Gattaca’s (LON: GATC) underlying profit before tax reached approximately £6.1 million for the year ended 31 July 2026, up from £3.3 million in the prior year, as the Hampshire-based recruitment group confirmed its strongest annual performance in recent years.
The company’s shares have risen 58% since March, and its £50.6 million market capitalisation still looks modest against the profit trajectory now on the table.
FY26 Trading Update Confirms Gattaca Profit Before Tax Well Above Prior Guidance
The Gattaca financial calendar shows the FY26 trading update was released on 17 August 2026, later than the 5 August date previously expected. Preliminary results are scheduled for 3 November 2026, with the annual general meeting on 9 December 2026, though both dates carry an asterisk indicating they may be subject to change.
The underlying profit before tax figure of approximately £6.1 million comfortably cleared the upgraded guidance floor of not less than £6.0 million that Gattaca set at its interim results in March. That guidance itself had been lifted from a prior level of £4.5 million, a move the company made after a strong first half.
Group Net Fee Income for FY26 is expected to increase by 11% to £43.2 million, with contract NFI rising 16%, according to the FY26 trading update via Investegate.
Chief executive Matthew Wragg said: ‘Through a clear focus on our markets, consultant performance and operational efficiency, we have grown market share, delivered strong growth in net fee income and achieved a significant increase in profitability.’
Contract Hiring Drove the Year; Projects Division Lagged
The momentum in contract recruitment had been building since the first half. Gattaca’s interim results for the six months to 31 January 2026, filed at the London Stock Exchange (LSE), showed group continuing underlying profit before tax of £3.0 million, against £1.0 million in the equivalent period of the prior year.
Net fee income grew 13% year-on-year in the first half, with 8% coming from organic growth, according to the Investor Meet Company interim results presentation. Contract NFI was up 15% over the same period.
The offsetting drag came from Gattaca Projects, the group’s Statement of Work division, where revenue fell 8% in the first half due to timing delays on major client programmes. The LSE interim results filing noted that activity in that segment was expected to remain subdued into the second half, and full-year figures suggest Projects did not materially recover.
The guidance upgrade filing via Investegate in March gave investors early sight of how strongly the contract division was running. Gattaca raised its full-year underlying PBT guidance from £4.5 million to not less than £6.0 million at that point, four months before the year closed.
The shares stand at 164p, up 60p since 17 March 2026, when the group reported its interim results. Panmure Liberum, responding to the August trading update, described it as a ‘strong, in-line FY26E’ result, adding that Gattaca had ‘materially upgraded guidance’ during the year and that there is ‘plenty more to go for’, according to the Gattaca company page on the LSE.
With preliminary results due on 3 November 2026, investors will look for confirmation of whether the Projects division has stabilised and whether contract NFI growth can be sustained into the new financial year, two variables that will determine whether Wragg’s profitability trajectory extends into FY27.
