incurred in relation to group reorganisation projects. Restructuring costs total £2.4m (2023: £0.3m) and refinancing costs total £0.1m (2023: £nil) in the six months to 30 June 2024. The increase in restructuring costs relates to costs associated with internal restructuring of the group as a result of both the 40% disposal of the Healthcare business and other group restructuring.

· The contingent consideration amounts in 2023 relate to payments due to the previous owners of MBI and TS Lombard between 2023 and 2025. These have been treated as remuneration costs due to their being contingent upon the former owners remaining as employees of the Group at the time of payment.

· The M&A costs in 2023 consist of professional fees incurred in performing due diligence relating to potential acquisition targets and redundancy costs in relation to group integration projects.

· Costs relating to share-based payments scheme in 2023 consists of employer taxes borne as a result of the vesting of options within the final tranche of Scheme 1 during the prior year, and professional fees incurred in advice obtained relating to the consolidation and subdivision of share capital.

· The revaluation of short and long-term derivatives relates to movement in the fair value of the short and long-term derivatives.

· Unrealised operating foreign exchange gains and losses relate to non-cash exchange losses and gains made on operating items.

8. Net finance costs

	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
	£m	£m
Loan interest cost	13.4	12.6
Lease interest cost	0.5	0.6
Revaluation of interest rate swap	(2.8)	-
Other interest income	(0.2)	(0.2)
	10.9	13.0

The Group discontinued hedge accounting for the interest rate swap during the year ended 31 December 2023 as the hedged items (future interest repayments) were no longer probable or expected to occur, therefore all gains and losses in relation to the swap have been recognised within the income statement during the period ended 30 June 2024.

9. Earnings per share

The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders of the parent company divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period. The Group also has a share options scheme in place and therefore the Group has calculated the dilutive effect of these options.

	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
Earnings per share attributable to equity holders from continuing operations:
Basic
Profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders (£m)	20.9	17.8
Less: non-controlling interest (£m)	(0.8)	-
Profit for the period attributable to ordinary shareholders of the parent company (£m)	20.1	17.8
Weighted average number of shares (no' m)	803.2	812.9
Basic earnings per share (pence)	2.5	2.2
Diluted
Profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders (£m)	20.9	17.8
Less: non-controlling interest (£m)	(0.8)	-
Profit for the period attributable to ordinary shareholders of the parent company (£m)	20.1	17.8
Weighted average number of shares (no' m)	806.7	817.8
Diluted earnings per share (pence)	2.5	2.2

Reconciliation of basic weighted average number of shares to the diluted weighted average number of shares:

	6 months to 30 June 2024 Unaudited No' m	6 months to 30 June 2023 Unaudited No' m
Basic weighted average number of shares, net of shares held in Treasury reserve	803.2	812.9
Dilutive share options in issue - scheme 1	2.7	4.9
Dilutive share options in issue - scheme 2	0.8	-
Diluted weighted average number of shares	806.7	817.8

The diluted earnings per share calculation does not include performance-related share options where the performance criteria had not been met in the period, in accordance with IAS 33. The table below shows the number of share options which could become dilutive should future performance criteria be met.

Potentially dilutive shares	2025	2026	2027	Total
Schedule	No.	No.	No.	No.
Scheme 2	6,250,000	6,250,000	6,250,000	18,750,000
Scheme 4	2,474,365	4,948,730	17,320,553	24,743,648
Total	8,724,365	11,198,730	23,570,553	43,493,648

10. Intangible assets

	AUC*	Software	Customer relationships	Brands	IP rights and database	Goodwill	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Cost
As at 1 January 2024	0.2	18.4	65.3	26.3	77.9	322.0	510.1
Additions: Separately acquired	2.5	-	-	0.2	-	-	2.7
Transfer AUC to software	(0.4)	0.4	-	-	-	-	-
As at 30 June 2024	2.3	18.8	65.3	26.5	77.9	322.0	512.8

