POWERING
PROGRESS
POWERING
PROGRESS
IN MORE PLACES THAN YOU'D IMAGINE
Diploma PLC is a group of specialist businesses that provide critical products and value-added services to customers across a wide range of markets - where quality, reliability and expertise matter most. We help our customers run smarter, safer and stronger. We provide the bolts that hold planes and race cars together, design the seals that make wind turbines work and help surgeons find the best solutions to save lives.
Controls Seals Life SciencesADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR CRITICAL APPLICATIONS
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HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS THAT POWER PROGRESS
READ MORE ON PAGE 26
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
THAT DRIVE BETTER PATIENT OUTCOMES
READ MORE ON PAGE 30
Strategic Report Corporate Governance Financial Statements Additional information
CONTENTSSTRATEGIC REPORT
2025 highlights
About us
Investment case
Chair's statement
CEO's review
9 CFO's review
12 Talent review
14 Our business model
16 Our strategy
20 Key performance indicators
22 Sector review: Controls
26 Sector review: Seals
30 Sector review: Life Sciences
34 Financial review
38 Delivering Value Responsibly
42 Risk management and internal control
49 Engagement with stakeholders and section 172 statement
53 Viability statement
54 Non-financial and sustainability information statement
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
56 Chair's introduction to governance
58 Governance at a glance
60 Board of Directors
65 Audit Committee Report
71 Nomination Committee Report
76 Remuneration Committee Report
98 Directors' Report
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
102 | Independent auditors' report |
110 | Consolidated income statement |
111 | Consolidated statement |
of comprehensive income | |
112 | Consolidated statement |
of changes in equity | |
113 | Consolidated statement |
of financial position | |
114 | Consolidated cash flow statement |
115 | Notes to the consolidated financial |
statements | |
145 | Group accounting policies |
154 | Parent company statement |
of financial position | |
154 | Parent company statement |
of changes in equity | |
155 | Parent company accounting policies |
156 | Notes to the parent company |
financial statements |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
157 TCFD statement
162 Glossary
163 Subsidiaries of Diploma PLC
166 Alternative performance measures
168 Five year record
IBC Shareholder information
ACCOUNTABILITY AND
EMPOWERMENT UNDERPIN OUR SUCCESS
Our culture plays a critical role in supporting growth. Our decentralised model empowers local business leaders while maintaining FTSE-level controls and governance. We have five core values that guide our decision-making and actions:
We are customer-centric, ensuring that our customers' needs remain at the forefront
We believe in doing the right thing, even when it's challenging, because integrity is non-negotiable
Accountability is paramount, holding us responsible for our actions and decisions
We firmly believe in growing together and becoming greater than the sum of our parts
We are down to earth maintaining a culture of humility and approachability
READ MORE IN OUR TALENT REVIEW ON PAGES 12-13
DISCOVER MORE ABOUT DIPLOMA
AT DIPLOMAPLC.COM
2025 HIGHLIGHTS
A GREAT YEAR, ADDING TO
HIGHLIGHTS
OUR STRONG TRACK RECORD
Sustainable quality compounding is the result of
ambition with discipline. Our business model and strategy are designed to support the delivery of ambitious organic growth at high margins and with great capital returns.
OUR MODEL DELIVERS COMPOUNDING GROWTH...
Very strong organic growth of 11% - volume-led growth in all three Sectors
Reported growth of 12%, +3% from net acquisitions partially offset by foreign exchange
11%
Organic revenue growthModel: 5%
21%
Adjusted EPS growthModel: Double digit
20.9%
Return on adjusted trading capital employed (ROATCE)Model: High teens
12%
Revenue growthModel: 10%*
105%
Free cash flow conversionModel: 90%
5%
Dividend growthModel: 5%
22.5%
Adjusted operating profit marginModel: 20%+
0.8X
Net debt/EBITDAModel: <2.0x
* At constant currency.
Margin up 160 basis points to 22.5% - demonstrating the quality of our portfolio
Strong EPS growth of 21% - reflecting our ambition
Return on capital up 180 basis points to 20.9% - demonstrating our discipline
Acquisition momentum - six deals since start of Q4 for c.£90m. Healthy pipeline
Financial firepower - strong cash generation and modest leverage at 0.8x
...BUILDING ON OUR LONG TRACK RECORD OF DOUBLE-DIGIT REVENUE AND EARNINGS GROWTH
LONG-TERM TRACK RECORD
7-year CAGR: 18% revenue
7% organic growth
18% EPS
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
ABOUT US
A DIVERSE GROUP OF BUSINESSES
DELIVERING CRITICAL SOLUTIONS
WHO WE ARE
Diploma PLC is a group of specialist businesses that provide critical products and value-added services to customers across a wide range of markets - where quality, reliability and expertise matter most.
WHAT WE DO
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55%
Group revenue
Advanced technologies for critical applications in aerospace, energy, infrastructure, medical and rail.Our businesses provide wires and cables, connectors and automation parts for use in high-tech industries and equipment, from aircraft and F1 cars to datacentres and medical devices.
Our businessesControls
READ MORE ON PAGE 26
29%
Group revenue
Reliable, high-performance sealing and fluid power solutions that protect equipment, power innovation and drive uptime across industries.Our businesses provide gaskets, hydraulic hoses and fittings for maintaining heavy machinery and vehicles, from tractors to wind turbines.
Our businessesSeals
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ACCUSCIENCE
16%
Group revenue
Smart solutions that advance diagnostics, drive better patient outcomes and improve lives.Our businesses provide medical equipment, lab products and diagnostics equipment for use in hospitals and test labs.
Our businessesLife Sciences
WHERE WE OPERATE
% Group revenue*
North America: 53%
Europe: 19%
UK: 18%
Australia/other: 10%
* Pro forma revenue adjusted for acquisitions and disposals completed up to 18 November 2025.
INVESTMENT CASEDELIVERING SUSTAINABLE
QUALITY COMPOUNDING
Diploma delivers sustainable quality compounding, consistently balancing ambition with discipline. We have a long track record of profitable growth which has accelerated in recent years, delivering 18% compound annual EPS growth over the last 7 years.
AMBITIOUS GROWTH
DISCIPLINED DELIVERY
SUSTAINABLE QUALITY COMPOUNDING
Intensely returns focused
Highly cash generative
Disciplined capital allocation
Tight portfolio management
Depth and quality of management
Powerful decentralised culture
Differentiated value-add business model
Structurally growing end market exposure
Significant white space
Quality and diversity of portfolio
Fragmented markets and large acquisition pipeline
Strong M&A competitive advantage
CHAIR'S STATEMENT
POWERING PROGRESS
THROUGH OUR CULTURE
This has been another strong year for Diploma. We have not only delivered an excellent financial performance, we have also continued to evolve as an organisation that values its people, embraces change
and remains resilient in the face of a changing world.
Fostering an empowered and positive cultureOur powerful decentralised culture, characterised by its entrepreneurial spirit, accountability and exceptional leadership, has been instrumental in delivering strong financial performance.
Diploma fosters a shared culture that celebrates the unique strengths of each business and drives our collective success. Across the Group, our teams continue to demonstrate ambition and resilience, even in some challenging market conditions.
Our colleagues are the cornerstone of Diploma's success and our culture and values play a pivotal role in fostering employee engagement and
development. Last year, we introduced employee engagement as part of our executive remuneration package. Our Group Colleague Engagement scores continue to indicate excellent levels
of engagement across the Group at 78%. Over the last year, members of the Board have had the opportunity to meet with colleagues in the US, Canada, the UK and Europe across all three Sectors of the Group. It is very important to me that the Board
spends time in the businesses and we will continue to do so throughout FY26.
