Nexi holds guidance as first-half revenue edges up and Germany weighs
Nexi, the Milan-listed payments group, reported first-half 2026 revenue of 1.74 billion euros on July 29, up 1 percent from a year earlier, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance, according to the company’s results statement. On an underlying basis that strips out lost bank contracts and other effects, the company said revenue grew about 5 percent.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were 870 million euros, roughly stable year on year, with a margin of 50.1 percent. Excess cash generation reached 400 million euros in the half, which the company used to pay down more than 1 billion euros of gross debt and distribute about 350 million euros in dividends.
Merchant Solutions, the largest of the three business lines at 56 percent of group revenue, saw revenue slip 0.8 percent to 976 million euros on a reported basis even as transaction counts rose 5.6 percent, according to Finance Magnates. The company attributed the gap to lost Italian banking clients following mergers, contract renegotiations, and weaker consumer spending, particularly in Germany. Issuing Solutions revenue rose about 3 percent and Digital Banking Solutions rose 4.5 percent.
Performance varied by geography. Germany remained the weakest major market, while Austria and Switzerland performed better within the DACH region, Italy improved modestly, and Poland continued to grow more slowly, chief executive Paolo Bertoluzzo told analysts on the earnings call, according to a transcript published by Investing.com.
Nexi reaffirmed its 2026 targets of revenue growth broadly in line with 2025, broadly stable EBITDA, and about 750 million euros of excess cash generation. The company said Merchant Solutions should gradually reaccelerate in the second half as the bank contract effects fade. Reported net profit was 115 million euros, while normalized net profit, which excludes amortization tied to customer contracts and other items, rose 7 percent to 354 million euros.
