Q2 FY27 Trading Update

BLACKPEARL GROUP | INVESTOR ANNOUNCEMENT
20 OCTOBER 2026
Q2 FY27 Trading Update

Blackpearl Group (NZX/ASX:BPG) today provides its trading update for the second quarter of FY27
(the three months ended 30 September 2026). The Group reports against its three key measures:
EBITDAF, growth and technology advantage.

Q2 FY27 at a glance

• EBITDAF: Guidance met. Loss narrowed to $2.97m, a third of the gap closed. Guidance
updated: the Group is now targeting EBITDAF profitability in Q1 FY28.
• US distribution partnership: Heads of agreement established with one of the largest data
providers in the United States. Referral model gaining up to 80% of the revenue depending
on the deal type, an identified pipeline of 70+ companies and immediate CAC payback.
• Growth: H1 FY27 revenue of $7.33m, up 42% on H1 FY26. Revenue mix continues to shift
toward higher-quality DaaS contracts.
• Te c h n o l o g y a d va n t a g e ( GT M-Bench): The Pearl Engine's lead over the leading foundational
model increased from +22,575 points in June to +158,595 in September, as Blackpearl rapidly
leveraged a generational shift in foundational models.

Q2 Commentary

The Group met its EBITDAF guidance, optimised its operating model to support the partnership and
platform strategy, established its first US distribution agreement and extended its technology lead
through a generational shift in foundational models.

Across the Group's three key measures, EBITDAF and technology advantage both improved materially
during the quarter. The Group delivered 42% year-on-year revenue growth with a stronger underlying
quality of revenue, and the Group now has a new, low-cost path to market through its first US
distribution partnership.

EBITDAF

The Group’s goal is to grow data and platform revenue from a position of profitability without
sacrificing our technical advantage. In Q2 the Group delivered an EBITDAF loss of $2.97m, within
guidance and a 34% improvement on Q1.

The largest lever was the optimisation of the Group’s operating model to support the partnership and
platform strategy. Sales, marketing, development and customer functions were consolidated across
the three ventures where possible, refocusing teams on DaaS and PaaS. Together, these changes
reduce the Group’s quarterly cost base by approximately 27% on a run-rate basis compared with Q4
FY26, or around $9.4m annualised. These changes landed during the quarter, so the Q2 and the H1
interim result reflects part of the saving, and the lower cost base applies in full from Q3.

Key progress against levers identified in Q1:
• Permanent cost reductions from the B2B Rocket integration: delivered, and the largest
contributor to the quarter's improvement
• Streamlining of marketing spend and funnels: B2B Rocket and Bebop marketing
consolidated, with variable spend reducing as growth shifts to partnership channels
• Infrastructure optimisation and AI automation: platform moved from build to optimise phase

Updated EBITDAF guidance

The Group is targeting EBITDAF profitability in Q1 FY28, the quarter ending 30 June 2027. This
updated guidance replaces the forecast EBITDAF guidance for Q3 FY27.

BLACKPEARL GROUP | INVESTOR ANNOUNCEMENT
The distribution partnership brings a larger pipeline than the Group could previously access, and the
Group has retained the capacity to service it. Larger DaaS and partnership contracts land on their
own timing rather than within a 90-day window, so a single profitability target is a more useful
measure of progress than quarterly ranges. The Group will continue to report EBITDAF each quarter
against this target.

Quarterly EBITDAF guidance was introduced as a temporary measure to give the market visibility of
the path to profitability. Once that point is reached, the Group expects to return to standard half-year
and full-year financial reporting.

US distribution partnership

During the quarter Blackpearl established a non-binding heads of agreement with one of the largest
data providers in the United States: a private company serving Fortune 500 companies with B2B
intent data and demand generation.

The partner works only inside a large enterprise customer profile and does not service SME US
businesses. That demand is now referred to Blackpearl, which delivers data and platform as a service
to those customers under a revenue share between 20% and 40%, depending on the type of deal.
Blackpearl owns the customer relationship.