Board changesWe have a strong Board, which is well placed to represent the interests
of our shareholders and wider stakeholders in the years ahead.
I was delighted to welcome Katie Bickerstaffe as Senior Independent Director and Ian El-Mokadem as Independent Non-Executive Director to the Board on 1 October 2024 and 15 January 2025, respectively. Their appointments have strengthened the Board's collective skillset, with
both bringing extensive business and operational experience from their roles as chief executives.
Chris Davies resigned as Group CFO in August 2025 following a company
event where his personal behaviour did not meet the high standards Diploma requires. His resignation was unrelated to the Group's financial performance.
We thank Chris for his contribution during his time with Diploma.
Wilson Ng was subsequently appointed Acting Chief Financial Officer. The Board's confidence in Wilson - who had held the position of Group Financial Controller for three years - has been borne out
by the diligence and commitment he has demonstrated during his first few months in role. A process to identify a permanent successor is well underway.
DividendsDiploma has a progressive dividend policy that aims to increase dividend per share by 5% each year. We see this as an important part of compounding discipline. Based on the strong performance in the year, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 44.1p (2024: 42.0p). making the proposed full year dividend
62.3p (2024: 59.3p), a 5% increase.
Looking forwardDiploma is very well positioned to continue its success. Whilst some markets remain challenging, we are confident that the diversity of our businesses and end markets and the strength of our business model, combined with the dedication of our colleagues, will drive strong performance into the future.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all of our colleagues for their enormous contributions to Diploma's success over the last year as we look forward to the year ahead.
David Lowden
Chair
CEO'S REVIEWANOTHER YEAR OF STRONG PERFORMANCE AND
GREAT PROGRESS
This has been a year of strong financial performance and great strategic progress, building on a decades-long track record
of compounding growth and strong returns.
Organic growth is our priority. This year it has exceeded our expectations at 11%. High margins reflect the strength of our value-add customer propositions. This year we improved operating margin
by 160 basis points, to 22.5%. Strong cash generation builds our firepower for investment. This year, free cash flow conversion was very strong at 105%.
We have a robust balance sheet with modest leverage.
We run Diploma by balancing ambition with discipline. Adjusted earnings
per share growth of 21% reflects our ambition. Return on capital (ROATCE) of 20.9% demonstrates the discipline that we live and breathe. The combination of our ambition and our discipline delivers sustainable quality compounding.
That discipline is central to how we approach acquisitions. We have welcomed seven new, high-quality businesses across our three Sectors, including six since the start of July.
We also divested some small businesses - an infrequent but important part of our portfolio discipline.
I thank all my brilliant colleagues whose performance and progress collectively drives great results. It's been another great year for Diploma.
On a journeyDiploma today is not the same business I joined in 2019. Then, we were a UK-centric, industrial-focused distribution group - a very successful one. Over several decades, we had delivered significant growth and shareholder returns. This success was built around two key features - strong value-add customer propositions and a powerful decentralised culture. It is
the same two features that underpin our success today - our secret sauce. But, over the last few years we have evolved. We have become more ambitious.
We have become more focused. We have maintained discipline.
Through our strategy we have driven our businesses to think bigger than the niche they once operated in - expanding into new end markets, across geographies and into broader product sets.
This evolution has strengthened us. It has diversified our businesses and our portfolio and accelerated our growth. We are now more resilient to economic cycles.
In 2019, our portfolio was narrower
and more exposed to industrial cycles. We continue to succeed in the same spaces, driving growth as we take
our strong value-add propositions to thousands of customers, but today, they represent a much smaller proportion of our portfolio. We have
broadened our exposure to attractive markets in structural growth - aerospace, clean energy, diagnostics, datacentres, to name a few. This has, in turn, made our growth more structural.
As in the past, we have continued to effectively deploy capital into bolt-on acquisitions, maintaining the discipline Diploma has always been known for.
More recently, we have scaled our acquisition capabilities - welcoming new talent, improving processes and adding strategic focus. And, we have grown our pipeline - this gives us the freedom to walk away from anything that doesn't meet our high bar.
We have achieved a lot. But we're only getting started. The opportunities ahead are vast, and exciting. We are building an ever-stronger platform to continue delivering sustainable quality compounding long into the future.
CEO'S REVIEW CONTINUED Strategic progressThe Group's strategy is to build high-quality, scalable businesses for sustainable organic growth.
ORGANIC GROWTH IS OUR PRIORITY
Our ambition is reflected in our organic growth. Our success is driven by it.
We drive organic growth through three buckets: increasing our exposure into structurally growing end markets; expanding further into core developed geographies; and extending our product range to expand addressable markets. This strategy drives both sustainable organic growth and increased resilience.
This has been another great year for organic growth. Peerless, Clarendon, Windy City Wire, and Life Sciences North America, have been stand-out performers, all delivering double-digit organic growth. Impressive performances driven by impressive teams. But, I am
as pleased with the businesses that haven't delivered such strong growth but have dug deep and delivered great improvement in tough markets - Hercules OEM and DICSA, to name a couple.
Our strongest performances have been supported by attractive end market positions - aerospace, datacentres, diagnostics. It is in strategic end market expansion where we see some of our most exciting opportunities in the years ahead.
We're investing behind this, selectively introducing strategic market expertise in some key focus areas to accelerate progress.
We have identified a number of attractive growth markets. We already have
an established presence in some of these markets - for example,
aerospace, defence, infrastructure, in vitro diagnostics - and we are seeking opportunities to extend our presence. In other markets - for example, datacentres, automation, clean energy, scientific - we are in the early stages of establishing a presence and are building on the great work that has already been happening
to make these parts of the business more meaningful. And, there are some markets that we're exploring - for example, water treatment, energy storage, nuclear -where we have a very small footprint today. There is a lot for us to go for.
TARGETED ACQUISITIONS ACCELERATE ORGANIC GROWTH
Since 2019, we've acquired 48 businesses investing £1.4bn to drive future organic growth and strong returns.
Some newly acquired businesses are quick out of the starting blocks, surpassing our expectations in year
one. Others take a little longer, requiring more effort and perhaps more change than we anticipated. But, they all deserve their place in our portfolio.
We have seen strong acquisition momentum in recent months. This follows a period of more modest investment, reflecting the challenging market. Macro events have created uncertainty and we've seen fewer quality assets coming to market. I'm delighted with the acquisitions we have made - seven deals for a total of £93m. And I'm pleased with the momentum we are seeing - six deals since the start of Q4.
Our pipeline is very healthy - bigger than ever and filled with opportunities to unlock growth across exciting, fragmented markets. We have a disciplined process that prioritises quality over quantity and ensures
an intense focus on returns. Our proposition to sellers is compelling - cementing us as a buyer of choice. There's lots to go for and we have considerable financial firepower.
SCALING FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
We probably talk more about the 'grow' part of our strategy than the 'scaling' part. They're equally important.
If we don't scale at the same pace as our growth, our growth can't be sustained. And, if we don't preserve our secret sauce as we scale, our growth won't be sustained.
The majority of my time is spent on building capability. It's our biggest driver of success. Every one of the 3,400 people in Diploma is on their own scaling journey - myself included. As our leaders develop and grow, their teams also step up, so that our capabilities continue to build at every level of the organisation.
We further build on the investments we make in developing our people by bringing in new talent as well.
Growing future succession within our Group is critically important and is something we're very focused on - but it's something that takes time. Our recently-launched graduate programme, in the US and the UK, is designed to develop our businesses and build the leaders of tomorrow.
