• Revenue up 10% to $10.9m in H1 FY2025
• Total cash collections: $11.6m in H1 FY2025
• Net cash used in operations: $11.4m in H1 FY2025
• Cash at bank $4.9m

Xref Ltd, a global HR tech platform, announced its business update for the first half of the financial year 2025. The company reported a 10% increase in revenue to $10.9m compared to the previous half-year periods. Total cash collections for the half were $11.64m, which was higher than the cash used in operations of $11.4m. Xref's current cash balance stands at $4.9m. The company had received multiple acquisition inquiries, which resulted in the Board's decision to initiate a strategic review last May. This process led to an offer from SEEK to acquire Xref at $0.218 per share, representing a 61% premium to the share price before the strategic review was announced. However, the offer was put to shareholders in a scheme of arrangement meeting, where a majority of shareholders by number (79%) voted to accept the offer, but only 68% of votes were in favour, failing to reach the required 75% threshold. Consequently, the Scheme Implementation Deed between SEEK and Xref has been terminated. Xref will now continue as an independent company listed on the ASX and will resume its growth strategy. The company remains focused on advancing its hire-to-retire platform, offering industry-leading reference checks, a comprehensive marketplace for background checks, and innovative tools to enhance employee engagement and talent pooling. Key priorities include driving SaaS growth, expanding self-sign-on capabilities, enhancing talent pooling, and further automating engagement surveys to deliver greater value to customers, while also focusing on cost efficiencies and maximising recurring revenue to build a pathway to sustainable and growing profit.

Xref remains focused on advancing its hire-to-retire platform, offering industry-leading reference checks, a comprehensive marketplace for background checks, and innovative tools to enhance employee engagement and talent pooling. Key priorities include driving SaaS growth, expanding self-sign-on capabilities, enhancing talent pooling, and further automating engagement surveys to deliver greater value to customers, while also focusing on cost efficiencies and maximising recurring revenue to build a pathway to sustainable and growing profit.