The T/U confirmed that all core B2B businesses have shown a solid advance in System sales, with the Group Q1 increase of +4% looking favourable, versus what will hopefully prove to be a prior conservative SingerCM view for c+2%, for the full year of 2026E. The Board has stated it remains confident in a full-year performance within the current range of analyst forecasts. We are conservatively maintaining our FY 2026E forecasts at this point, given increased risks to the global macro/geopolitical backdrop into Q2 2026, and we would expect the FY26E EBITDA range to be maintained. But should the Q1 momentum be sustained, our forecasts could be beaten, in our view. Strong underlying Q1 organic growth was notably evident in the +12% USD growth in Filta International System sales; but the +8% growth in System sales for Water & Waste was also a significant feature, demonstrating in our view that this division remains very capable of fulfilling the ambitions outlined by the Maximum Potential Model. Pirtek saw a notable pick up in System sales later in Q1 and was resilient. We believe Franchise Brands is demonstrating that it remains a cash generative growth story, and we stay at Buy/200p TP.