The partner has an identified referral pipeline of 70+ companies, with typical deal sizes of US$10,000
to US$30,000 per month. Because the partner originates each relationship, there is no upfront
customer acquisition cost and payback is immediate. Gross margin is high and the incremental cost
to serve is low, so revenue from this channel flows largely through to EBITDAF. Onboarding is fast:
Blackpearl already holds the underlying data asset, and the Pearl Engine applies its models over it.

The partnership validates the Group's DaaS and PaaS strategy, where Blackpearl's data intelligence
powers other companies' products and revenue systems. Further distribution agreements are in
negotiation. The Group will update the market as referred customers are contracted.

Growth

H1 FY27 revenue was $7.33m, up 42% on H1 FY26 ($5.15m). Q2 revenue was $3.39m, reflecting the US
summer holiday period, when buying decisions slow and new customers are harder and more costly to
acquire. The Group did not spend into this and opted instead to invest in launching its Partnership and
Platform strategy.

The focus this calendar year has been on building stronger revenue, lifting DaaS to ~40% of total revenue.

The Group believes durable value is moving beneath the application layer: to proprietary data, specialised
intelligence and the infrastructure embedded in how a business generates revenue. That is why DaaS and
PaaS sit at the centre of the strategy.

Over the first half, the Group’s focus has been:
• Revenue quality
• Distribution economics over direct sales

Recurring revenue remains a cornerstone of Blackpearl's revenue, but it is no longer the whole picture.
Platform revenue is consumption-based and partnership contracts bill on their own cycle. As previously
discussed, for simplicity of forward reporting, the Group will report statutory revenue as its growth measure
from Q3 FY27.

Te c h n o l o g y a d va n t a g e

Blackpearl's technology advantage is measured through GTM-Bench, a public benchmark of how
effectively AI systems match buyer demand to seller propositions in real time. Net score credits useful
output and penalises poor output.

BLACKPEARL GROUP | INVESTOR ANNOUNCEMENT
Foundational model enhancements continue to make the Pearl Engine even more valuable. The
quarter saw a significant step in foundational model capability, and the Pearl Engine's lead widened
with it. In June, the Pearl Engine led the leading foundational model (GPT-5.5) by 22,575 points on
Blackpearl's data. In September, it led the new leading model (Claude Fable 5.1) by 158,595 points,
scoring +205,732 against +47,137.

The Group's models are built to leverage each improvement in the foundational models beneath
them. As those models get better, the Pearl Engine's outputs get better. This measured advantage is
a driving force for the Group’s secured its US distribution partnership. The task set, code and
leaderboard are public at blackpearl.com/gtm-bench and are updated quarterly.

Outlook

The Group remains focused on optimising its three key measures: growth, strong underlying
financials and a clearly defined technology advantage. The immediate objective is to grow from a
position of profitability without sacrificing technological advantage. Priorities for H2 FY27 are
converting the partnership pipeline into contracted revenue, holding the optimised cost base, and
reaching EBITDAF profitability in Q1 FY28.

CEO Nick Lissette said: “We said we would hit our Q2 EBITDAF guidance and we did. We have
updated that guidance to reach profitability during Q1 FY28, and we got there while increasing R&D
and extending our technology lead through a significant shift in foundational models. As those
models get better, the Pearl Engine gets better.

“We have also changed how we grow. Our data intelligence now powers other companies’ products
and revenue systems, and the US distribution partnership is the first of these.

“The business is vastly more efficient than it was six months ago from a cost perspective, with a
higher-quality revenue base and a clear line to profitability. That is the position we will grow from.”