It's the first programme we've run and it's something I'm very excited about.
The new year has seen a Group-wide focus on scaling our capabilities in Sales Excellence. Following a fantastic event earlier in the year which brought together 75 leaders from across every business in the Group to share, learn and collaborate, our businesses are now driving improvement through the individual sales excellence plans they all developed. I'm excited about what they will deliver.
In the coming year, we will be selectively investing in specialist strategic market expertise, introducing a number of roles that will focus on specific markets to accelerate future growth.
CEO'S REVIEW CONTINUEDAt the same time as consciously scaling our businesses and our Group, we consciously preserve our secret sauce. Our differentiated culture
of commerciality, accountability, and continuous improvement is thriving in our businesses. And we complement that with a connectivity
and performance ownership mentality across our decentralised Group.
When coupled with our value-add propositions, this drives loyalty and share of wallet, reputation and market share potential, and pricing power and strong margins.
Delivering Value ResponsiblyOur businesses deliver essential products and services that help industries run smarter, safer and stronger - whether that's providing life-saving healthcare solutions, enabling renewable energy generation or supporting a circular economy through aftermarket repairs. Our Delivering Value Responsibly (DVR) framework focuses on three themes - our people, doing business responsibly, and the environment - through which we can have a meaningful, positive impact. There are some great success stories from the year - including solid progress on health and safety, colleague engagement and inclusion - making Diploma an even safer, better and fairer place to work.
An exciting futureA powerful, thriving decentralised culture
Energetic mood
Developing the next generation of leaders
Highly engaged colleagues
FY26 is off to a strong start.
We remain focused on executing our strategy of building high-quality, scalable businesses for organic growth. By continuing to effectively balance ambition and discipline we
are confident in continuing to deliver sustainable quality compounding over the long term, in good times and bad.
I am fuelled by excitement for what Diploma can deliver in the years to come. We're just getting started.
Johnny Thomson
Chief Executive Officer
CFO'S REVIEW
AMBITIOUS GROWTH
DISCIPLINED DELIVERY
Structural growth markets drive strong organic growth
Organic growth is our first priority and is what our strategy is designed to deliver. Our value-add businesses drive growth through end-market exposure, geographic expansion and product extension.
Our portfolio is well diversified and it is increasingly more exposed to structural growth end markets. Historically, we have grown organically at an average of 5%. Over the last 7 years, we have stepped this up to 7%.
We delivered 11% organic growth in FY25.
As always in a portfolio, performance varied across our businesses. We have seen some impressive double-digit growth in a number of businesses, supported by market tailwinds and driven by strong execution. We have seen some more challenged performances, hindered by market conditions in many cases.
Our strategy is to accelerate our organic growth with targeted acquisitions, and our financial model demonstrates that we can deliver double-digit revenue growth within our leverage policy.
We do not set specific annual targets for acquisitions. We're focused on the right deals, not the number of deals
- ambition with discipline.
On average, since FY19, net acquisitions have added 11% per annum to the top line. This year, has been lower, at 3%, reflecting more modest investment in bringing new businesses into the Group, as well as some small disposals.
Value-add solutions drive high operating marginThis year, we delivered an operating margin of 22.5%, an increase of 160 basis points on the prior year. Again, this is the portfolio effect, as some businesses saw a meaningful step up
- such as Peerless - while others saw a dip in margins - such as some of our Life Sciences businesses. Reflecting our local-for-local business models, we have limited exposure to tariffs.
Where we do have exposure, we have successfully passed through pricing and margins have not been impacted.
Diploma's operating margins are sustainable above 20%. This is underpinned by our strong value-add customer propositions. Margins have structurally stepped up over recent years. This reflects operational leverage and accretive margins in recent acquisitions, alongside continued reinvestment.
Our diversified portfolio delivers a broad range of operating margins. Typically, our lower margin businesses have lower asset intensity, whilst those requiring more inventory to support their customer
propositions are compensated with higher margins. What is most important is the return each business generates.
Our financial model recognises that each business should deliver sustainable operating leverage. However, three factors mean margins may not expand every year:
1) business mix; 2) the margin profile of acquired businesses; and 3) the level of reinvestment. In the coming year, we will be upweighting investment in capability, selectively introducing strategic end market expertise, enhancing our assurance platforms, and building our general management capabilities.
The combination of our growth and margin drives the double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth included
in our financial model. This year, we delivered 21% growth.
CFO'S REVIEW CONTINUED Capital-light model drives strong cash conversionOur capital-light business model drives strong cash conversion, and this means we have significant firepower to invest in our growth.
Our financial model demonstrates a sustainable 90% conversion through our disciplined approach. FY25 cash conversion was 105%. Working capital increased by less than prior year while growing organic revenue by 11%. Capital expenditure at 1% of revenue was below the 2% we typically expect.
Sustainable Quality Compounding Ingrained discipline drives strong returnsOur key returns metric, Return on Adjusted Trading Capital Employed (ROATCE), adds back accounting adjustments, such as acquisition related amortisation. This means our performance is driven by genuine economic factors. We believe our
Sustainable quality compounding combines ambition with discipline. Our business model and strategy are designed to support the delivery of strong organic growth, at high margins and with great returns on capital. As a result, we
have a long track record of delivering ambitious compounding earnings growth.
Our financial model lays out how we will continue to deliver this in a set of medium-term financial outcomes. This has consistently delivered superior shareholder returns and will continue to drive compounding value over the long-term.
optimal returns range is high-teens, while deploying significant capital with discipline.
Capital-light business model drives strong cash conversion | 90% | 105% |
Capital stewardship focused on strong ROATCE | High teens | 20.9% |
Balance sheet discipline maintains prudent leverage | <2.0 x | 0.8x |
Return to shareholders with a progressive dividend | 5% | 5% |
FY25 returns stepped a little above this level - a very strong 20.9%, up by 180 basis points on the prior year. This is a reflection
Organic revenue growth is our first priority | 5% | 11% |
Total revenue growth accelerated by quality acquisitions | 10%* | 12% |
Value-add drives strong adjusted operating margins | 20%+ | 22.5% |
Compounding adjusted EPS growth | Double digit | 21% |
AMBITION... MODEL FY25 ...WITH DISCIPLINE
MODEL FY25
of: 1) a lower level of acquisition spend in the year; and 2) exceptional returns from the FY24 acquisition, Peerless. While this year's performance has been very strong, delivering a Group return on capital of over 20% is not our goal. The high-teens sweet spot for Diploma reflects the right level
of disciplined investment for growth.
Achieving this requires both consistent operational discipline and a disciplined approach when making acquisitions.
We have simple but strict criteria for potential acquisitions and we focus on the time needed to reach our required level of returns.
* At constant currency.
CFO'S REVIEW CONTINUEDSince the start of FY25, we have completed seven deals for a combined investment of c.£93m at an average EBIT multiple of 8x (including two deals after year end for c.£37m). This more modest investment than our recent average is itself a clear demonstration of our disciplined approach. While many more opportunities were considered, we walked away from a lot of deals during the year because they were not right for Diploma.
We are as disciplined about the effective recycling of capital as we are about its deployment. Over the past five years, we have completed nine disposals at average multiples of 6x, including some small disposals during FY25 for a combined
£47m, at average multiples of 6x.
We don't divest due to underperformance - we see that as our job to resolve -
but we view it as key to responsible stewardship of capital to find new homes for businesses that no longer align with our strategy or business model. While portfolio discipline is very important to our strategy, we have a collection of high quality businesses and do not expect to make divestments on a regular basis.
