Tuesday, 21 October 2025
International Workplace Group (IWG), operator of Regus, Spaces and other flexible workspace brands, reported record system-wide revenue of $2.16 billion for the first half of 2025, a 2 percent increase compared with $2.12 billion a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA rose 6 percent to $262 million, while underlying operating profit remained at $68 million, according to the group’s half-year announcement.
The company’s Managed & Franchised division was the main driver of growth, with system-wide revenue up 26 percent year-on-year to $361 million and fee income rising 43 percent to $50 million. Recurring management fees more than doubled to $19 million. IWG reported 220,000 rooms open across its network at the end of June, an increase of 43 percent on the previous year, with a further 186,000 rooms signed but not yet operational.
Company-owned revenue reached $1.59 billion, slightly below the $1.61 billion recorded in the first half of 2024, though adjusted gross margins expanded to 24 percent from 21 percent as a result of higher occupancy and reduced centre costs. Digital and Professional Services generated $207 million, a 7 percent decline compared with last year, but the company noted that underlying growth excluding legacy contracts was around 6 percent.
During the half year, IWG returned $59 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, an amount more than three times the total distributed over the previous five years combined. The company has also expanded its 2025 share buyback programme to at least $130 million and declared an interim dividend of 0.45¢ per share. Net debt stood at $754 million, broadly unchanged from year-end 2024, supported by a €300 million bond issue in May. Management noted that no refinancing is required before 2029.
The global network expanded with 338 new centres added during the half year, taking the total footprint to 4,260 locations. IWG also signed 496 new partnership deals, all under its capital-light model. Revenue per available room for company-owned operations fell 3 percent year-on-year to $346, a decline the company attributed to pricing adjustments designed to support long-term occupancy. Occupancy itself rose by 240 basis points over the past 12 months.
Mark Dixon, Chief Executive of IWG plc, said, “We set out a clear strategy at our Investor Day in December 2023 for capital-light growth to deliver cashflow, and business simplification. We have been delivering against this strategy and will continue to do so.… In the last six months, more locations were opened than in the entire first decade of our existence. We now have around 1 million rooms in 121 countries with a significant pipeline. This is expected to drive our future growth.”
Looking ahead, IWG reaffirmed its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance of between $525 million and $565 million, though it now expects results to come in toward the lower end of the range due to continued investment in expanding the Managed & Franchised business. The group anticipates full-year cashflow to rise by around 40 percent to at least $140 million.
