SD Worx continues to deliver solid growth

SD Worx, the leading European HR and payroll solutions provider, has announced its financial results for the first half of 2025. Consolidated revenues increased by 11.6%, from EUR 581.8 million in the first half of 2024 to EUR 649.0 million in the first six months of 2025. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.6% from EUR 121.0 million in the first two quarters of 2024 to EUR 135.0 million in the first half of 2025. The consolidated net result climbed to EUR 55.8 million.

These substantial growth results are mainly driven by SD Worx’s continued international expansion, highlighted by the acquisition of F2A, the Italian market leader in HR and payroll last autumn, alongside a strategic buildout of the offering and portfolio and the cohesive collaboration across SD Worx’s international operations.

Kobe Verdonck, CEO of SD Worx: “We look back with satisfaction on the first half of the year. Our continued focus on digital HR has brought new solutions in markets such as Finland, Germany and Luxemburg and our investments in AI have increased significantly. At the same time, we remain committed to the human aspect of our business. SD Worx is, and will always be, a people company. Our approach to improve the customer experience through a mix of digital, AI and human expertise is clearly appreciated by the market as we see our customer satisfaction going upwards.”

“Our commercial momentum remained strong, delivering robust sales figures across Europe. At the same time, we successfully kept costs under control. As we enter the second half of the year, we do so with confidence and determination, fully committed to advancing our financial growth strategy,” says Sebastiaan Peeters, CFO of SD Worx.

Filip Dierckx, chairman of the board of directors at SD Worx: “Our solid performance is particularly noteworthy given the current macroeconomic climate and in comparison to the broader market. This is highlighted by an organic growth of 3.6% for SD Worx People Solutions (the segment for Payroll & Reward, Human Capital Management and Workforce Management) and a return to growth for SD Worx Staffing & Career Solutions, our segment for flexible work. Even in these challenging times with headwinds we continue to invest strongly in our HR software solutions increasing our capex year on year with 21%.”

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.6% towards EUR 135.0 million over the first six months of 2025, with revenue equally increasing by 11.6% to EUR 649.0 million. Strategic initiatives from 2024 contributed to the overall revenue growth as our biggest acquisition, F2A in Italy, only occurred during the second half of the year. But also organically, the Group saw its business expanding, demonstrating resilience and momentum across its core operations. 

The underlying organic growth at SD Worx People Solutions amounts to EUR 20.1 million or 3.6% and excludes the one-off revenues realised during 2024 relating to the social elections in Belgium. This growth is observed across the majority of our markets. Expected customer churn, resulting in declining revenue, did however result in a challenging environment in the UK. When excluding these lower revenues in the UK market, organic growth would have been 5.3%.

The revenue includes a commission income obtained under the customer fund cooperation agreement totalling EUR 16.7 million, which is EUR 1.3 million lower than last year, mainly under the influence of lower market deposit yields notwithstanding the hedging strategy which reduces the impact of lower short-term interest rates.

SD Worx Staffing & Career Solutions continues to face a challenging market environment marked by a general downward trend in recent years. Despite these unfavourable conditions, the segment achieved a revenue increase of EUR 2.4 million compared to the previous year. A changing mix of services offered in both countries in which the Group operates as well as continued pressure on prices had negative effects on the gross profit. However, through proactive cost management to offset this ongoing pressure on gross profit, the segment delivered an improvement in adjusted EBITDA of EUR 0.9 million.

 

Adjustments to EBITDA

Restructuring cost and integration costs amount to EUR 4.1 million, relating mainly to the integration and rebranding tracks for prior acquisitions, such as F2A, SoftMachine and Romanian Software.

Acquisition and transaction costs relate amongst others to due diligence costs which SD Worx incurs in search of new acquisitions to strengthen its portfolio.

The cost of share-based payments relates to the non-committed stock-based compensation with regards to the existing share plans for senior management. These plans qualify as equity settled, and the cost is spread evenly over a vesting period of three years.

Depreciations and amortizations

A total depreciation, amortisation and impairment charge of EUR 46.0 million has been recorded per 30 June 2025 on SD Worx’ tangible and intangible assets and are mainly related to the continuing investments in digital solutions. The amortisation charge also includes EUR 9.4 million related to acquired intangible assets from business combinations (PPA related assets), such as brand names and customer relationships. Following the acquisition of F2A in the second half of 2024, these amortisation charges increased by EUR 5.5 million compared to the same period last year.

Financial results

The financial result per 30 June 2025 amounts to EUR -8.0 million, mainly resulting from interest charges relating to SD Worx’ loans and borrowings, consisting of the subordinated EUR 80.0 million bond issued in June 2019 and a committed EUR 400.0 million revolving credit facility. Other financial charges relate to interest expenses on lease liabilities and non-operational foreign currency translation differences. The total leverage of the group remains conservative at a level of 1.4 adjusted EBITDA to net debt as per 30 June 2025.

On 30 July 2025, SD Worx refinanced its existing Revolving Credit Facility agreement by a new Facilities agreement. Under the new loan agreement, SD Worx has access to a term loan of EUR 300.0 million and a revolving credit facility of EUR 500.0 million.

Taxes

The tax expense amounts to EUR 14.6 million as of 30 June 2025, which represents an effective tax rate of approximately 21%.

Net result

The net result for the first six months of 2025 amounted to EUR 55.8 million, which is EUR 0.9 million higher than last year. The growth was achieved despite of the higher amortisation charges relating to the acquired intangibles from acquisitions, and interest expenses on SD Worx’ loans and borrowings, both directly linked to the expansion strategy. It is also worth noting that the net result for the first six months of 2024 was positively impacted by the one-off positive result coming from the services provided to Belgian customers to support them with the social elections in 2024, taking place in Belgium every four years.

 

More details can be found in this report. 

External Audit

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements, prepared in accordance with IAS 34 as adopted for use in the European Union, of SD Worx NV as of June 30, 2025 have been subject to a limited review by the independent auditor Deloitte Bedrijfsrevisoren BV, represented by Ben Vandeweyer.