Gabriela Burdach
Good morning. My name is Gabriela Burdach, and I'm the Investor Relations Director at InPost.
Welcome to InPost's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. The usual disclaimer, today's call includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, and it is possible that the actual results may differ materially.
This call is also being recorded, and the recording will be available on our IR website shortly after we wrap it up today. After the slides, we will have a Q&A session.
Today's presenters are Rafal Brzoska, CEO; Michael Rouse, CEO, International; and Javier van Engelen, CFO of InPost Group. I'm now pleased to hand over to our CEO.
Rafal, over to you.
Rafal Brzoska
Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Gabby, and thank you all for joining us today.
Q2 2026 was a quarter of continued growth for InPost Group, though the picture was more mixed than in previous quarters with strong momentum in the Eurozone tempered by the ongoing transformation of our U.K. business.
In total, we handled over 380 million parcels, up 16% year-on-year. Revenue reached PLN 4.2 billion, up 18%, once again growing faster than volume.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at just over PLN 1 billion, up around 4% and CapEx was PLN 0.5 billion, up 7%. International markets now account for 54% of group revenue, underlining just how much of our growth is being driven outside of Poland.
Let's take a look at how our network continues to scale over the past 12 months. At the end of Q2, we operated over 98,000 out-of-home points.
And today, we can say we've already crossed 100,000 out-of-home points and 70,000 APMs. Over the last 12 months, we added 15,600 new APMs, which is the record high deployment we have ever had.
On PUDOs, you will see a decline of about 5,500 points across all 3 regions. That's a deliberate outcome of our network optimization strategy as we continue to shift the network mix towards APMs.
We remain the #1 APM network in Poland, France and the U.K. Iberia has also recently become the largest local network in its market, and we continue to hold the #2 position in Italy.
With that, let's turn to update on Poland. Poland delivered consistent volume growth in Q2, up 9.5% to 198 million parcels.
APM volumes were broadly stable, up just 1%, while to-door volumes grew 46%, again, largely driven by demand from international marketplaces. Excluding the top 5 marketplaces, our volumes grew 16%, once more ahead of the broader e-commerce market with domestic merchants, particularly in fashion and beauty, continuing to perform strongly.
Let's move on to the next page. Poland continues to operate the largest APM network in the country.
And in Q2, the number of InPost machines grew 12% to nearly 30,000. This density keeps improving accessibility, 90% of the urban population and 66% of the total population now live within a 7-minute walk to an InPost APM.
Consumer preference remains exceptional. According to the latest Kantar survey conducted in June, 96% of consumers now receive parcels via InPost lockers and 91% use them to send parcels, both figures improving yet again versus the previous survey, keeping us the clear most favorite APM network in Poland.
Next slide, please. Beyond the network, our advantage comes from an extremely loyal and engaged user base, which we show you every quarter.
Today, around 26 million people, effectively the entire Polish e-commerce population use InPost APM and to-door services. Of these, 21 million are regular APM users, including 17 million app users and 15 million loyalty program participants.
This engagement shows up directly in our NPS. InPost score 76 well ahead of the next 4 players who are all in negative territory.
Our users are at the heart of everything we do. We invest in their experience, convenience and engagement because ultimately, it is their trust and everyday choice of InPost that drives our volumes and our growth.
With that, let me hand over to Michael, who will take you through our international performance.
Michael Rouse
Thanks, Rafal. Good morning, everyone.
Let me start with our Eurozone business, which had another strong quarter. Volume grew 30% to over 100 million parcels, once again outpacing the underlying e-commerce market, which grew around 9%.
B2C volumes were up 30%, and APM volumes were up 45% year-on-year, [ underlining ] the strength of the shift to our locker business. The APM out-of-home flow rate reached 47%, up from 40% a year ago.
Next slide, please. We continue to build Mondial Relay into a trusted European loved brand, and the momentum keeps building.
Our overall network grew 13% to nearly 46,000 locations, and the brand itself keeps resonating. And within those 46,000 locations, and the growth, APMs grew over 52%.
So clearly, we continue to build and create a dense network. Mobile app downloads reached 10 million, nearly doubling year-on-year.
Recognition is following. Mondial Relay by InPost was again named amongst France's most valuable brands in ranking this April and we continue to lead and grow our NPS and our network awareness across most of our European markets, having gained further ground in several of them.
Now let's move to the U.K. Volumes in Q2 grew by 16% to 82 million parcels, with B2C now representing 61% of the mix, up 27%, while C2C was roughly flat year-over-year.