Balance sheet discipline drives firepowerOur Board policy is to maintain the net debt to EBITDA ratio (leverage) below 2x, with covenants allowing up to 3.5x. As a result of our strong cash generation, leverage reduces at approximately 0.4x per annum.
Reflecting the more modest investment in acquisitions made during the year, we ended FY25 with a leverage ratio of 0.8x. There is, therefore, significant headroom for future investment.
We maintain a well-supported balance sheet. Over the last 18 months, we have secured £885m, through the combination of our revolving credit facility and US private placement notes, termed in tranches out to 2036.
To build our financial firepower to fund our growth ambitions, we intend to raise further finance over and above the existing level of our facilities while staying within the guidelines of our financial model.
Progressive dividend enhances strong shareholder returnsPaying a progressive dividend is integral to our discipline and we have a 25-year track record of doing so. Our financial model includes dividends growing by 5% per annum. The 62.3p dividend proposed for FY25, represents a 5% increase.
FY26 guidanceWe expect another strong performance in FY26. Organic growth is expected to be 6%. This is significantly weighted to the first half reflecting the very strong H2'25 comparator. Operating margin is expected to be flat at c.22.5%.
Acquisitions announced to date, net of disposals, will contribute 2% to reported revenue. Of course, any further acquisitions made throughout the year will increase
this contribution.
Wilson Ng
Acting Chief Financial Officer
TALENT REVIEWEMPOWERING
OUR PEOPLE
Our people and culture are the foundation of our growth, and strong leadership is a critical factor as we continue to scale. As a decentralised and lean organisation, strong leadership empowers local accountability, ensures agility,
and drives performance.
Exceptional leaders set the tone for our culture, inspire colleagues and create the conditions for brilliant execution.
Building and sustaining a diverse pipeline of future leaders is therefore one of
our highest people priorities. Alongside this, we continue to foster an engaging culture that motivates colleagues to deliver outstanding service to our customers each and every day.
Fuelling growth through leadership Our growth is only possible through the strength of our leaders. In a decentralised organisation like ours, the role of the business Managing Director (MD) is pivotal - bringing strategy to life locally, empowering teams and ensuring agility in execution. Recognising this, during the year we placed renewed emphasison resetting and building leadership capability across our MD community.
In recognition of the importance of these roles, we have enhanced the remuneration framework for our MD cohort to attract and retain the highest-quality talent. We strengthened our leadership bench by refreshing our MD cohort with external hires, while also promoting internal talent into senior roles to support succession and growth. This investment reflects a considered reset in how we approach leadership - viewing it not as a one-off initiative, but as an ongoing, deliberate practice essential to sustaining our performance and delivering on our long-term ambitions.
Building the right skills and capabilities is critical to the success of our MDs. During the year, we ran a leadership development event tailored specifically to the demands of being an MD in Diploma. It was designed to stretch and inspire, helping leaders deepen their capabilities and confidence in driving growth. Alongside this, we committed time to personally discuss the development plan of every MD, ensuring each leader had clarity and support for their individual growth journey.
Building succession for the future It is critical to our long-term success that we have a strong and sustainable succession pipeline. Preparing thenext generation of leaders is central to ensuring our business continues to grow with strength and agility.
We were excited to launch our first graduate programme in early FY26. The programme, running in both the
US and the UK, is designed to develop talent across our businesses and build the leaders of tomorrow. Our first cohort will join us later this financial year, marking an important milestone in our journey to build a diverse and robust pipeline. In tandem with this, we are focused on building the bench strength required to lead and grow our business through identifying and nurturing key high-potential talent in the organisation.
We have taken considered action to strengthen our leadership infrastructure, including our Sector leadership, business CFOs and HR leaders, as well as the addition of experienced sales leadership across a number of businesses to accelerate growth. Scaling the Group
is a key part of our strategy. As our footprint grows, we are evolving our structures and capabilities to ensure we remain fit for the future. Aligned with our growth strategy we undertake targeted analysis of key markets, such as the US, to ensure access to broad and diverse talent pools that will enable us to keep pace with the scale of our ambitions.
Together, these actions reflect our commitment to capability development and succession - laying the foundations today for a leadership pipeline that will drive long term success.
Diversity, equity and inclusion A diverse, equitable and inclusive culture is a competitive advantage.It supports our growth by bringing diverse
perspectives and experience to our workforce, delivering better outcomes. Our goal is to create an inclusive culture in which everyone can thrive.
TALENT REVIEW CONTINUEDBy FY30 we are targeting 40% female representation across our Top 150 (Senior Management Team). We are making steady progress, with 32% women in our SMT compared with
20% in FY19. Within the Executive Team, gender diversity has improved from 10% in FY23 to 30% in FY25.
Across the Group, women represent 32% of the total workforce, a 1.3 percentage point increase since FY24.
Our continued focus on senior hiring has helped to deliver a shift in gender balance and we were delighted to feature in this year's FTSE Women Leaders Review, recognised as one of the top three FTSE 100 companies
that have made considerable progress in our senior leadership representation.
Beyond gender, 10% of our senior
POWERING PROGRESS
THROUGH OUR PEOPLE
In April, we brought together business leaders from across the Group for a two-day event in London focused on delivering Sales Excellence. This was a great opportunity
for teams from across the world to share insights and ideas, explore opportunities for collaboration and celebrate the people behind our success.
75
leaders
management team is from an ethnic minority background and we have increased the ethnic diversity of our Executive Team to 20%, which combined means that 50% of the Executive Team have a diverse characteristic. Within our corporate centre, diversity continues
to improve, and we are delighted to report that 71% of our employees have a diverse characteristic.
Being representative of the communities in which we operate remains a priority and a source of strength for our business. To underline this commitment, and in line with the Parker Review recommendations, we have set ourselves an ethnicity target for Senior Leadership by FY27. We continue to focus on building diversity
through inclusive hiring, intentional leadership, and by actively celebrating the diversity of our colleagues.
CultureOur culture remains a key differentiator. As a decentralised, service-led business, engaged teams are fundamental to both performance and growth. Protecting and strengthening colleague engagement
is therefore essential to maintaining our cultural advantage, particularly during periods of rapid growth and change.
To underline this, the remuneration of senior leaders now has a direct link to engagement outcomes.
In FY25, our employee engagement score was 78%. While this represents a modest 1 percentage point decline
on the previous year, it remains well above the external benchmark of 68%, underscoring the strength of our culture and leadership. Notably, our Learning & Development score increased by 14%, reflecting the positive impact of targeted investments in capability-building. Key initiatives included the roll-out of a comprehensive line manager training programme, expanded access to online learning modules, and a greater emphasis on apprenticeships across several UK businesses. These actions are integral to our strategy of developing internal talent pipelines, strengthening capability, and supporting higher levels of engagement, retention, and performance over the long term.
Looking ahead, we remain focused
on fostering high levels of engagement and further strengthening our culture. Continued investment in leadership and colleague development will ensure that our culture continues to be a source of competitive advantage as we grow. A disciplined focus on capability development remains a key enabler
of Diploma's high-growth strategy - ensuring we have the leadership depth and organisational resilience to deliver sustained performance.
Donna Catley
Group HR Director
OUR BUSINESS MODELDELIVERING SUSTAINABLE
QUALITY COMPOUNDING
We are a lean decentralised Group operating a diverse portfolio of businesses that serve multiple end markets, from aerospace to healthcare and renewables to datacentres. We're not here to standardise our businesses, suppress their unique identities, disempower local leaders or add bureaucracy or unnecessary cost. We are here to drive ambitious growth and deliver it with discipline.