ENDS

Contact

Released for and on behalf of BPG by Karen Cargill, Interim Chief Financial Officer.
For further information, please contact: karen.cargill@blackpearl.com | +64 21 135 5183

About Blackpearl Group

Blackpearl Group (BPG) builds the leading AI models for go-to-market, serving US sales and
marketing teams. Powered by the Pearl Engine - a proprietary AI platform processing over 32 billion
buyer signals daily - the Group operates three ventures: Pearl Diver, B2B Rocket, and Bebop.

Founded in 2012, BPG is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, with offices in Phoenix, Arizona,
and is dual-listed on the NZX and ASX.

Blackpearl.com

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Q2 FY27 Trading
Update
INVESTOR PRESENTATION – OCT 2026
→ THREE MONTHS ENDED 30 SEP 2026

Rebuilt for the long game
INVESTOR RELATIONS
PAGE 2
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026
EBITDAF
34%
GUIDANCE MET.* LOSS NARROWED TO $2.97M, A
THIRD OF THE GAP CLOSED.
TOP-LINE GROWTH
Partnership with leading
US data supplier
70+ COMPANY REFERRAL PIPELINE. H1 FY27 REVENUE
$7.33M, UP 42%.
TECHNICAL MOAT
7.7×
RTSA 2.0 LIFTED OUR GTM-BENCH SCORE FROM
+26,616 TO +205,732.
Q1 FY27Q2 FY27
Q1 FY28
($4.5m)
($2.97m)
Profitability target
+22,575
+158,595
June vs GPT-5.5Sept vs Claude Fable 5.1H1 FY26
Profitability targeted for Q1 FY28Immediate CAC payback on partner-referred revenueSpecialist beats generalist, and the gap is growing
$5.15m
$7.33m
H1 FY27
IMPROVED
NEW PARTNERSHIPWIDENED
Short-term growth was exchanged for defensible growth: partner-led distribution, revenue that churns less, and a model lead that is compounding.
We measure the company on three things: top-line growth, EBITDAF and technical moat. This quarter we reset how
the first is earned, to strengthen all three.
closer to profitabilitybenchmark score
Growth now comes through partners who carry distribution,
not paid acquisition.
Revenue mix is shifting to DaaS, which carries higher margin
and lower churn.
Frontier models improved too, but our lead over the best grew
from +22,575 to +158,595.

INVESTOR RELATIONS
PAGE 3
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026
Q2 FY27 guidance was an EBITDAF loss of $2.5m to $3.0m. The Q1 FY28 target (quarter ending 30 June 2027) replaces the interim Q3 FY27 range provided in July 2026. EBITDAF (earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation, amortisation and movements in financial instruments) is a non-GAAP measure. See the Q2 FY27 trading update for how it is calculated.
Paved way to profitability
NOW: Q2 FY27 GUIDANCE MET
34%
Guidance met. Loss narrowed To $2.97m, a third of the gap closed.
PATH TO PROFITABILITY
($4.5m)($2.97m)
Q1 FY27Q2 FY27Q1 FY28
Profitability target
Q1 FY28
EBITDAF profitability targeted for April to June 2027
NEXT: PROFITABILITY GUIDANCE
Larger partnership pipeline, with capacity retained to service it
Bigger contracts land on their own timing: one target beats quarterly ranges
EBITDAF still reported every quarter against this target
Apr to Jun 2026Jul to Sep 2026Apr to Jun 2027
~27%~$9.4mQ3
lower cost base (run-rate)
from its Q4 FY26 peak.
annualised cost savingfull cost benefit from
closer to profitability

