Pinewood Technologies Group H2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• FY2025 revenue rose about 30% to GBP 40.5 million and underlying EBITDA increased 17.1% to GBP 16.4 million, with gross margin at 85.7% and an end‑December cash position of GBP 34.1 million.
• Pinewood completed the North American JV buyout of Lithia, signed a long‑term $60 million implementation contract with Lithia, and acquired Seez for GBP 26 million, moves management says materially boost its North America build‑out and AI/upsell capabilities.
• The company reports GBP 64.5 million of total contract value (TCV) on top of current revenue and reiterated an FY2028 underlying EBITDA target of GBP 58–62 million, with about GBP 50 million already covered by existing contracts.

Pinewood Technologies Group LON: PINE reported double-digit growth in its FY2025 results presentation, highlighting progress in North America, the integration of its Seez acquisition, and continued expansion across selected international markets. CEO Bill Berman said FY2025 marked the company’s “second year as a standalone AI-embedded automotive technology company,” calling the past 12 months “particularly significant” due to major transactions and operational milestones.

Revenue growth and profitability trends

CFO Ollie Mann said FY2025 revenue rose approximately 30% to GBP 40.5 million, driven by new customer wins, upselling to existing customers, and revenue added from the March 2025 acquisition of Seez. Mann also noted a comparability factor: FY2025 covered a 12-month period versus 11 months in FY2024.

Gross profit increased 23% to GBP 34.7 million. Gross margin was 85.7%, which Mann said “fell as expected” due to Seez carrying “slightly lower” margins than the legacy Pinewood business.

Underlying EBITDA, described by Mann as the company’s key profit metric, climbed to GBP 16.4 million, up 17.1% year-over-year. Recurring revenue was 83.2%, with Mann attributing the slight decline versus last year to the inclusion of Seez. Net customer churn was 2.5%, which Mann said remained “at a very low level” and reflected the platform’s value to customers.

Major transactions: Lithia JV buyout and Seez acquisition

Berman pointed to two July 2025 developments as central to the company’s future. First, Pinewood bought Lithia out of its share of the North American joint venture, which he said removed a “competitive overhang” that could have impeded growth. Second, Pinewood signed a long-term $60 million contract with Lithia to implement Pinewood’s system across Lithia’s dealerships in the U.S. and Canada.

In March 2025, Pinewood acquired automotive AI company Seez. Berman said the company had made “great progress” integrating Seez into the group and combining the two technology stacks, which he said significantly enhanced Pinewood’s AI capabilities. He also said the acquisition strengthened Pinewood’s upsell offering and diversified revenue streams, with Seez focusing on rolling out products into Lithia’s U.S. and U.K. dealerships and growing its broader customer base.

Cash flow, balance sheet items, and non-underlying adjustments

Mann said the company generated GBP 6.5 million of cash from operations in FY2025. He highlighted several notable cash flow movements, including GBP 1.1 million of bank interest received and GBP 10 million received from Lithia for settlement of a tax debt.

Capital expenditure was GBP 11.4 million, including GBP 10.5 million of capitalized development spend. Net spend on acquisitions and reseller buyouts was GBP 13.5 million, comprised of GBP 26 million for Seez and GBP 2.5 million for a South Africa reseller buyout, offset by GBP 15 million cash received as part of the U.S. JV buyout. Pinewood also completed an equity raise in March 2025, raising GBP 34.1 million in cash, contributing to an end-December 2025 cash position of GBP 34.1 million.

On the balance sheet, Mann reported closing shareholders’ funds of GBP 204.2 million, which he said was driven mainly by the March 2025 equity raise and the July 2025 North American JV buyout. Goodwill stood at GBP 51.5 million, reflecting the JV buyout, the Seez acquisition, and the South Africa reseller transaction. Other intangible assets rose from GBP 16.3 million to GBP 168 million, driven by the North America JV buyout and Seez, with GBP 125 million of the year-end balance tied to the North America customer contract. Mann added that the group had a GBP 10 million revolving credit facility that remained undrawn.

Mann also detailed non-underlying items, including GBP 4.6 million of acquisition-related costs (mainly legal fees tied to the North American JV buyout and the Seez acquisition), GBP 4.2 million of costs in the U.S. subsidiary following the JV buyout (to be treated as non-underlying until the Pinewood system is installed in 20 North American dealerships), a GBP 3.6 million share-based payment charge, and GBP 4.0 million amortization of acquired intangibles. He also noted a one-off GBP 60.8 million non-cash gain recognized on the North American JV buyout.

