SiteMinder (ASX: SDR) Doubles Earnings as Transaction Growth Accelerates

SiteMinder Limited delivered a much stronger fiscal 2026, with earnings and cash generation accelerating as hotels increased their use of the company’s transaction products and newer Smart Platform tools.

Adjusted EBITDA almost doubled to $28.1 million, up 96%, while adjusted free cash flow more than doubled to $10.5 million. Revenue climbed 18.6% to $266.1 million.

On an organic, constant-currency basis, revenue increased 22%, while annual recurring revenue rose 24.1% to $313.7 million.

Transaction Products Take the Lead

The biggest shift in SiteMinder’s business is happening beyond its traditional software subscriptions.

Transaction revenue rose 33.8% on an organic, constant-currency basis, comfortably ahead of subscription revenue growth of 14.6%. Transaction ARR increased 37.1%, compared with 15.1% growth in subscription ARR.

Demand Plus and the Smart Distribution Program were important contributors, while Dynamic Revenue Plus added increasing momentum.

By year-end, SiteMinder’s transaction products were being used across 45,400 properties — 10,400 more than a year earlier.

That matters because the faster-growing side of the business is also becoming more profitable.

Adjusted transaction gross margin jumped 577 basis points to 39.4%, helped by a growing contribution from higher-margin Smart Platform products. Subscription gross margin increased to 87%, lifting overall adjusted gross margin to 67.2%.

The result was a clear improvement in operating leverage. SiteMinder’s adjusted EBITDA margin reached 10.6%, up from 6.4% a year earlier.

More Hotels, More Revenue Per Property

SiteMinder finished the year serving 56,000 properties, up 11.8%, with 5,900 net additions.

Monthly average revenue per property increased 5.9% to $429, or 9.3% on an organic, constant-currency basis.

Customer retention also remained solid, with monthly revenue churn holding at 1%. Customer lifetime value rose 9.2% to $29,857, pushing the lifetime-value-to-acquisition-cost ratio to 6.6 times from 6.2 times.

The company is still loss-making under statutory accounting, but the gap narrowed sharply. SiteMinder reported an $11.3 million loss after tax, compared with $24.5 million a year earlier.

Operating cash flow improved by $16.2 million to $39.8 million, although capitalised development spending rose 23.6% to $32 million as investment continued in the Smart Platform and new products.

SiteMinder also flagged a near-term wrinkle: more products are now billed in arrears, which could reduce the working-capital benefit the business has historically enjoyed.

The Next Test Is Margin Expansion

For fiscal 2027, SiteMinder expects ARR growth to remain in the 20s on an organic, constant-currency basis, alongside meaningful further expansion in its adjusted EBITDA margin.

Management’s longer-term ambition is more aggressive. By fiscal 2030, it is targeting an adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid-20s while maintaining ARR compound growth in the 20s from fiscal 2026 levels.

The path depends on more hotels adopting Smart Platform products, continued transaction growth and the benefits of scale flowing through the cost base. SiteMinder is also deploying artificial intelligence across sales, support, engineering and internal operations to improve productivity.

So, What Does SiteMinder Actually Do?

SiteMinder provides the technology that helps hotels sell their rooms online.

Its platform connects hotel room rates and availability with booking channels such as Booking.com, Expedia and Agoda, as well as the hotel’s own website. When a room sells through one channel, SiteMinder can update availability across the others.

In practical terms, it sits behind the scenes helping hotels manage where rooms are sold, what they charge and how they turn online demand into bookings.