Pearl Engine: a seven-fold jump in one quarter
GTM-Bench scores AI systems on real go-to-market tasks. Net score credits useful output and penalises poor output, so a negative
score means more noise than signal.
LEAD OVER THE LEADING MODEL, ON OUR DATA
+22,575
+158,595
JUNE
vs GPT-5.5
SEPTEMBER
vs Claude Fable 5.1
GTM-BENCH LEADERBOARD
RTSA 2.0 (Pearl Engine)+205,732
Claude Fable 5.1+47,137
RTSA 1.0 (June 2026)+26,616
GPT-5.5+4,041
Web-only GPT-5.5+1,015
Claude Sonnet 4.6+400
Claude Opus 4.7−2,477
DeepSeek V4 Pro−3,398
Web-only Claude Fable 5.1−3,464
Gemini 3.5 Flash−10,672
Kimi K2.6−15,402
Net score on GTM-Bench, an open benchmark Blackpearl operates. Web-only denotes a run restricted to open-web evidence, without structured data access. Tasks, code and
leaderboard: blackpearl.com/gtm-bench
PERFORMANCE AS AT 12
SEPTEMBER 2026. UPDATED
QUARTERLY.
INVESTOR RELATIONS
PAGE 4
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026

INVESTOR RELATIONS
PAGE 5
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026
THE OLD WAY: TRADITIONAL INTENT DATA FILE
Demo
Platform
From file to answers
Rows of hashed IDs dropped into an S3 bucket. No context, no model, no way to ask
why someone is in market.
The same audience, made answerable: who is in market, why, and how confident the model is.
THE BLACKPEARL WAY: ASK THE DATA, GET ANSWERS
in market

Coastal Retreats case study
THE SITUATION
One live in-market topic from a supplier feed, sold as coastal-travel purchase intent comprising 274,705 individuals.
35.3%27.8%6.6%22.1%
CORRECT 35.3% · DEFENSIBLE 5.2% · ADJACENT 27.8% · WEAK 6.6% · WRONG 22.1% · UNVERIFIED 3.0%
Correct = on definition. Adjacent = related vertical. Weak = audience-overlap content only. Wrong = no plausible connection.
22%
were the wrong signal for West
Coast coastal retreats.
The biggest feeder was the
opposite signal
The single largest content source behind this
Coastal Retreats audience was an inland-
relocation series: people researching moves
away from the coast.
BUYER STAGE: WHERE THIS AUDIENCE SITS, PEOPLE-WEIGHTED
34.1%33.1%6.6%25.1%
L4 TRANSACTING 1.2%L3 PLANNING A SPECIFIC TRIP 34.1%L2 ENGAGED WITH CATEGORY 33.1%L1 PASSIVE EXPOSURE 6.6%
L0 NO TRAVEL SIGNAL 25.1%
INCUMBENT INTENT: THE OLD WAY
INVESTOR RELATIONS
BLACKPEARL GROUP
PAGE 6
OCT 2026
35%
of the audience is close to
buying, a signal the supplier's file
never shows.
Platform
WHAT WE FOUND: VERDICT DISTRIBUTION, PEOPLE-WEIGHTED
in market

A new strategic partnership in the US.
Blackpearl has established a non-binding Heads of Agreement with one of the largest data providers in the United States.
THE PARTNER
NAME WITHHELD
Private company, private-equity held
Serving Fortune 500 companies
Large enterprise ICP, with no capacity to serve SME’s in the US
THE OPPORTUNITY
They work only inside a large enterprise ICP and do not service SME sized US
businesses. Blackpearl owns the customer relationship and gains up to 80% of the
revenue depending on the deal type.
LARGE ENTERPRISE
Served by the partner
SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISE
Served by Blackpearl
WHAT IT PRODUCES
70+
Companies in immediate
pipeline
$10-30k
Average deal size per
month, USD
80%
Up to 80% of each deal is
attributed to BPG revenue
Immediate CAC paybackHigh gross marginLow incremental cost to serve
WHY IT MATTERS
Validates our DaaS and PaaS strategy
Flows mostly through to EBITDAF
Continued momentum in the US market
The partner is not named under the current terms of the agreement. Pipeline volumes, deal size ranges and first year incremental revenue are indicative management estimates. They are not a forecast and are not guidance. Deal sizes are stated in US dollars. Revenue is recognised on execution of a customer agreement.
The revenue share is approximately 20% of revenue on referred customers. A definitive distribution agreement has not yet been complete yet - the high-level commercial terms have been agreed and the parties have already begun acting consistently with such terms, including through referral and onboarding
procedures. The parties are actively working towards entry into a definitive distribution agreement.
NEW DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP
Monthly
Net new opportunities
generated in partnership
INVESTOR RELATIONS
PAGE 7
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026