Amortisation
As at 1 January 2024	-	(14.5)	(42.5)	(13.4)	(56.0)	(10.9)	(137.3)
Charge for the period	-	(0.9)	(2.1)	(0.6)	(1.6)	-	(5.2)
As at 30 June 2024	-	(15.4)	(44.6)	(14.0)	(57.6)	(10.9)	(142.5)

Net book value
As at 30 June 2024	2.3	3.4	20.7	12.5	20.3	311.1	370.3
As at 31 December 2023	0.2	3.9	22.8	12.9	21.9	311.1	372.8

*AUC: Assets under construction which will be transferred to software post development.

11. Borrowings and Lease Liabilities

30 June 2024

Unaudited

£m

31 December 2023 Audited

£m

Short-term lease liabilities

3.6

4.3

Current liabilities

3.6

4.3

	30 June 2024 Unaudited £m	31 December 2023 Audited £m
Long-term lease liabilities	19.7	21.4
Long-term borrowings	-	263.7
Non-current liabilities	19.7	285.1

Term loan and RCF

During August 2022, the Group completed a three-year debt financing facility comprising of a £290.0m term loan and a RCF of £120.0m. There were no fixed periodic capital repayments, with the full balance being due for settlement when the facilities were due to expire in August 2025. The term loan was syndicated between 12 lenders and the RCF was syndicated between 13 lenders.

On 3 April 2023, the Group voluntarily repaid £25.0m of the term loan, resulting in a term loan drawdown of £265.0m. As at 31 December 2023, the Group was yet to draw down the available RCF facility of £120.0m. During January 2024, £20.0m of the RCF was drawn down to support a share buy-back and during April 2024 a further £20.0m of the RCF was drawn down, resulting in a total RCF drawdown of £40.0m. This total indebtedness of £305.0m was fully repaid on 28 June 2024 as part of the completion of the sale of 40% of the Group's Healthcare business. During the period ended 30 June 2024, the Group recognised a non-cash interest expense of £1.3m in accordance with IFRS 9. As a result of the extinguishment of the financial liability, as at 30 June 2024, the Group had short and long-term external borrowings of £nil.

During the period ended 30 June 2024, interest was charged on the term loan and RCF at a rate of 3.0% over the Sterling Overnight Index Average rate (SONIA) and was payable at the end of each calendar quarter. The Group entered into an interest rate swap during October 2022, with an effective date of 30 September 2022, initially based on a notional amount of £290.0m, which matched against the initial term loan drawdown. The notional amount of the swap was amended to £265.0m on 3 April 2023 (the same date as the voluntary repayment noted above), which aligned to the term loan draw down at the time of settlement. The agreement was to swap, on a calendar quarter basis, SONIA for a fixed rate of 4.9125%. The swap arrangement was terminated on 24 June 2024 to coincide with the full repayment of the term loan.

Lease payments not recognised as a liability

The Group has elected not to recognise a lease liability for short term leases (leases with an expected term of 12 months or less) or for leases of low value assets. Payments made under such leases are expensed on a straight-line basis. In addition, certain variable lease payments are not permitted to be recognised as lease liabilities and are expensed as incurred. The expense relating to payments not included in the measurement of a lease liability is £nil for the period ended 30 June 2024 (30 June 2023: £nil).

