Q2 26: Profitability in equity stake learnd strengthened further

Wednesday, AnchorCore SE (formerly learnd SE) published its H1 26 report, along with a commercial update on its 49.5% equity stake learnd UK and Ireland. In detail:

learnd UK and Ireland sales broadly in line with expectations. Sales slightly declined by 2.9% yoy to € 33.2m (eNuW: € 34m), with € 16.4m attributable to Q2. This as the company focused on raising its profitability and project-based sales decelerated in Q2 26.

learnd UK and Ireland profitability strengthened. The total adj. EBITDA came in significantly strengthened by 90.3% yoy at € 5.9m (eNuW: € 5.1m), compared to € 3.1m in H1 25. The adj. EBITDA margin expanded by 9pp to 17.8% in H1 26, reflecting the ongoing restructuring measures already highlighted in Q1 and further gains on scaling.

AnchorCore incurred € 2.4m (eNuW: € 1.8m) of operating costs in H1 26, reducing the cash base to € 0.4m. This includes two one-offs. The first concerns a write-off of non-recoverable input VAT of £ 1m and as a second, accounting, audit and legal fees came in elevated at £ 0.8m, related predominantly to the FY25 year end, impacted by the consolidation of the MBO and associated purchase price allocation work. With administrative costs related to the MBO passed and total operating costs estimated at € 3.2m for FY26e, € 0.8m (eNuW) should weigh on the cash base in H2 26e.

learnd UK and Ireland has shown that it can deliver double-digit margins, even on a broadly consistent top line and against a mixed business environment in H1. H2 looks set for an acceleration in of the project-based business component and new customer intake as business confidence, manufacturing and service PMIs for Q3 published so far indicating an improving environment (source: Trading Economics). Accounting for the slow top-line development in H1, we lower our FY sales expectations for learnd UK and Ireland from € 77.4m to € 72.6m, reflecting 5% yoy growth. Yet we maintain our expectation of € 9.4m in adj. EBITDA for FY26e, with € 5.9m in the books already and a conservative margin of 8.9% in H2, keeping in mind potential further expenses associated with internal optimization efforts and efforts to gaining market share.

Cash inflows from its stake expected for Q4 FY26e. Based on the low remaining cash base of € 0.6m projected for the end of FY26e and the improving profitability in learnd UK and Ireland, we expect to see dividend proceeds in H1 27e. These are seen as essential to fund the holding costs, guided now at ~ € 1.5m a year for the years following FY26. Given the improved visibility on the cost structure post-MBO, we adjust our forecast accordingly (previously € 2m) and expect this to reflect the regular administrative costs, as well as additional administrative efforts in identifying potential additional equity stakes on AnchorCore's transformation into an incubator for companies operating in facility management and environmental services.

Following the last shareholder loan waived in April 26 the company is now debt-free and should be able to pursue new financing arrangements for target companies as soon as cash inflows are sufficient. In the mid- to long-term we expect the company to add further equity stakes to its portfolio.

Based on the sum-of-the-parts approach, containing the 49.5%-stake in learnd UK and Ireland, the Net Cash base reduced by the operating costs to € 0.6m (eNuW) and a holding discount of 10%, we confirm BUY at a PT of € 4.6.

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