1. GO-TO-MARKET MODEL
57%
2. ACQUISITION INTEGRATION
38%
OTHER
5%
PERMANENT COST REMOVAL
$9.4m annualised cost removed
Two structural changes have removed operating cost permanently
rather than deferring it. Neither depends on revenue growth to hold.
Lower cost route to market for DaaS and
PaaS through partners and self-service
Duplicate roles removed across ventures,
not redeployed
Infrastructure and other admin cost
Actions already executed reduce the cost base by 27% from its Q4
FY26 peak.
Reduction in costs
INVESTOR RELATIONS
BLACKPEARL GROUP
SEP 2026
PAGE 8
QUARTERLY COST BASE, Q4 FY26 ONWARD (NZ$M)
Actions already taken step the cost base down 27% from Q4 FY26 and hold it there.
ACTUALFORECAST
27%
9
8
7
6
NZ$M PER QUARTER
Q4 FY26Q1 FY27Q2 FY27Q3 FY27Q4 FY27Q1 FY28
Cost base is cost of sales, personnel, operating and administrative expenses, stated before net finance costs, interest paid, net losses on financial instruments, depreciation and amortisation. It is a
non-GAAP measure and is not a substitute for expenses reported in the financial statements.
Jan to Mar 2026Apr to Jun 2026Jul to Sep 2026Oct to Dec 2026Jan to Mar 2027Apr to Jun 2027

Less noise, singular focus
INVESTOR RELATIONS
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026
PAGE 9
SaaS-led and capital heavy
100% of DaaS came from SaaS
4 months CAC and 30% COS means 5.7 months of revenue to recover
90 day revenue ramp + 45 day payment terms = 4.5 months to full cash
Significant S&M investment required upfront
Some customers better suited to variable pricing plans
Technology-led and cash efficient
Use our technology advantage to open new paths to market
rather than all through the SaaS channel
Self-service SaaS lowers acquisition cost and recycles cash
faster
Centralisation reduces fixed cost and shifts investment to
DaaS and PaaS
Variable consumption pricing for customers suited to flexible
plans
CAC, cost of sale, ramp, payment-term and investment figures are management estimates based on FY26 SaaS cohorts and are indicative only.
DaaS and Platform are our focus.
ORIGINAL MODELREVISED MODEL
RESULT
Slow cash recycling, higher fixed cost, and revenue
weighted to SaaS
RESULT
Faster cash recycling, lower fixed costs and revenue
weighted to DaaS and PaaS

Three things to take away from Q2 FY27.
The position we grow from
INVESTOR RELATIONS
BLACKPEARL GROUP
OCT 2026
PAGE 10
REVENUE QUALITY
PROFITABILITY
TECHNOLOGY MOAT
Partnership with a leading US data supplier
Guidance met, profitability in sight
Pearl Engine: a seven-fold jump in one quarter
Heads of agreement established, with a 70+ company referral pipeline identified and immediate CAC payback on partner-
referred revenue.
Q2 EBITDAF within guidance and 34% closer to profitability. Cost base down around 27% on a run-rate basis.
Our GTM-Bench lead over the leading AI model grew from +22,575 in June to +158,595 in September, on our data.
70+
Q1 FY28
7.7×
Companies in the referral pipeline
EBITDAF profitability target
Benchmark score. RTSA 2.0 lifted our GTM-Bench
score from +26,616 to +205,732.

BLACKPEARL GROUP
PAGE 11
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Q&A
OCT 2026

Thank YouAd Astra
BLACKPEARL GROUP
PAGE 12
INVESTOR RELATIONSOCT 2026