Contract visibility and FY2028 outlook

Mann introduced a new metric, total contract value (TCV), defined as incremental annual recurring revenue from signed customers that have not yet started implementation (or the not-yet-implemented portion for customers partway through rollout). He said TCV was GBP 64.5 million “on top of our existing revenue,” which he said would deliver “the majority” of Pinewood’s FY2028 EBITDA target.

The company reiterated guidance for FY2028 underlying EBITDA of GBP 58 million to GBP 62 million. Mann said approximately GBP 50 million of that figure was covered by existing customers and signed contracts. He added that Pinewood expects FY2026 underlying EBITDA to be in line with analyst consensus of GBP 21.3 million, citing notes from two of the three analysts covering the company following a March 25, 2026 business update.

Responding to an Investec question on TCV, Mann said the measure includes only recurring revenue and excludes implementation income. He said the company does not apply a fixed customer lifetime cutoff to TCV, noting churn typically occurs through M&A-driven system consolidation and that Pinewood assumes many large enterprise customers are effectively “lifetime customers.”

Operational progress: UK rollouts, international expansion, and North America buildout

Berman said Pinewood’s cloud-based platform operates on “one code base,” which he called unusual in the industry and beneficial for security and frequent updates with “no disruption.” He emphasized Pinewood’s approach to AI as “fully embedded” across sales, aftersales, and back-office functions, contrasting it with “layered app” or basic API approaches.

In the U.K. and Ireland, Berman said the rollout with Lookers (part of Global Auto Holdings) began in July 2025 and is “progressing well and on schedule,” with completion due in Q4 2026. He added that, at Marshall Motor Group’s request, the start of its implementation moved from Q1 2026 to the second half of 2026 to align with other internal projects.

Internationally, Berman said the Porsche Japan implementation started successfully in December 2025 with the first dealerships going live, with Volkswagen Japan expected to follow after Porsche dealers complete. He also said Pinewood continued discussions with potential Central European dealer groups. The company completed buyouts of its South Africa and Netherlands reseller operations, which Berman said would allow Pinewood to fully control sales and customer service in those markets. He later added the Netherlands reseller buyout completed in February 2026 and the team was being integrated.

In North America, Berman described progress on system testing and, in particular, OEM integrations, which he said were the “largest piece of work.” He said most OEM partners had been engaged, integration work was “on target,” and Pinewood was targeting completion of the majority of OEM integrations by the end of 2026. He also said the company had leads following its official U.S. launch at the February 2026 NADA conference.

During Q&A, Berman said the company could not comment on third-party litigation, but stressed Pinewood’s view that “the dealer owns their data” and said Pinewood’s technology, including AI tools, could help facilitate moving and translating data from different systems. He also discussed a shift in pricing models, saying Pinewood expects to move “to a rooftop and module basis over time,” noting that OEM integrations and many AI functions would not fit typical per-user SaaS pricing.

Asked about competitive positioning as AI becomes more prevalent, Berman said Pinewood’s approach is rooted in using AI on top of a strong “system of record” and core data stack, arguing that AI is “only going to be as good as the data that it has access to.” He cited examples of AI use cases such as helping users navigate complex accounting workflows and improving service scheduling by matching technician qualifications to vehicle needs.

On implementation capacity, Berman said Pinewood can flex resourcing in the U.K. and that implementation speed is often constrained by customer timelines. He also said Pinewood has begun using AI to simplify parts of the implementation process—particularly data extraction—reducing tasks that “used to take a couple of weeks” to “a couple of minutes.”

From a cash perspective, Mann said Pinewood expects working capital benefits as the business grows because it invoices customers quarterly in advance for recurring revenue. He said that by FY2028, Pinewood expects a GBP 12 million to GBP 13 million working capital benefit in that year. Mann also said CapEx could tick up in 2026 and 2027 as OEM integration work in the U.S. is completed, and he estimated that of the FY2028 EBITDA target range, “high forties” would convert to net cash, equating to roughly GBP 45 million to GBP 50 million of cash in FY2028.

About Pinewood Technologies Group LON: PINE

1981 – Origins Pinewood was founded in 1981 after a Renault dealer in London grew frustrated with the lack of suitable systems to run his business. He assembled a small team of developers to build a better solution, marking the birth of Pinewood as a classic early-1980s tech startup. 1980s–1990s – Early Innovation The team created one of the UK's first Sales and Dealer Management Systems (DMS), soon partnering with brands like Saab, Lloyds Bowmaker, and a growing dealer group that became Pendragon PLC. As Pendragon expanded, it acquired Pinewood to develop a multi-brand DMS capable of supporting large-scale dealership operations.

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