OUR SECTORS
Our small Sector leadership teams provide focused support and strategic oversight.
This structure enables us to grow and scale while preserving the power of our decentralised model.
Life Sciences
HOW WE OPERATE
THE CORPORATE CENTRE
The Corporate Centre supports the effective execution of our strategy focusing on capital allocation and performance management. Our lean central team of around 40 people comprises functional experts who support our businesses to grow and scale, whilst also delivering the compliance and control obligations of a FTSE 100 group.
Controls | ||
International Controls | Windy City Wire | |
Seals | ||
International Seals | North American Seals | |
OUR BUSINESSES
17 agile, entrepreneurial businesses with dynamic accountable leaders. All of our businesses are unique and they deliver success in different ways through our powerful decentralised model. However, there are some common characteristics to all Diploma businesses:
Delivered by brilliant people with strong leadership
A clear growth trajectory
A strong value-add customer proposition
OUR FINANCIAL MODEL THE SECRET TO OUR SUCCESS
We operate a diverse portfolio of capital-light businesses with strong value-add propositions in attractive end markets. Our strategy is to grow and scale each business through disciplined execution, driving strong organic growth, consistent high returns and excellent cash generation.
We continually enhance the quality of our portfolio by reinvesting in organic growth, scaling our businesses and the Group, and pursuing targeted, value-accretive acquisitions.
Our investment approach is disciplined with high return thresholds. Each year we invest in scaling our businesses - upgrading facilities, enhancing technology and developing talent. We also deploy capital on targeted acquisitions that accelerate organic growth and support sustainable long-term performance.
An essential partner providing value-add solutionsValue-add is our key differentiator.
Each of our businesses provides a service far beyond sourcing and
reselling products. The value-add is different for each business. Whether it's technical expertise, speed to market
or product customisation, we create solutions that deliver better outcomes for customers and make their lives easier. The products and services
AMBITIOUS GROWTH
DISCIPLINED DELIVERY
our businesses provide are critical to customer value chains. They're
typically low-cost components funded from operating expenditure, where
the value-add far exceeds the cost of the product. This model drives:
Loyalty and share of wallet;
Grows reputation and market share potential;
Pricing power and strong margins.
Our decentralised model means our businesses are able to deliver solutions for their customers in their own way by leveraging their specialist knowledge, close customer relationships and market experience. Each business operates independently with local accountability, decision-making and leadership. At the same time, they benefit from being part of a large, multinational Group: networks, central expertise, collaboration and best practice sharing. Through this model, we have a long history of delivering strong shareholder value and generating meaningful shareholder impact.
LEARN MORE AT
DIPLOMAPLC.COM/ABOUT-US
OUR STRATEGY
THE RIGHT STRATEGY FOR
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
To deliver sustainable quality compounding, our strategy focuses on growth, scale and delivering value responsibly. The discipline of continuous improvement is essential to sustain growth and build the right capability for the future.
ORGANIC GROWTH IN THREE BUCKETS:
GROW
COMPLEMENTARY ACQUISITIONS TO DRIVE FUTURE ORGANIC GROWTH
3PRODUCT EXTENSION
2GEOGRAPHIC PENETRATION
1END MARKET EXPOSURE
SCALE
VALUE-ADD BUSINESS MODEL AT SCALE POWERFUL DECENTRALISED GROUP AT SCALE
DELIVER VALUE RESPONSIBLY
Our strategy supports our businesses in delivering their value-add missions. It simultaneously delivers environmental and societal value, and commercial benefit to Diploma. Our Delivering Value Responsibly (DVR) framework focuses on six metrics through which we can have a meaningful, positive impact on our businesses, our people and our environment.
READ MORE ON PAGE 38
OUR STRATEGY CONTINUED
GROW
Our strategy is focused on sustainable organic growth in three buckets:
1 Positioning behind fast-growing end markets
We have an exciting opportunity to access structurally high-growth end markets, such as renewables, datacentres, electrification, aerospace, industrial automation, in vitro diagnostics and infrastructure. We have increased our exposure in these markets, but still have a very small share, meaning there is lots to go for.
2 Expanding our footprint in core geographies
We remain focused on the US, Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia. We have minimal market share - or none at all - in most of our product verticals across our core geographies, so we do not need to look to higher-risk, developing markets for growth. There is lots to go for in our existing geographies.
3 Extending our product offer
We expand our addressable markets by extending our product offering. We do this through continuous product innovation; coordinated cross-selling across different Group businesses; or, selectively, through building out new product lines that fit our value-add model.
We make complementary acquisitions to drive future organic growth. Acquisitions also help us to build scale and resilience, bring in new talent and expertise, and drive great returns on capital. Most of our acquisitions are bolt-ons to existing businesses but, occasionally, we execute larger deals which provide a platform for accelerated growth. We have a clear set of criteria to determine businesses that may be a good fit for us, strategically and culturally: a value-add customer proposition, a clear growth trajectory and strong leadership. We are incredibly disciplined in our acquisition process and have high return thresholds.
SCALE
DELIVER VALUE RESPONSIBLY
Ensuring we grow and scale in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible
We are committed to executing our strategy whilst being environmentally, socially and ethically responsible. We support our businesses to make Diploma an even safer, better and fairer place to work. We collaborate with our colleagues, suppliers and customers to deliver our sustainability targets, including our
SBTi-approved net zero targets.
By concentrating the efforts of our large, diverse, and decentralised Group on three core areas, we can drive meaningful progress against our sustainability targets.
READ MORE ON PAGES 38-41
DISCOVER MORE AT
DIPLOMAPLC.COM/SUSTAINABILITY
Scaling our businesses and our Group for sustained growth
Our strategy supports the individual scaling journey of each business so that they can deliver great customer propositions at scale. It also means developing our Group to sustain execution as we grow. This can be through investment in talent and developing teams, investment in technology systems and processes, and investing in facilities. Scale is about building the capability and capacity to support ambitious growth plans whilst retaining the qualities which underpin our businesses' success.
Each business has its own scaling plan, however, there are core attributes and competencies which are common to all: value-add, route to market, operational excellence, supply chain management, commercial discipline and sales excellence. We are selective in these scaling investments and require high returns from them.
OUR STRATEGY CONTINUED
Strategic Report
Corporate Governance Financial Statements Additional information
ATTRACTIVE
GROWTH MARKETS
Our businesses serve multiple end markets and we have a diverse customer base, from original equipment manufacturers and repair shops to scientists and surgeons.
Increasing exposure to attractive growth markets
Over the last five years the Group has significantly grown its presence in attractive growth markets. Some examples include renewables, datacentres, electrification, aerospace, industrial automation, in vitro diagnostics and infrastructure.
AEROSPACE
ESTABLISHED
EARLY STAGE
We position ourselves in our existing and established end markets to increase market share and leverage growth. We also have exciting opportunities in early stage and exploratory end markets.
Long-term growth in aerospace is being driven by OEM backlogs, supply chain constraints, and rising passenger demand in
CLEAN ENERGY
IVD
civil aviation. The aerospace fasteners market, in particular, is highly fragmented and critical
EXPLORATORY
Nuclear
Energy storage
Water
to aircraft manufacturing, creating significant opportunities for specialised suppliers.
DATACENTRES
Accelerating market
Supporting long-term structural growth
growth is being driven by rising AI-related demands for power, infrastructure, and advanced liquid cooling solutions, creating significant opportunities across the datacentre and technology supply chain.
