Ann: Appendix 4E and Annual Report to Shareholders, page-15

Yes you're right transaction costs aren't the big role here (albeit still are - withnalls only contributes half the year so unfair to not look at PF results). It's particularly barrister fees (cost of sales) & to a lesser extent employment costs. Gross margin could of been significantly better with a stable employment market. (see my comments above)

Adj EBITDA - yes this is on point. In it's current state whilst better as a per share metric, debt is left unchecked. SBC is covered in part with a focus on the share count line, but still we want better margins.