Q3 2026 Business Review

---
title: Q3 2026 Business Review
subtitle: Northwind Technologies · Board quarterly report
author: Business Operations · Finance
date: October 15, 2026
number-sections: true
---

# Key figures {#sec:kpi}

The group booked **USD 68.0 million** in revenue in Q3, up [▲ 18.4%]{color=green .bold} year on year — the **sixth** quarter in a row of double-digit growth. Gross margin reached [32.7%]{color=primary .bold}, a record since the IPO. Operating cash flow exceeded net profit for the first time; [days sales outstanding]{.underline} remain above target and are a priority for Q4[^1].

![Q3 dashboard: (a) monthly revenue by product line and gross margin; (b) revenue mix; (c) growth by region; (d) net profit bridge](images/dashboard.png){#fig:dash width=100%}

<table>
  <caption>Key figures against budget, Q3 2026 {#tbl:kpi}</caption>
  <tr><th rowspan="2">Area</th><th rowspan="2">Measure</th><th colspan="3" align="center">Q3 2026</th><th rowspan="2">y/y</th><th rowspan="2">Status</th></tr>
  <tr><th>Actual</th><th>Budget</th><th>vs budget</th></tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="2"><b>Scale</b></td><td>Revenue (USD m)</td><td align="right"><b>68.0</b></td><td align="right">64.4</td><td align="right">105.7%</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+18.4%</span></td><td><span style="color:#2E7D32">● Ahead</span></td></tr>
  <tr><td>New contracts (USD m)</td><td align="right"><b>85.7</b></td><td align="right">77.0</td><td align="right">111.3%</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+26.1%</span></td><td><span style="color:#2E7D32">● Ahead</span></td></tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="2"><b>Profit</b></td><td>Gross margin</td><td align="right"><b>32.7%</b></td><td align="right">31.5%</td><td align="right">+1.2 pt</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+1.9 pt</span></td><td><span style="color:#2E7D32">● Ahead</span></td></tr>
  <tr><td>Net profit (USD m)</td><td align="right"><b>8.7</b></td><td align="right">8.4</td><td align="right">103.3%</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+21.6%</span></td><td><span style="color:#2E7D32">● On track</span></td></tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="2"><b>Cash</b></td><td>Operating cash flow (USD m)</td><td align="right"><b>9.9</b></td><td align="right">7.7</td><td align="right">129.1%</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+48.0%</span></td><td><span style="color:#2E7D32">● Ahead</span></td></tr>
  <tr><td>Days sales outstanding</td><td align="right"><b>96</b></td><td align="right">85</td><td align="right">−11 days</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#C0392B">+7 days</span></td><td><span style="color:#E67E22">▲ Watch</span></td></tr>
</table>

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Cloud now makes up **31.4%** of revenue ([@fig:dash]b) and has become our second growth engine; the West has led regional growth for three quarters running.

# Regions {#sec:region}

<table>
  <caption>Revenue by region and product line (USD m) {#tbl:region}</caption>
  <tr><th rowspan="2">Region</th><th rowspan="2">Market</th><th colspan="2" align="center">Software</th><th colspan="2" align="center">Cloud</th><th rowspan="2">Total</th></tr>
  <tr><th>Q3</th><th>y/y</th><th>Q3</th><th>y/y</th></tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="3"><b>East</b></td><td>New York</td><td align="right">5.9</td><td align="right">+12%</td><td align="right">4.3</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+41%</span></td><td align="right">12.0</td></tr>
  <tr><td>Boston</td><td align="right">5.3</td><td align="right">+19%</td><td align="right">3.4</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+36%</span></td><td align="right">9.9</td></tr>
  <tr><td>Philadelphia</td><td align="right">4.6</td><td align="right">+15%</td><td align="right">2.8</td><td align="right">+28%</td><td align="right">8.4</td></tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="2"><b>South</b></td><td>Atlanta</td><td align="right">5.0</td><td align="right">+9%</td><td align="right">3.1</td><td align="right">+24%</td><td align="right">9.2</td></tr>
  <tr><td>Miami</td><td align="right">2.0</td><td align="right">+6%</td><td align="right">1.0</td><td align="right">+18%</td><td align="right">3.4</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>North</b></td><td>Chicago, Detroit</td><td align="right">4.1</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#C0392B">−2%</span></td><td align="right">2.5</td><td align="right">+15%</td><td align="right">7.7</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>West</b></td><td>Seattle, Denver</td><td align="right">2.9</td><td align="right">+22%</td><td align="right">2.8</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+47%</span></td><td align="right">7.0</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Overseas</b></td><td>SE Asia, Middle East</td><td align="right">0.4</td><td align="right">—</td><td align="right">1.5</td><td align="right"><span style="color:#2E7D32">+120%</span></td><td align="right">2.5</td></tr>
  <tr><td colspan="2"><b>Group total</b></td><td align="right"><b>30.2</b></td><td align="right"><b>+22.5%</b></td><td align="right"><b>21.4</b></td><td align="right"><b>+31.8%</b></td><td align="right"><b>68.0</b></td></tr>
</table>

## Quality of earnings

A DuPont breakdown of return on equity shows all three drivers improving:

$$
\mathrm{ROE}
= \underbrace{\frac{\text{Net profit}}{\text{Revenue}}}_{\text{margin}\ 12.8\%}
\times \underbrace{\frac{\text{Revenue}}{\text{Total assets}}}_{\text{turnover}\ 0.64}
\times \underbrace{\frac{\text{Total assets}}{\text{Equity}}}_{\text{leverage}\ 1.71}
\approx 14.0\%
$$ {#eq:dupont}

Customer lifetime value follows [@eq:ltv]; for cloud, $\mathrm{LTV}/\mathrm{CAC} = 4.3$, well above the industry rule of thumb of 3.0:

$$
\mathrm{LTV} = \sum_{t=1}^{T} \frac{m \cdot \mathrm{ARPU}_t \cdot r^{\,t-1}}{(1+d)^{t}},
\qquad r = 1 - \text{churn},\ d = 8\%
$$ {#eq:ltv}

::: {.tip title="Management view"}
Of the margin gain, **0.9 pt** comes from the product mix (more high-margin cloud) and **0.3 pt** from delivery automation; see [@sec:kpi] and [@tbl:region].
:::

# Risks and Q4 plan {#sec:next}

| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Response | Owner |
|:-----|:------:|:----:|:---------|:--------:|
| Late payment by key accounts | [High]{bg="#FADBD8" color="#C0392B" .bold} | [High]{bg="#FADBD8" color="#C0392B" .bold} | Staged milestones in contracts, weekly collection | Finance |
| Software decline in the North | [Med]{bg="#FDEBD0" color="#B9770E" .bold} | [Med]{bg="#FDEBD0" color="#B9770E" .bold} | Channel changes, subscription bundle | North region |
| Currency swings overseas | [Med]{bg="#FDEBD0" color="#B9770E" .bold} | [Low]{bg="#D5F5E3" color="#1E8449" .bold} | Forwards covering 60% of exposure | Treasury |

: Main risks and responses {#tbl:risk}

- [x] Grow the cloud delivery team by 30 (22 hired)
- [x] Launch deployment automation platform 2.0
- [ ] Bring days sales outstanding below **85**
- [ ] Open a local service centre in the Middle East

> “Quality of growth matters more than speed.” — Chair, Q3 operating review

[^1]: Days sales outstanding = closing receivables ÷ quarterly revenue × 91.