Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ) reported record first-half FY2026 results, pointing to strong contributions from its February 2025 acquisition of U.S.-based Peak Parking and continued organic expansion across its existing markets. Managing Director Paul Gillespie said the company has “effectively doubled the size of our business in the last 12 months,” while CFO Richard Ludbrook highlighted sharp growth in earnings and cash generation.
Record earnings and cash flow
For the half, the company delivered revenue growth of 96% versus the prior comparative period, with adjusted EBITDA up 85%. Underlying net profit after tax before amortization of acquired customer relationships (UNPAT) rose 163% to AUD 6.5 million, and earnings per share using UNPAT increased 121% to 1.56 cents.
Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 140 basis points to 24.9%, which management said reflected higher marginal costs tied to UK debt resolution activity and investment in Switzerland. Ludbrook added that excluding UK enhanced debt resolution impacts and Switzerland investment, the underlying adjusted EBITDA margin was 29.2%, up 300 basis points year-over-year.
Cash flow was also a highlight. The company generated adjusted free cash flow of AUD 10.4 million, up 89%, and ended the period with cash on hand of AUD 15.3 million, a 21% increase. Smart Parking said it spent AUD 4.7 million on capex and intangible assets and invested AUD 1.8 million in Switzerland as it builds out new markets.
Peak Parking acquisition exceeding expectations
Management said Peak Parking is outperforming the original acquisition thesis. Gillespie noted the deal was expected to be 25% EPS accretive, but the company now expects accretion to be “over 30%.” Peak’s EBITDA rose 24% to AUD 4.5 million for the period, which triggered the full earn-out payment under the acquisition terms.
Smart Parking said it has strengthened platforms at Peak, enhanced service offerings, implemented its ANPR technology, and won new clients “in previously untapped markets,” while maintaining 30% EBITDA margins in the U.S. Gillespie described Peak as a “perfect beachhead” and said there is scope for additional U.S. M&A.
On ANPR rollout in the U.S., Ludbrook said that as of December 31, there were seven live U.S. ANPR sites generating approximately AUD 90,000 of PBN revenue, calling the dataset small but “encouraging,” with PBNs per site “significantly higher” than in other territories. Gillespie said contraventions appear higher in the U.S. than elsewhere and suggested payment rates were “certainly north of 35%” and trending toward 40–45%, though he emphasized it is still early.
When asked about profitability for the U.S. ANPR effort, Gillespie said he expects it could be profitable with “less than 50 sites,” and the company is targeting 30–50 sites by June 30. Ludbrook added that incremental margins should be “very high” given existing infrastructure.
UK growth, flat PBN volumes, and debt recovery focus
In the UK, Smart Parking ended the half with 1,397 sites, up 17%, helping drive revenue growth of 64% to AUD 41.6 million. Gillespie said UK PBN issuance was flat year-over-year despite site growth, attributing it to cost-of-living pressures that reduced average dwell times at some sites in late summer. He said the company has seen “early signs of the issuance recovering” after Christmas and cited tighter customer dashboard processes, camera performance monitoring, and account management to ensure business rules and whitelisting parameters are applied correctly.
UK EBITDA increased 40%, though the margin fell to 29.3%. Management attributed the margin pressure to a greater focus on debt resolution and legal activity, which carries higher costs but has boosted yield. Gillespie said average ticket value is up 44% across the group since the company enhanced its debt processes. Ludbrook described the economics as ranging from about 80% gross margins on relatively new debt to as low as 25% on the legal step, but said the legal collections represent incremental gross profit that previously would not have been received.
On reputational and political risk in the UK, Gillespie emphasized Smart Parking’s adherence to British Parking Association and International Parking Community codes of practice and said scrutiny is expected. He said the company’s approach is “completely in line” with its DVLA contract and industry rules. Regarding consultations about caps, Gillespie said the company is not seeing feedback that ticket value will change and stated that any cap would be at GBP 100, “which is where we are today.”
Management also pointed to a sizable “Back Book” opportunity in aged debt. Gillespie said the company has an aged debt book of more than 1.2 million PBNs where yield-enhancing strategies can be applied, and argued the benefits are not a one-off. He said the company is pursuing aged debt recovery at a measured pace to manage reputational risk and described the process as ongoing as new PBNs enter recovery pipelines.
New Zealand strength; Germany milestone; Denmark disruption; Switzerland build-out
New Zealand continued to stand out for profitability. Gillespie said it delivered the fastest growth in PBNs and the highest EBITDA margin in the group at 44.5%, citing low competitive intensity, a first-mover position, and a large untapped addressable market.
In Germany, revenue rose to AUD 2.6 million (up 74% per Gillespie; Ludbrook cited Germany revenue up 38% in the revenue bridge), while EBITDA was negative AUD 513,000 after investment. Gillespie said Germany turned EBITDA positive in January 2026, calling it a “significant milestone” and positioning Germany as potentially the company’s largest European market.
Denmark faced a regulatory change effective July 1 that requires the first PBN to be manually placed on a car windscreen before ANPR-based processes can be used. Management said the change has affected revenues and costs, including higher overheads from hiring attendants. Gillespie said the company believes the policy will be reversed and outlined lobbying efforts through a new trade association and Danish Industry, though he said timing is uncertain and likely not before the end of the financial year. He added that a shift from manual to ANPR typically delivers a “4–5 times uplift” in ticket volumes.
In Switzerland, where Smart Parking established operations in July 2025, Gillespie said setup costs were front-loaded and the company won its first contract in December, with revenue expected “in the coming weeks.” Responding to a question about investment and break-even timing, Gillespie said Smart Parking has “gone a bit harder” in Switzerland and expects costs to ease in the second half as startup expenses roll off, but added it may be “challenged” to achieve break-even in FY2027, though “not far.”
Outlook and targets
Looking ahead, management said it remains optimistic for the second half of FY2026, supported by contributions from new sites added in the first half, additional site rollouts in the second half, and a full year of earnings from Peak Parking. Gillespie reiterated the company’s target of reaching 3,000 ANPR sites under management by December 2028, noting that even this would represent less than 1% of its expanded total addressable market.
About Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ)
Smart Parking Limited engages in the design, development, and management of parking management solutions in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It operates through Parking Management, Technology, and Research and Development segments. The company provides parking management services for cars using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera systems that are designed to monitor private car parks for businesses. It also offers SmartCloud, a cloud-based car park management platform that gathers and processes information; Compliance Management System, an app and online management platform designed to digitalize and streamline the manual patrol and processing of urban car park footprints; pay and walk machines for people to either pay for their parking or validate their number plate; and mobile patrol services for guiding and informing customers about parking related information.