APM and returns volumes were up 29% year-over-year. An important milestone on July 26, Yodel was rebranded to InPost, bringing our U.K.
operations under a single brand for the first time. And customer sentiment continues to improve alongside this, with our Trustpilot score now 4.9 out of 5 and mobile app downloads reaching 8 million.
And during July, we are in the top 2 or 3 free app downloads in the total U.K. market.
Turning to our network position, we continue to extend our lead as the largest APM network in the U.K. Our out-of-home network grew 17% to nearly 20,000 points, while we continue to rationalize our PUDO footprint in line with our network optimization strategy.
Our operational quality keeps improving in step. More than 77% of B2C parcels are now delivered next day and more than 97% within two days.
That's it from my side, and thank you, and let me now hand over to Javier.
Francisco van Engelen Sousa
Thank you, Rafal and Michael, and good morning, everyone. Let's now turn to the company's key figures for Q2 2026 and see how the business developments are reflected in the numbers.
Before getting into the segment details, let me highlight the main points on our Q2 group performance. Start with the top line.
In Q2, we handled 381 million parcels, up 16%, while revenue grew 18.2% to PLN 4.2 billion, again, outpacing volume. Turning to profitability, Q2 adjusted EBITDA grew by 4.4% to PLN 1.043 billion, with margin declining to 25%, reflecting the segment mix effects and continued investment in new services.
Below the EBITDA line, adjusted EBIT declined 19.3% and adjusted net profit declined 50%, mainly reflecting a higher depreciation base and a less favorable FX comparison than a year ago. CapEx increased 7% to PLN 504 million, and net leverage rose to 2.5x from 2.1x a year ago.
Let me take you through the segment results in the next pages. In Poland, in Q2, volume grew 9% to 198 million parcels, once more driven by international marketplaces and mainly in the to-door segment.
Revenue grew faster than volume, up 13% to PLN 1.9 billion, reflecting a positive price effect on APMs, slightly offset by volume mix. On profitability, Q2 adjusted EBITDA grew 4% to PLN 864 million, with margin remaining at a healthy 45.3%.
The decrease versus year ago reflects a high base period, product mix changes, and a continued investment in new projects. In our Eurozone markets, Q2 2026 volume grew 30%, breaking the barrier of 100 million parcels, once again outpacing the e-commerce market and driven by strong B2C performance, up 30%, and continued APM adoption.
Revenue grew even faster, up 38%, driven by pricing in out-of-home and a growing share of to-door volume. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 40% to PLN 203 million, with margin essentially flat year on year at 16.6% as scale benefits and disciplined SG&A management were partially offset by the dilutive impact of a growing to-door service in the mix.
In the U.K., the picture reflects the ongoing parcel transformation. Volume increased by 16% to 82 million parcels, driven by B2C, up 27%, and continued APM adoption, up 29% year on year.
Parcel revenue grew slower than volume due to a decline in revenue per parcel and mix effect. Including the [ Newstrade ] business, total U.K.
and Ireland revenue grew by 10% to PLN 1.048 billion. Adjusted EBITDA came in at PLN 29 million, with margin down from 5.1% to 2.8% as a result of our restructuring efforts.
That said EBITDA improved meaningfully versus Q1, when we had a loss of PLN 49 million. This shows the transformation is progressing even as the year-on-year comparison remains negative.
Next page, please. On this slide, you can see the bridge between adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net profit for the first half of the year.
[ Half 1 ] adjusted EBITDA was essentially flat year-on-year, with margin decreasing to 24.2%. Below that line, depreciation and amortization increased meaningfully.
IFRS 16 amortization alone was up 38%, mainly reflecting the Yodel consolidation, network scale-up, and continued automation of operations. As a result, adjusted EBIT declined 32%, and adjusted net profit declined faster than adjusted EBIT on the back of higher financial costs and higher tax.
Let me move on to free cash flow bridge. For half 1 2026, Poland generated PLN 611 million of free cash flow, down 6% year-on-year, as continued investment in expansion CapEx in Poland weighed on an otherwise strong operating cash performance.
As always, this domestic cash flow got reinvested into our international operations, network scale-up, operations CapEx, and integration spend. After incorporating international adjusted EBITDA, CapEx, working capital movements, and group costs, group free cash flow was negative at PLN 541 million, compared with a small positive PLN 54 million a year ago.
This development reflects the scale and the speed of our ongoing international investments. To conclude the financial highlights section, let me briefly address net debt and leverage.
At the end of June 2026, gross debt increased to PLN 10.7 billion, driven by higher borrowings and lease liabilities as we continue to scale the network. Cash position decreased to PLN 613 million, reflecting the negative free cash flow generated in the first half.