Preventative healthcare is accelerating as governments and health authorities prioritise keeping patients out of hospital. Growing public and private investment across allergy and autoimmune testing, pre-conception and cancer screening, and emerging technologies such as genomics
is driving growth opportunities across the sector.
INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION
Long-term growth in industrial automation is being driven
by manufacturing reshoring, increased adoption by OEMs to address labour shortages, and the replacement and upgrading of ageing CNC machines and industrial robots.
The shift toward renewables, electrification, and smart infrastructure drives increased demand for high-performance components used in energy, industrial and building applications, as customers invest in upgrading and decarbonising systems.
WATER
Population growth, climate pressures, and ageing systems are driving demand for water management and treatment solutions. Diploma's products and services - particularly in fluid controls, seals, and flow solutions - support customers in maintaining and upgrading critical infrastructure.
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 18
OUR STRATEGY CONTINUED
GEOGRAPHIC AND PRODUCT
WHITE SPACE
US CANADA UK&I GERMANY FRANCE SPAIN OTHER EU ANZ | ||||||||||
CURRENT ADDRESSABLE MARKET | CONTROLS | Wire and cable Interconnect solutions Specialty fasteners Specialty adhesives Industrial automation | ||||||||
SEALS | Seals Gaskets Hoses and fittings Pumps and valves | |||||||||
LIFE SCIENCES | In vitro diagnostics Medtech Scientific | |||||||||
GROWING ADDRESSABLE MARKET | New product verticals | Market share Significant Moderate Small White space | ||||||||
We focus on core developed geographies - the US, Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia - where our value-add solutions are valued and we have great opportunity
for growth.
Exciting growth prospects: geographic and product white spaceWe have significant white space opportunity to expand our geographical reach and extend our product offering.
In our core developed geographies, our penetration remains very small and there are opportunities to expand in all of these markets. As well as extending product ranges within existing product verticals, we occasionally add new verticals which pave the way for
future expansion.
Geographical penetration and product extension are delivered both organically and through selective acquisitions.
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AND PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 19
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORSCONTINUED STRONG
PERFORMANCE
Continued strong performance against our strategy (as set out on pages 16-19), our financial model (page 10) and our sustainability framework, Delivering Value Responsibly (pages 38-41).
FINANCIAL KPIS
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
+11
+6
+8
+15
+12
Organic revenue growth (%)Our strategy is designed to drive organic revenue growth. This is our key metric. We have a diversified portfolio, giving resilience to revenues.
In year performance:
Growth in all three Sectors. Double-digit growth in Controls and a strong performance in Life Sciences provided balance to more modest growth in Seals.
Financial model:
5%
Five-year performance:
10%
average Reported revenue (£m)*2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
1,525
1,363
1,200
1,013
787
We accelerate organic growth with selective high-quality acquisitions across our three Sectors. This metric includes organic growth, inorganic growth and the impacts of foreign exchange translation.
In year performance:
Strong organic growth plus 3% contribution from acquisitions, partially offset by foreign exchange headwind.
Financial model:
10% growth (at constant currency)
Five-year performance:
23%
compound average Adjusted operating margin (%)*2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
22.5
20.9
19.7
18.9
18.9
Our differentiated value-add solutions and customer - focused approach drive customer loyalty and create pricing power, supporting sustainable and attractive margins.
In year performance:
160 basis points increase year on year, reflecting operational leverage from the growth of our value-add businesses
and recent acquisitions with accretive margins.
Financial model:
20%+
Five-year performance:
20%
average Adjusted EPS (p)*2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
176.0
145.8
126.5
107.5
85.2
EPS growth is a measure of how successful we have
been in growing organically and through acquisition, including capital allocation and tax considerations.
In year performance:
Strong contributions from organic and inorganic growth more than offset a foreign exchange headwind and higher interest and tax charges.
Financial model:
Double-digit growth
Five-year performance:
26%
compound average Free cash flow conversion (%)2025 | 105 | |
2024 | 101 | |
2023 | 100 | |
2022
2021
90
103
A strong balance sheet and cash flow fuel our growth. Our low-capital intensity enables strong cash flow conversion.
In year performance:
Strong cash conversion was driven by a focus on inventory optimisation across a number of businesses, and supported by low capital requirements in the year, at c.1% of revenue.
Financial model:
90%
Five-year performance:
100%
average ROATCE (%)*2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
20.9
19.1
18.1
17.3
17.4
Return on Adjusted Trading Capital Employed (ROATCE) measures how successful we are at generating returns on the investments we make. It holds us to account against initial investments made, ensuring our performance is driven by genuine economic factors.
In year performance:
At 20.9%, returns are more than twice our cost of capital. This reflects strong discipline across the Group, including when making acquisitions.
Financial model:
High teens
Five-year performance:
19%
average* Indicates metrics linked to Directors' remuneration.
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 20
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS CONTINUEDOur Delivering Value Responsibly (DVR) framework focuses on six key metrics through which we can have a meaningful, positive impact on our businesses, our people and the environment.
NON-FINANCIAL KPIS
Colleague engagement (%)*2025 | 78 |
2024 | 79 |
2023 | 80 |
2022 | 79 |
We value our colleagues and want them to be engaged and fulfilled in their roles. As a service-led business, this is a
key commercial differentiator.
Measuring and maintaining high colleague engagement supports the delivery of sustainable growth and value creation.
In year performance:
We achieved a consistently high Colleague Engagement Survey Index Score of 78%. Importantly, this was coupled with a high response rate of 87%.
FY30 target:
Maintain>70%
Women in Senior Management Team (%)2025
2024
2023
2022
32
30
28
27
Diversity, equity and inclusion is a competitive advantage that can support our businesses' growth by bringing diverse perspectives and experience to our workforce and driving stronger outcomes.
In year performance:
We made steady progress against our target and ran a number of initiatives to support the inclusion and retention of our female colleagues.
FY30 target:
40%
Key suppliers aligned to supplier code (%)2025 | 89 | ||
2024 | 90 | ||
2023 | 73 | ||
2022 | 59 | ||
We expect our key suppliers to adhere to ethical, professional, and legal standards and support our environmental
and social commitments.
We ask them to work with us to reduce waste, emissions, and climate change impacts, and uphold human rights across the value chain.
In year performance:
89% of key suppliers are aligned with our updated Supplier Code, surpassing our target and ensuring responsible practices in our value chain.
FY30 target:
85%
Lost time incident frequency rate (LTIFR)2025
2024
2023
2022
2.9
3.6
3.0
3.4
We prioritise the safety of our colleagues. Embedding a
strong health and safety culture and practices will enhance performance and productivity and reduce costs.
Our LTIFR reflects the number of lost time incidents (LTIs) per million hours worked.
In year performance:
Our LTIFR improved 19% against prior year. We continue to drive actions and culture on health and safety, which will remain an area of focus in FY26.
FY30 target:
ZERO HARM
Total Scope 1 & 2 emissions (Tonnes CO2e)2025
2024
2023
2022
4,776
7,682
8,928
7,715
We recognise the impact of our operations on emissions. Beyond the moral obligation, we understand that reducing emissions contributes to long-term value creation
and supports the growth of our businesses.
In year performance:
Scope 1&2 market-based emissions reduced by 38%* against the prior year, largely driven by renewable energy procurement in our businesses.
* Currently undergoing external verification.
FY30 target:
>50%
reduction in market-based Scope 1 & 2 (FY22 baseline) Waste to landfill (%)2025 18
2024
2023
2022
23
32
60
Across our sites, reducing waste to landfill has a positive environmental impact and generates cost savings by creating efficiencies, such
as reducing packaging and improving waste management processes.
