SoftwareOne, a Swiss-headquartered software and cloud services provider that completed its acquisition of Norwegian competitor Crayon in 2025, reported a return to growth in North America in the first quarter of 2026. The region delivered 10% revenue growth year on year in constant currency, reaching CHF 42.8 million, with both direct and channel businesses growing at double-digit rates. The company attributed the turnaround to actions taken over the past year to stabilise and refocus its North American operations.
The NORAM result is significant because the region had been underperforming relative to SoftwareOne's other markets. Management described the improvement as a "continued trajectory" rather than a single-quarter spike, and indicated that strengthening the region's commercial foundation remains a priority. Growth in the quarter was supported by strong demand for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) agreements, the Microsoft licensing model that is progressively replacing traditional Enterprise Agreements across the company's customer base.
Globally, SoftwareOne reported combined like-for-like revenue growth of 12.9% in constant currency for Q1 2026, with every region and business line contributing. Reported revenue increased 67.4% year on year to CHF 387.7 million, a figure that reflects the Crayon acquisition rather than organic growth alone. Adjusted EBITDA margin reached 20.5%, up 3.4 percentage points from the prior year. On the integration front, the company said it has achieved above CHF 80 million in run-rate cost synergies as of early May 2026, keeping it on track to reach its CHF 100 million target by year-end. The Crayon brand will begin transitioning to SoftwareOne market by market during the second quarter.
On the strength of the Q1 results, SoftwareOne raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth outlook from mid-single digit to mid-to-high single digit in constant currency on a combined like-for-like basis. The company reiterated its adjusted EBITDA margin target of above 23% and its dividend payout ratio of 30% to 50% of adjusted profit.
The company also noted that AI-related demand is becoming a measurable driver across its portfolio. As organisations build AI-ready cloud and data environments, SoftwareOne said it is seeing increased demand for consulting, cloud migration, data readiness, security and financial operations services. The company is also deploying AI internally to automate processes and improve service delivery.
"Q1 2026 was a strong quarter for SoftwareOne. Revenue growth of 12.9%, with each business line and region contributing, reflects the results of the strategy we have been executing over the past year, giving us real confidence in the trajectory of the combined business. We are particularly pleased with the progress in NORAM, where the actions we are taking are contributing to steady progress," said Raphael Erb and Melissa Mulholland, Co-CEOs of SoftwareOne. "The results also demonstrate the strength of the combined AI powered company beyond integration and synergy delivery. We are now seeing tangible proof points of improved commercial performance across the portfolio. The synergy program continues to progress well, keeping us firmly on track to reach our target by year-end."
SoftwareOne will host a Capital Markets Day on 9 June 2026 in Zurich, where management will present medium-term financial targets for the combined group.