The changes in the Group's borrowings can be classified as follows:

	Long-term borrowings	Short-term lease liabilities	Long-term lease liabilities	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m
As at 1 January 2024	263.7	4.3	21.4	289.4
Cash-flows:
- Drawdown of RCF	40.0	-	-	40.0
- Repayment	(305.0)	(2.9)	-	(307.9)
Non-cash:
- Interest expense	1.3	-	-	1.3
- Lease additions	-	0.2	-	0.2
- Lease liabilities	-	0.4	(0.1)	0.3
- Reclassification	-	1.6	(1.6)	-
As at 30 June 2024	-	3.6	19.7	23.3

12. Equity

Share capital

Allotted, called up and fully paid:

	30 June 2024 Unaudited			31 December 2023 Audited
	No'000s	Percentage of Total Shares	£000s	No'000s	Percentage of Total Shares	£000s
Ordinary shares (£0.0001)	845,028	99.99	84	845,028	99.99	84
Deferred shares of £1.00 each	100	0.01	100	100	0.01	100
Total allotted, called up and fully paid	845,128	100.00	184	845,128	100.00	184

Share Purchases

During the period ended 30 June 2024, the Group's Employee Benefit Trust purchased an aggregate amount of 11,605,828 shares (which represents 1.4% of the total share capital), each with a nominal value of £0.0001 per share, at a total market value of £23.4m. The purchased shares will be held for the purpose of satisfying the exercise of share options under the Company's Employee Share Option Plan.

During the period ended 30 June 2024, a total of 7,639,239 shares (which represents 0.9% of the total share capital), each with a nominal value of £0.0001 per share, which were held by the Group's Employee Benefit Trust were utilised as a result of the exercising of Scheme 1 and Scheme 2 share options (at a total market value of £13.7m).

The maximum number of shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust (at any time during the period ended 30 June 2024) was 49,491,387 (representing 5.9% of the total share capital).

The purchase of shares by the trust is to limit the eventual dilution to existing shareholders. As at 30 June 2024, based upon the restructured vesting schedules, no dilution is forecast until 2027.

The vesting schedules represents outstanding options:

Vesting Schedule	2024 No.	2025 No.	2026 No.	2027 No.	Total No.
Scheme 1*	1,371,518	1,371,517	-	-	2,743,035
Scheme 2*	383,928	6,633,927	6,250,000	6,250,000	19,517,855
Scheme 4	-	2,474,365	4,948,730	17,320,553	24,743,648
Total	1,755,446	10,479,809	11,198,730	23,570,553	47,004,538
Shares held in trust	(1,755,446)	(10,479,809)	(11,198,730)	(18,418,191)	(41,852,176)
Net dilution	-	-	-	5,152,362	5,152,362

*For the purposes of this analysis we have assumed the Scheme 1 and Scheme 2 dilutive share options in issue will be exercised during H2 2024 (50%) and H1 2025 (50%).

Capital management

The Group's capital management objectives are:

· To ensure the Group's ability to continue as a going concern; and

· To fund future growth and provide an adequate return to shareholders and, when appropriate, distribute dividends.

The capital structure of the Group typically consists of net bank debt, which includes borrowings (note 11) and cash and cash equivalents, and equity.

The Company has two classes of shares. The ordinary shares carry no right to fixed income and each share carries the right to one vote at general meetings of the Company.

The deferred shares do not confer upon the holders the right to receive any dividend, distribution or other participation in the profits of the Company. The deferred shares do not entitle the holders to receive notice of or to attend and speak or vote at any general meeting of the Company. On distribution of assets on liquidation or otherwise, the surplus assets of the Company remaining after payments of its liabilities shall be applied first in repaying to holders of the deferred shares the nominal amounts and any premiums paid up or credited as paid up on such shares, and second the balance of such assets shall belong to and be distributed among the holders of the ordinary shares in proportion to the nominal amounts paid up on the ordinary shares held by them respectively.

There are no specific restrictions on the size of a holding nor on the transfer of shares, which are both governed by the general provisions of the Articles of Association and prevailing legislation. The Directors are not aware of any agreements between holders of the Company's shares that may result in restrictions on the transfer of securities or on voting rights.

No person has any special rights of control over the Company's share capital and all its issued shares are fully paid.

With regard to the appointment and replacement of Directors, the Company is governed by its Articles of Association, the Companies Act and related legislation. The Articles themselves may be amended by special resolution of the shareholders. The powers of Directors are described in the Board Terms of Reference, copies of which are available on request.

