- Revenue up 11% to €1.45 billion
- Adjusted EBITDAal up 12% to €487.5 million, at a 33.6% margin
- Cash conversion more than doubled to €194.5 million
United Group, a leading telecommunications and media company in Southeastern Europe, today reports its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 (H1 2026), delivering double-digit year-on-year growth in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDAal. Revenue grew 11% year-on-year to €1,452.6 million and Adjusted EBITDAal grew 12% to €487.5 million, at a margin of 33.6%.1
The results reflect the continued implementation of the strategy the Group set out in 2025, which moved United Group from a single group model to portfolio management. Under that strategy, the Group is run in three parts: telecoms, media, and infrastructure & ventures. Telecoms and media are managed as separate businesses, each with its own model, and each business is measured against its own metrics and against the best in its field.
The Group centre sets strategy with each business, allocates capital across the portfolio and oversees delivery, bringing specialist expertise and financial strength beyond the reach of any single business. Running the businesses day-to-day is the job of the management team in each market. All parts of the Group are focused on value creation, and businesses that no longer fit that strategy are divested.
Every disposal is managed to realise full value and, wherever possible, a solid return on the Group’s original investment. In August the Group completed the disposal of its 50% interest in Nova ICT to IREON Technologies, a member of the Motor Oil Group, for €60.5 million in cash. In July, it agreed the sale of D Express, its Serbian parcel and logistics business, to a subsidiary of Austrian Post, with completion expected in the fourth quarter. The disposal of the Adria News businesses announced on 29 May 2026 has been substantially implemented, and the remaining steps will follow in line with the terms of the agreement. Together these transactions concentrate the Group further on its euro and euro-pegged markets. Telemach Bosnia and Telemach Montenegro remain subject to an ongoing sale to BH Telekom, which depends on outstanding conditions. Both continue to trade well and remain a focus for the Group until that process concludes.
In telecoms, all four of the Group’s core markets grew revenue and Adjusted EBITDAal. Nova Greece, under its own management team, was the strongest performer, with revenue up 23% to €531.6 million and Adjusted EBITDAal up 31% to €189.7 million.
The same disciplined focus on value creation governs how the Group grows its customer base. Rather than pursuing subscriber volume, the operating companies are targeting segments, regions and partnerships where customer growth is profitable. Mobile services grew 3% to 8.0 million RGUs and blended footprint ARPU rose 6% to €18.1, while total revenue-generating units were broadly flat at 14.0 million, as growth in mobile, cable Pay-TV, footprint internet and OTT offset the continued and expected decline of legacy DTH services. Continued fixed network buildout took homes passed 5% higher to 4.0 million.
Margin held at 33.6% (H1 2025: 33.3%), on tighter cost control across the Group and better gross margins in B2B services and mobile handsets. Capital expenditure fell 14% to €293.1 million, or 20% of revenue, with no spectrum payments in the period, following Vivacom’s spectrum acquisition in the prior year and the one-off payment in Croatia in December 2025. Between them, higher earnings and lower capital expenditure more than doubled cash conversion (Adjusted EBITDAal less capital expenditure) to €194.5 million, against €95.2 million a year earlier.
United Group also strengthened its capital structure, executing €2.06 billion of senior secured note refinancing across three transactions in January, May and June, all maturing in 2033. In August, it redeemed €300 million of notes due 2028 using the proceeds of the June issuance. Net leverage fell to 4.59x as at 30 June 2026, from 4.67x at 31 March 2026, and gross leverage to 4.74x from 4.81x, consistent with the Group’s aim of reducing leverage steadily as its businesses grow.2
Stan Miller, CEO of United Group, said:
“In the first half of this year, we continued to implement our strategy, and it is delivering solid results. We said in 2025 that we would run United Group as a portfolio rather than as a single group, with telecoms, media, and infrastructure and ventures each managed separately. Where we are not the best owner of a business and it takes away from the value of the group and management focus, we sell it, and we have acted on that again this half.
Our priorities for the rest of the year are unchanged: profitable growth of our telecoms and media businesses, disciplined capital allocation and completion of the disposals now under way. We remain confident in the Group’s prospects and in the teams delivering them.”
Key performance highlights
All four telecoms markets grew revenue: Nova Greece by 23% to €531.6 million, Telemach Croatia by 7% to €161.7 million, Vivacom Bulgaria by 4% to €392.3 million and Telemach Slovenia by 4% to €148.5 million. External revenue at United Media rose 3% to €172.4 million. Adjusted EBITDAal grew in each of the four telecoms markets: Nova Greece by 31%, Telemach Croatia by 12% to €45.8 million, Telemach Slovenia by 6% to €42.7 million and Vivacom Bulgaria by 3% to €163.7 million.
Total revenue-generating units reached 14.0 million, with mobile up 3% to 8.0 million, cable Pay-TV up 3% to 1.0 million and OTT up 20%, offsetting the expected decline in DTH, down 11%, and out-of-footprint services, down 5%. Continued network buildout, mainly in Bulgaria, Greece and Croatia, drove the increase in homes passed. Blended footprint ARPU rose in every market, by 13% at Nova Greece, 8% at Telemach Croatia, 6% at Telemach Slovenia and 4% at Vivacom Bulgaria.
Capital expenditure fell across most segments, furthest at Telemach Croatia, down 41% to €22.6 million, and Vivacom Bulgaria, down 14% to €56.5 million. Nova Greece was the exception, up 2% to €151.0 million as it modernised its mobile radio network and added capacity.
The Group held €305.8 million of cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2026, alongside €384.9 million of committed revolving credit facilities. Following the January, May and June issuances, and the August redemption of the 2028 notes, the Group has no bond maturities before 2030.