BEST's profit jumps 144% to US$11.5M in first full quarter after Kredyt Inkaso merger
What's the deal? Polish debt collection group BESTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → reported US$11.5M in second-quarter net profit attributable to parent-company shareholders, up 144% year on year, in the first fully comparable period after its merger with rival Kredyt InkasoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Operating revenue rose 21% to US$47M, while operating profit climbed 58% to US$20.3M.
Why now? The quarter is the first clean read on the combined business following last year's merger. The numbers suggest the larger scale is translating into higher profitability, with operating costs up only about 3% against far faster revenue growth.
The first-half picture: BEST generated US$20.9M in consolidated net profit for the six months, roughly 260% more than a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 42% to US$87.2M, and cash EBITDA reached US$73M, up from US$48.5M. Results also benefited from a positive US$1.5M portfolio revaluation, versus a US$4M writedown a year earlier.
What's the endgame? Collections from managed portfolios remain the core business. First-half collections reached US$117.7M, up 34% year on year; BEST collected US$193.3M across all of 2025, putting the group on a path toward US$250M in annual collections. International markets — Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria — accounted for around 18% of second-quarter collections.
Stepping up: The group is buying more debt portfolios, investing US$47.4M in the quarter and US$69M in the first half, up 35%. The nominal value of portfolios bought reached almost US$239.5M. BEST expects full-year investment to exceed the 2025 record of more than US$147.5M, with over a third now deployed outside Poland.
What could go wrong? Heavier investment has not lifted leverage. Net debt to equity fell from 1.25 at the end of 2025, staying well below the group's maximum of 2.5. BEST ended the half with more than US$17.5M in cash and over US$77.5M in unused bank facilities, and completed two public bond issues to fund further growth.
The signal: The results show consolidation paying off in a fragmented European debt-collection market. By combining scale, cutting financing costs, and expanding abroad, BEST is turning the Kredyt Inkaso deal into a platform for growth beyond Poland.
Image credit: Jorge Lascar