Dividends

The final dividend for 2023 was 3.2 pence per ordinary share and was paid in April 2024. The Board has announced an interim dividend of 1.5 pence per ordinary share. The interim dividend will be paid on 4 October 2024 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 6 September 2024. The ex-dividend date will be on 5 September 2024.

Treasury reserve

The treasury reserve represents the cost of shares held in the Group's Employee Benefit Trust for the purpose of satisfying the exercise of share options under the Company's Employee Share Option Plan.

Cash flow hedge reserve

The cash flow hedge reserve contains the fair valuation movements arising from revaluation of interest rate swaps. Changes in fair value of derivative financial instruments that are designated, and effective, cash flow hedges of forecast transactions are recognised in other comprehensive income and accumulated under the heading of cash flow hedge reserve, limited to the cumulative change in fair value of the hedged item from inception of the hedge. The gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in profit or loss. The cumulative amount recognised in other comprehensive income and accumulated in equity is reclassified into the consolidated income statement out of other comprehensive income in the same period when the hedged item is recognised in profit or loss.

Other reserve

Other reserve consists of a reserve created upon the reverse acquisition of TMN Group Plc in 2009.

Non-controlling interest

The put option in relation to the sale of 40% of the Group's Healthcare business was exercised on 4 June 2024. At this point the sale had been committed to, and legal completion followed shortly afterwards on 28 June 2024, with the Group receiving gross cash proceeds of £451.4m, of which £8.0m was recognised as a related party loan to Monument Bidco Limited (an Inflexion investment company). As a result of this sale, the Group has recognised non-controlling interest (NCI) within equity which represents 40% of the Healthcare business sub-group's statement of financial position as at the date of recognition of NCI which has been determined as 4 June 2024, being the date the put option was exercised.

Since initial recognition of NCI on 4 June 2024, the following has been allocated to NCI:

· 40% of the Healthcare business sub-group's profit after tax

· 40% of the movement on the Healthcare sub-group's foreign currency translation reserve.

Legal and professional transaction fees incurred by the Group in relation to this sale of NCI have been recognised directly in equity within the Group's Statement of Changes in Equity given they are linked to an equity transaction. As at 30 June 2024 these fees total £29.8m.

Foreign currency translation reserve

The foreign currency translation reserve contains the translation differences that arise upon translating the results of subsidiaries with a functional currency other than Sterling. Such exchange differences are recognised in the income statement in the period in which a foreign operation is disposed of.

Share-based payments

Scheme 1

The Group created a share option scheme during the year ended 31 December 2010 and granted the first options under the scheme on 1 January 2011 to certain senior employees. Each option granted converts to one ordinary share on exercise. A participant may exercise their options (subject to employment conditions) at any time during a prescribed period from the vesting date to the date the option lapses. For these options to be exercised the Group's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, as adjusted by the Remuneration Committee for significant or one-off occurrences, needed to exceed certain targets. The final financial target for the colleague share option scheme (scheme 1) was met with the 2021 results. During the years ended 31 December 2022 and 31 December 2023, the majority of participants chose to exercise their options, with 4.5m options being deferred as at 31 December 2023, as allowable under the scheme rules. During the period ended 30 June 2024, 1.8m of the deferred options were exercised. The remaining 2.7m options can be exercised by participants at any point before August 2033, subject to compliance with the Company's Share Dealing Code. LTIP Scheme 1 is now closed.

Scheme 2

In October 2019 the Group created and announced a new share option scheme and granted the first options under the scheme on 31 October 2019 to certain senior employees. Each option granted converts to one ordinary share on exercise. A participant may exercise their options subject to employment conditions and performance targets being met. For these options to be exercised the Group's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, as adjusted by the Remuneration Committee for significant or one-off occurrences, needs to exceed certain targets between 2023 to 2026. As a result of the EBITDA target for 2023 being met, 5.8m options were exercised during the period ended 30 June 2024.

