Highlights

  • Statutory NPAT guidance upgraded to greater than $12 million for FY26, representing growth exceeding 130% on FY25's $5.2 million result, with Underlying NPAT guidance raised to greater than $17 million
  • Technology, Payments, Licensing and Retail (TPLR) division tracking approximately 30% year-on-year growth, now representing 8.1% of group Revenue and functioning as the highest-Margin segment in the portfolio
  • Total network membership reaches approximately 680,000, up 9.5% on FY25's closing figure, with corporate clubs operating at portfolio utilisation of approximately 80% — described as the highest in company history

 

 

Viva Leisure Limited (ASX:VVA) has delivered its second upward guidance revision in recent months, upgrading both Statutory and Underlying NPAT forecasts for FY26 while reaffirming revenue and EBITDA targets. The update, published on 26 May 2026, reflects a combination of margin discipline across the corporate gym network and a more significant-than-anticipated contribution from the company's Technology, Payments, Licensing and Retail segment — commonly referred to as TPLR. For investors who have tracked Viva Leisure's evolution from a gym rollout story to a multi-revenue-stream consumer services platform, the FY26 update represents a meaningful step in validating that repositioning.

Statutory NPAT guidance now stands at greater than $12 million, compared with original guidance of greater than $11.5 million and a FY25 actual of $5.2 million. That represents guidance-on-guidance growth of 130% against the prior year result, with the company attributing the lift to Operating Leverage from a now-optimised corporate network, improved gross margins, and TPLR delivering ahead of plan. The fact that Revenue and EBITDA guidance — greater than $237 million and greater than $111 million respectively — have been reaffirmed indicates this is not a revenue-driven Earnings surprise, but a structural improvement in the quality and composition of earnings.

The TPLR Division: A Different Kind of Growth Driver

The TPLR division encompasses Viva Pay, third-party technology licensing, unified access applications, vending, the Supp Society supplements Brand, and digital signage. At the half-year (HY26), TPLR represented 8.1% of group revenue, up from 6.5% at HY25. For the full year, the segment is tracking approximately 30% year-on-year growth, making it the fastest-growing and highest-margin segment in the Viva Leisure portfolio.

Viva Pay has now crossed $6 million in annualised revenue, while the Retail segment — covering vending and supplements — is operating at an annualised run rate of $6 million. These are relatively modest absolute numbers in the context of a group targeting more than $237 million in revenue, but the significance lies in the margin profile and scalability of these streams. Technology licensing and payments businesses typically carry gross margins substantially higher than those achievable in gym operations, and as TPLR grows as a share of group revenue, the blended margin trajectory for Viva Leisure improves structurally.

Network Metrics: Utilisation at Historical Peak

The corporate gym network is operating with approximately 1,330 members per club on average, and portfolio utilisation stands at approximately 80% — a figure the company describes as the highest in its history. For a fitness operator, utilisation is both a revenue efficiency measure and a capacity planning signal. At 80%, the corporate network is generating optimal returns from existing infrastructure, validating the deliberate moderation of greenfield rollout announced in August 2025.

Total network membership across corporate and Franchise locations has reached approximately 680,000, a 9.5% increase on FY25's closing figure of 620,902. The franchise networks — which include Plus Fitness, World Gym Australia, and Boutique Fitness Studios — continue to contribute to group membership scale, and the pipeline of more than 100 committed franchise and corporate locations yet to open provides a visible, underpinned pathway to continued membership growth in FY27 and beyond. More than 30 of these are expected to open in H1 FY27, representing the beginning of the re-accelerated greenfield programme the company has flagged.

Balance Sheet and Capital Management

Net leverage stands at 1.90 times, comfortably within the company's covenant of 2.50 times. This conservative leverage position is a notable feature of the FY26 profile, given that the company is simultaneously improving earnings, buying back shares on-market, and maintaining Investment capacity for network expansion. The ongoing share buyback signals management confidence in the prevailing share price relative to Intrinsic Value, while the leverage headroom provides flexibility for FY27 capex as the greenfield rollout re-accelerates.

The guidance upgrade, with Revenue and EBITDA reaffirmed while NPAT rises, illustrates the operating leverage dynamic at play. Revenue is growing in line with original guidance, but earnings conversion is improving as Fixed Cost coverage improves across the corporate network. This dynamic — where incremental revenue increasingly drops through to earnings — is precisely the kind of margin inflection that earnings-focused investors tend to reward with re-rating.

FY27 Outlook: Greenfield Re-Acceleration from a Position of Strength

CEO Harry Konstantinou's commentary accompanying the update is notable for its forward orientation. He characterised FY26 as a year of validation, with peak utilisation and free Cash Flow generation confirming the model's efficiency. The stated next phase is geographic expansion — adding new corporate locations from a position of operational, financial, and technological Maturity that was not available in earlier rollout cycles.

With more than 100 committed locations yet to open across franchise and corporate channels, and in excess of 30 targeted for H1 FY27, the company enters FY27 with a pre-positioned growth pipeline rather than a speculative expansion programme. The TPLR platform also scales with network size — more locations generate more payment Volume, more technology licensing opportunities, and more retail touchpoints — meaning the earnings quality dynamic is likely to improve further as the network grows.

Conclusion

Viva Leisure's FY26 trading update confirms an earnings trajectory that is both improving in absolute terms and evolving in structural quality. The shift in revenue composition toward higher-margin TPLR streams, combined with a corporate gym network operating at peak efficiency, has delivered a NPAT result materially ahead of original guidance. With a conservative balance sheet, an active buyback programme, and a re-accelerating growth pipeline for FY27, the company enters the final months of the financial year with considerable operational and financial momentum.