In year performance:
We reduced our proportion of waste to landfill to 18%
through increased recycling and improved waste management processes across our operations.
FY30 target:
<15%
* Indicates metrics linked to Directors' remuneration.
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 21
Strategic Report Corporate Governance
SECTOR REVIEW: CONTROLSADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR
CRITICAL APPLICATIONS
Financial Statements
Additional information
Our Controls businesses provide precision products for highly-technical applications across a wide range of markets, including aerospace, defence, datacentres, energy, infrastructure and medical.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR BUSINESSES AT DIPLOMAPLC.COM/ OUR-BUSINESSES/CONTROLS
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
£836.4m
Revenue
(FY24: £652.4m) | +28% YoY
+20%
Organic revenue growth
(FY24: +10%)
£211.2m
Statutory operating profit
(FY24: £132.3m) | +60% YoY
£250.6m
Adjusted operating profit
(FY24: £169.9m) | +47% YoY
30.0%
Adjusted operating margin
(FY24: 26.0%) | +400bps
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 22
SECTOR REVIEW: CONTROLS CONTINUED
WHO WE ARE
International Controls1WHERE WE SELL
IS GROUP IS Group supplies electrical-mechanical interconnect solutions to customers in defence, energy, medical and industrial markets. Customers benefit from tailored solutions, responsive customer service and technical knowledge. | 17% of Sector revenue UK HQ | PEERLESS Peerless supplies a specialised range of high performance fasteners to customers in the aerospace market. Customers benefit from breadth of inventory, technical expertise, quality assurance and certification, full lot traceability, bespoke kitting and automatic inventory replenishment. | 23% of Sector revenue US HQ | |
CLARENDON Clarendon supplies a range of specialty fasteners into aerospace, space, motorsport and defence markets. Customers benefit from technical expertise, quality assurance and certification, design, bespoke kitting and automatic inventory replenishment. | 13% of Sector revenue UK HQ | SHOAL Shoal supplies specialist wire & cable solutions to datacentres, rail, energy, marine and construction industries. Customers benefit from same-day despatch, technical support and custom-made product and inventory solutions. | 6% of Sector revenue UK HQ | |
T.I.E. T.I.E. provides components for the specialist repair, servicing and refurbishment of industrial automation equipment for customers in machine shops, metalworking and manufacturing industries. Customers benefit from minimised downtime, technical support and asset life extension. | 3% of Sector revenue US HQ | TECHSIL Techsil supplies specialty adhesives to customers in a broad range of industrial manufacturing markets. Customers benefit from innovative and bespoke solutions, inventory and supply chain management, kitting and deep technical support. | 2% of Sector revenue UK HQ |
NORTH AMERICA
62%
EUROPE16%
WHAT WE SELL
Revenue by product1 UNITED KINGDOM16%
OTHER6%
WHO WE SELL TO
Our end marketsAerospace
Automation
Automotive
Datacentres and digital
Defence
Electrification
Energy
Industrial
Infrastructure
Marine
Medical & pharma
Motorsport
Oil and gas
Rail
Renewables
Space
WINDY CITY WIRE Windy City Wire supplies low-voltage wire and cable management solutions into broad industrial and infrastructure markets and datacentres. Customers benefit from innovative solutions, expert technical support and significant cost and time savings -from concept to completion. | 36% of Sector revenue US |
HQ |
1 Pro forma revenue adjusted for acquisitions and disposals completed up to 18 November 2025.
Wire & cable: 41% Specialty fasteners: 37%
Interconnect solutions: 17%
Industrial automation: 3%
Specialty adhesives: 2%
Our customersOur Controls businesses supply a wide range of customers across complex supply chains in technically demanding applications often with high regulatory requirements.
Customers include Original Equipment Manufacturers, large infrastructure project managers and businesses providing maintenance and repair services.
SECTOR REVIEW: CONTROLS CONTINUEDSTRONG EXECUTION
SUPPORTED BY STRUCTURAL
TAILWINDS
very strong performance in FY25.
Our Controls businesses have delivered another
International Controls delivered organic revenue growth of 25% driven by excellent execution, leveraging opportunities presented by end market tailwinds.
Operating margins increased materially, benefitting from structural improvements and favourable market conditions.
Windy City Wire drove volume-led organic revenue growth of 11%, supported by diversified revenue streams in attractive markets, including datacentres and with continued strength in its core buildings and other established markets. Operating margins remained strong, consistent with the prior year.
Delivering our strategyDRIVING EXPANSION IN ATTRACTIVE GROWTH MARKETS
Our Controls businesses are well positioned with a high proportion of revenues generated in attractive end markets with limited cyclicality. Organic growth in the year has been driven by gains in a number of strong growth markets. Aerospace has production backlogs on the build of civil aircraft of over 10 years, driving strong customer demand for our specialty fastener products and interconnect solutions.
Our International Controls businesses with strong aerospace exposure have been the best performing during the year, led by Peerless. Datacentres has provided a similarly strong tailwind. Windy City Wire's strong customer offering has continued to resonate in the market, leading to increased specification of Windy City Wire solutions across datacentre builds in the US. Some International
Controls businesses are also gaining increasing traction in the datacentre space, presenting a promising growth opportunity for future years. Defence and energy markets have continued to perform well and have driven significant growth across the Sector. Some of the smaller businesses with more exposure to automotive and construction markets,
had a more challenging year but have had success diversifying towards growth markets to minimise the cyclical impact in future years.
ACQUISITIONS TO ACCELERATE GROWTH
We have welcomed four new businesses to the Sector. Two acquisitions made in FY25 - in Q1 Viking Tapes in the UK and in Q4 Astro Industries in the US -bring complementary offerings to Techsil and IS Group respectively, extending the
product range and geographical footprint. A further two acquisitions in the UK -
Spring Solutions and WDS Components - were completed following the year end, extending our exposure in attractive end markets, including defence, and expanding our product offerings.
INVESTING IN GEOGRAPHIC EXPANSION
As our businesses grow, we support them through selective scaling investment. This year, we have invested, primarily,
in new facilities. IS Group opened a new European distribution centre in the Czech Republic during the year, enabling more efficient direct access to the growing customer opportunities
supporting supply chains, particularly in the European defence and energy markets.
SECTOR REVIEW: CONTROLS CONTINUEDSimilarly, we have invested in Clarendon with a new facility in Germany. This creates additional capacity to support growth and improves access to the European aerospace and defence markets. This will be further enabled by the addition of sales talent in France.
A NETWORK GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
While our Controls businesses are diverse - supplying a broad range of solutions into many varied applications - they are increasingly creating opportunities to collaborate. This takes many forms from cross-selling to sharing best practice. During the year,
UK-based businesses Shoal, Clarendon and Techsil collectively leveraged their individual platforms by joining forces
at the Paris Airshow. They are also presenting their individual customer offerings from a shared space at the Datacentres Ireland Conference.
More recently, the International Controls business leaders met for a two-day strategy workshop to explore emerging growth markets, opportunities within
AI and collaboration opportunities to increase value-add benefits for our global customers. Not only do these sessions generate direct commercial opportunities, they also bring intangible benefits that come from the energy created when our entrepreneurial leaders come together.
STRENGTHENING LEADERSHIP, BUILDING SUCCESSION
The success of our businesses is driven by the strength of our leadership. Aided through the creation of a Sector HR Director role during the year, International Controls embarked on a series of strategic people changes, particularly
in the finance director population. This created development opportunities through internal promotions and strengthened local leadership teams.