Scheme 4

In October 2021 the Group created the 2021 share option scheme (scheme 4). Scheme 4 is targeted at management and senior colleagues below the Executive Management Committee level. The EBITDA targets for Scheme 4 are aligned to Scheme 2, however different proportions of granted options will vest once each target is reached.

The total charge recognised for these schemes during the six months to 30 June 2024 was £9.6m (30 June 2023: £9.7m). The awards of the schemes are settled with ordinary shares of the Company.

13. Related party transactions

Mike Danson, GlobalData's Chief Executive Officer, owned 57.76% of the Company's ordinary shares as at 30 June 2024 and as at 31 July 2024 and is therefore the Company's ultimate controlling party. Mike Danson owns a number of businesses that interact with GlobalData Plc, largely in part as a result of past M&A transactions (GlobalData Holding Limited in 2016 and Research Views Limited in 2018).

The Board has put in place an additional control framework to ensure related party transactions are well controlled and managed. Related party transactions are overseen by a subcommittee of the Board. The Related Party Transactions Committee, consisting of 4 Non-Executive Directors and chaired by Murray Legg meets to:

· Oversee all related party transactions;

· Ensure transactions are in the best interests of GlobalData and its wider stakeholders; and

· Ensure all transactions are recorded and disclosed on an arm's length basis.

As previously noted within the Group's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023, it is the intention of the Board and Management to reduce and eventually eliminate related party transactions and wind down the service agreements that are currently in place. During H1 2024 we have continued the progress made in prior years and now expect to have eliminated all legacy relationships with related parties by 31 December 2024.

During the six months to 30 June 2024, the following related party transactions were entered into by the Group:

SIA - Strategy In Action Limited

On 4 June 2024, the Group acquired a minority investment in the share capital of SIA - Strategy in Action Limited ("SiA"), as discussed further in note 14. The Group has representation on the Board and Julien Decot is a common Non-Executive Director across both the Group and SiA.

Corporate support services

In the six months ending 30 June 2024, net corporate support charges of £0.01m were charged from the Group to NS Media Group Limited ("NSMGL") and net corporate support charges of £0.04m were charged to Estel Property Investments No.3 Limited, both companies are related parties by virtue of common ownership (30 June 2023: charge from NSMGL to the Group of £0.01m). The corporate support charges principally consist of shared management and admin support determined by headcount.

Accommodation

During the six months to 30 June 2024 no such charges have been incurred (2023: £0.04m).

Charity Donations

During the six months ending 30 June 2024 the Group paid donations of £nil (30 June 2023: £0.04m) to charities in India which were funded by a related party entity, The Danson Foundation (charity reference 1121928). The donation in the prior year was a pass-through transaction, with the Group facilitating payment to our charity partners in India.

Acquisitions

On 31 July 2024 we entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Business Trade Media International Limited reflecting an enterprise value of £10m subject to adjustment via a customary completion accounts mechanism. The transaction is conditional on shareholder approval as Business Trade Media International Limited is a related party (by virtue of being indirectly owned by Mike Danson) so must be approved pursuant to s.190 of the Companies Act 2006. The acquisition is not a related party transaction for the purposes of the AIM Rules due to its size. A circular convening a general meeting for the purposes of obtaining shareholder approval for the acquisition will be posted shortly. The bolt-on acquisition adds a number of established digital media and industry news brands, which align to our sector coverage, and brings an additional annual digital audience of 4m business leaders and decision-makers and will help accelerate the GlobalData 'Curve' Strategy. The deal is expected to complete on 30 August 2024.

The transaction was overseen by the independent Related Party Committee, who oversaw diligence and valuation work to ensure that the transaction price reflected an arms-length valuation. The committee concluded, with the aid of a discounted cash flow and review of comparable market transaction valuation metrics, that the price was fair and reflected a market arms-length transaction.