The formation of a new leadership team at T.I.E. was completed towards the end of the year enhancing capabilities and strategic focus. Performance in the business has shown encouraging signs of improvement in recent months. This follows a period of more challenging performance since its acquisition
in 2023, reflecting softness across automation markets.
POWERING PROGRESS BY SCALING OUR CAPABILITIES | |
Developing and enhancing | market expertise. This will support |
capabilities to support our growth | growth from the top down - |
is vital to our success. | thinking strategically about Sector |
We have identified a number of | and Group-wide opportunities |
specialist markets with attractive | - and bottom up, working with individual businesses to expand |
opportunities and are selectively | product ranges and deliver on |
investing to ensure we are well | |
positioned to maximise the | their strategies. At the same time, |
potential growth. This includes the | maintaining the decentralised model that is so important to |
introduction of a small number | Diploma's success. |
of new roles, including strategic | |
Our Controls businesses have strong value-add customer propositions, solid business models and excellent leadership. This positions the Sector well to leverage its position within attractive markets and deliver strong growth into the future. Following such a strong performance in FY25, we expect more moderate growth in FY26, as we lap strong comparators particularly in the second half.
We therefore expect growth in FY26 to be significantly first half weighted. This is most relevant to Peerless.
Strategic Report
Corporate Governance
Financial Statements
Additional information
SECTOR REVIEW: SEALSHIGH-PERFORMANCE
SOLUTIONS THAT POWER
PROGRESS
Our Seals businesses provide reliable, high performance sealing and fluid power solutions that protect equipment, power innovation and drive uptime across industries from construction to agriculture and energy to water.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR BUSINESSES AT DIPLOMAPLC.COM/OUR-BUSINESSES/ SEALS/
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
£456.0m
Revenue
(FY24: £489.1m) | -7% YoY
+2%
Organic revenue growth
(FY24: 1%)
£79.0m
Statutory operating profit
(FY24: £62.2m) | +27% YoY
£88.1m
Adjusted operating profit
(FY24: £90.7m) | -3% YoY
19.3%
Adjusted operating margin
(FY24: 18.5%) | +80bps
* FY25 results include the impact of disposals net of one acquisition made during the period. The negative impacts on revenue and adjusted operating profit reflect the impact of the disposals, net of the acquisition. The positive impact on statutory operating profit reflects profit on disposal of businesses.
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 26
SECTOR REVIEW: SEALS CONTINUED
WHO WE ARE
R&G R&G delivers high-quality, reliable fluid power solutions tailored to the needs of its diverse customer base. R&G mainly supplies into aftermarket applications and their customers benefit from their extensive experience, expertise, product knowledge and inventory. | 23% of Sector revenue UK HQ | DICSA Specialising in high-quality stainless steel hydraulic fittings, DICSA supplies a range of fluid power solutions across many end markets. Customers benefit from product assembly and testing, deep technical expertise, breadth of inventory, and advanced international logistics. | 16% of Sector revenue SPAIN HQ | |
M SEALS M Seals supplies high-quality custom sealing solutions for a wide range of industrial applications. Customers benefit from bespoke services including design and engineering support, and quality control and testing. | 7% of Sector revenue DENMARK HQ | DIPLOMA AUSTRALIA SEALS (DAS) DAS supplies premium mechanical engineering products, parts and servicing for equipment in markets including mining and water management. Customers benefit from reduced lifecycle costs through improved efficiency and reliability, and reduced energy consumption and downtime. | 8% of Sector revenue AUSTRALIA HQ |
WHERE WE SELL
Revenue by geography1NORTH AMERICA
45%
EUROPE20%
WHAT WE SELL
Revenue by product1 UNITED KINGDOM23%
AUSTRALASIA/ OTHER12%
WHO WE SELL TO
Our end markets North American Seals1Aerospace
Agriculture
Automotive
Defence
Electrification
Energy
Food & beverage
Industrial
Infrastructure
Marine
Medical & pharma
Mining
Oil & gas
Rail
Renewables
Water management
1 Pro forma revenue adjusted for acquisitions and disposals completed up to 18 November 2025.
Seals: 46%
HERCULES AFTERMARKET Hercules Aftermarket supplies an extensive range of sealing products and custom kits to customers repairing heavy machinery and hydraulic equipment across many industries. Customers benefit from next-day delivery, technical assistance, usage and installation instructions, kitting and custom seals, quality assurance and training. | 18% of Sector revenue US HQ | VSP VSP is an engineering-focused company providing bespoke solutions for high-cost-of-failure applications in the transportation, chemical processing, energy, and marine industries. Customers benefit from technical expertise, custom engineering, ongoing support and significant cost savings. | 15% of Sector revenue US HQ | |
HERCULES OEM Hercules OEM provides a wide range of products and technical solutions to OEMs. Customers benefit from bespoke services including design and engineering support, and quality control and testing. | 13% of Sector revenue US HQ | |||
Gaskets: 27%
Hoses & fittings: 19% Pumps & valves: 8%
Our customersOur Seals businesses sell to a wide range of customers across the product lifecycle from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to Aftermarket, and including Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) projects.
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 27
SECTOR REVIEW: SEALS CONTINUEDRESILIENT PERFORMANCE UNDERPINNED BY
DISCIPLINED EXECUTION
Seals delivered a resilient performance in challenging markets, with sequential improvement in the second half.
North American Seals delivered organic growth of 5%, with a very strong H2 performance, supported by improving market conditions, effective strategic delivery and operational execution.
Operating margins improved, driven by operating leverage as growth
accelerates. Reflecting our local-for-local business models, there is limited tariff exposure. Where tariffs have applied, we have effectively recovered costs through pricing.
International Seals saw revenue decline by 2% as markets remained soft in the UK, Europe and Australia. There were some pockets of strong growth, demonstrating the strength of our customer propositions and solid market positions.
Across both, strategic investment in our operational and commercial capabilities has strengthened our foundation, positioning us well for future growth.
Delivering our strategyNORTH AMERICAN SEALS
Positive momentum and growth driven by disciplined strategic executionHercules Aftermarket delivered a strong performance in a challenging market, achieving share gains in its core US repair segment and driving expansion in the industrial aftermarket - a new but rapidly growing market for the business. Investment in sales and digital capabilities has made it easier for customers to do business with us. Our enhanced e-commerce platform has driven significant growth in online ordering - now representing over two-thirds of sales. Continued investment in seal machining and product adjacencies positions the business well for sustained growth.
VSP delivered another strong performance. Organic growth driven by market share gains in transportation, expansion into nuclear and further
product development, more than offset the impact of some market softness amidst tariff uncertainty. VSP has a
POWERING PROGRESS THROUGH STRATEGIC FOCUS AND NEW LEADERSHIP | |
DICSA joined the Group in 2023. | Director and Finance Director has |
An established brand in the Spanish | sharpened strategic focus and |
hydraulics market, DICSA is well | strengthened the culture, while |
known for its specialist stainless | the appointment of a new Sales |
steel components and range of | Director and the reorganisation of |
hosing solutions for technically | the commercial team are enhancing |
demanding applications. | customer engagement and growth. |
During the year, DICSA underwent | The appointment of a new Supply Chain Director and optimisation |
a leadership transition with a new | of procurement and logistics are |
Managing Director succeeding his | further improving operational |
long-serving predecessor. Strong | |
leadership from the Managing | efficiency across the business. |
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2025 28
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Diploma plc published this content on December 08, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on December 08, 2025 at 11:07 UTC.

