Balances Outstanding

As at 30 June 2024, the total balance receivable from NSMGL was £nil and the total balance receivable from Estel Property Investments No.3 Limited was £nil. There is no specific credit loss provision in place and the total expense recognised during the period in respect of bad or doubtful debts was £nil.

As at 30 June 2024, the Group has an outstanding payable due to Monument Bidco Limited (an Inflexion investment company) of £8.0m.

The Group has taken advantage of the exemptions contained within IAS24: Related Party Disclosures from the requirement to disclose transactions between Group companies as these have been eliminated on consolidation. The amounts outstanding for other related parties were £nil (31 December 2023: £nil). There were no other balances owing to or from related parties.

14. Acquisitions

On 4 June 2024, one of the Group's 100% owned subsidiaries, GlobalData Investments Limited, acquired a minority investment in the share capital of SIA - Strategy in Action Limited ("SiA") for cash consideration of £4.0m. Management have assessed that the Group will exercise significant influence over SiA, therefore the consideration of £4.0m has been recognised at cost as an investment under the equity method of IAS 28: Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures. The carrying amount of the investment will be adjusted for the Group's share of the post-acquisition profits or losses of SiA (which will be recognised in the Group's profit or loss) plus the Group's share of the post-acquisition change in other comprehensive income of SiA (which will be recognised within other comprehensive income of the Group). Due to proximity of the acquisition to the reporting date of 30 June 2024, this impact is yet to be recognised however this is not material to the Group's accounts.

Cash Cost of Acquisitions

The cash cost of acquisitions comprises:

	Period to 30 June 2024 Unaudited	Period to 30 June 2023 Unaudited
	£m	£m
SIA - Strategy in Action Limited	4.0	-
	4.0	-

During the period ended 30 June 2024, a contingent consideration payment of £0.5m was made in relation to the TS Lombard acquisition (acquired during the year ended 31 December 2022). During the period ended 30 June 2023, a contingent consideration payment of £0.2m was made in relation to the MBI acquisition (acquired during the year ended 31 December 2022).

On 31 July 2024 we entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Business Trade Media International Limited reflecting an enterprise value of £10m subject to adjustment via a customary completion accounts mechanism. The transaction is conditional on shareholder approval as Business Trade Media International Limited is a related party (by virtue of being indirectly owned by Mike Danson) so must be approved pursuant to s.190 of the Companies Act 2006. The acquisition is not a related party transaction for the purposes of the AIM Rules due to its size. A circular convening a general meeting for the purposes of obtaining shareholder approval for the acquisition will be posted shortly. The bolt-on acquisition adds a number of established digital media and industry news brands, which align to our sector coverage, and brings an additional annual digital audience of 4m business leaders and decision-makers and will help accelerate the GlobalData 'Curve' Strategy. The deal is expected to complete on 30 August 2024.

Advisers

Company Secretary

Bob Hooper

Head Office and Registered Office

John Carpenter House

John Carpenter Street

London

EC4Y 0AN

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7936 6400

Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker

J.P. Morgan Cazenove

25 Bank Street

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5JP

Joint Broker

Panmure Liberum

One New Change

London

EC4M 9AF

Joint Broker

Investec Bank Plc

30 Gresham Street

London

EC2V 7QP

Financial PR LLP

FTI Consulting

200 Aldersgate

Aldersgate Street

London

EC1A 4HD

Lawyers

Reed Smith LLP

20 Primrose Street

London

EC2A 2RS

Auditor

Deloitte LLP

2 New Street Square

London

EC4A 3BZ

Registrars

Link Group

Central Square

29 Wellington Street

Leeds

LS1 4DL

Bankers

NatWest Group

280 Bishopsgate

London

EC2M 4RB

Bankers

HSBC UK Bank Plc

1 Centenary Square

Birmingham

B1 1HQ

Registered number

Company No. 03925319

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