As a result, net debt rose to PLN 10.1 billion, and with adjusted EBITDA broadly flat on the last 12 months basis, net leverage increased to 2.5x from 2.2x at the end of 2025. Let me walk you through our revised outlook for full year 2026 and our latest view on Q3 trading.
We are revising our full year outlook on volume, adjusted EBITDA growth, CapEx spend, and net leverage. We expect group volume growth in the mid-teens.
This should come from mid-single digit volume growth in Poland, high 20s growth in the Eurozone, and low 30s growth in the U.K. Group revenue is expected to grow in the mid-teens.
On profitability, we now expect group-adjusted EBITDA to decline by a mid-single digit percentage, with margin around the mid-20s. Poland in the low to mid-40s, a continued slight improvement in the Eurozone, and the U.K.
margin roughly stable year-on-year given the phasing of the transformation. On the network, we plan to deploy around 19,000 new APMs across all markets.
About 3,000 in Poland, 11,000 in the Eurozone, and 5,000 in the U.K. We expect CapEx of around PLN 2.1 billion, with roughly 60% allocated to APM production and deployment.
Given the higher CapEx and lower adjusted EBITDA, we expect negative free cash flow at year-end and a net leverage ratio to increase versus last year. Now looking ahead to Q3.
At the group level for Q3 2026, we anticipate year-on-year volume growth in the low single-digit percentage range. In Poland, we expect flat volume dynamics, mainly reflecting the impact of changes to EU customs fees on international marketplace volumes.
Internationally, we forecast mid-single digit year-on-year growth in InPost volumes, with growth also here tempered by changes to EU customs fees in the Eurozone. In the U.K., we are comparing to a high base.
Last thing I want to mention today is that as previously announced, FedEx and InPost have been negotiating an arm's-length commercial agreement. In September, InPost plans to launch last mile services for FedEx in the U.K.
and Poland as part of an initial pilot phase pursuant to this agreement. And with this, let me hand over to the operator for Q&A.
Operator
[Operator Instructions] And our first question is from Henk Slotboom from The Idea.
Henk Slotboom
A quick question. The de minimis rule abolishment by the EU.
This morning, I saw an article on [ Yodel ] News that Chinese volumes were down 30% to 40%. Is that something -- is that a figure you recognize through the markets in which you operate?
And as far as Poland is concerned, does it impact the mix of your business over there? I can imagine that the Chinese parcels generate lower margins, bring lower margins than the rest.
As far as I understood it, you've always said that especially the Chinese goods were delivered to door and not in APMs. So perhaps you can shed some light on that.
Michael Rouse
Maybe I can take some of the questions. Javier, feel free to comment.
I think we said before, typically, we don't concentrate heavily in the Chinese business versus the rest of the overall mix. I would concur.
I think where we do have Chinese business today, it does -- it has had that impact. I think in those ranges seem about consistent with what we've seen in certain markets.
Obviously, as you've also called out, actually from a margin point of view, in some markets, that's actually been beneficial because we've seen strong recovery of local e-commerce to compensate. But overall, I think we're probably not as impacted in the mix in the totality of the business than maybe others in this space.
And clearly, in the U.K. business, there's been no impact at all.
Francisco van Engelen Sousa
Yes. Henk I think if I just add on to that, the outlook revision on volume is purely driven by Chinese.
So there's about, what I'd say about 2% to 3% impact of revising Chinese on the outlook, which corresponds roughly to the numbers that you're mentioning. As Michael said, we have initiatives in the markets to compensate for the volume.
It really depends on where that volume goes to other platforms or to basically B2C that we'll then see how the mix impacts the margin in Q3, Q4.
Henk Slotboom
Okay. About the mix to door APMs in Poland, will that change as well?
Francisco van Engelen Sousa
I think Rafal is traveling. But that again, same thing, depends on where the volume goes to.
You know that our B2C penetration in Poland is all very strong. So that mix will go to probably other platforms and to some B2C, but we'll have to see where that volume goes.
To door is also one of the areas where we've been filling the gap on volume. So, I think we'll still be pushing some of that volume through deeper to door penetration.
So we'll see how much of a mix effect we can recover from that. We will see some impact on pricing, but then on the mix effect with to door, we'll have to see how that plans out in Q3.
Rafal Brzoska
Yes. This is -- if I may add just one thing, we become more and more, let's say, first choice vendor for door-to-door, not only in the e-commerce parcels, but also in B2B parcels because of the extraordinary quality.
So this is a very important, very valid line that we are taking over a lot of the door-to-door business from the other vendors, specifically from the international players.
Operator
It appears there are currently no further questions over the phone. With this, I'd like to hand the call over to [ Cristina ] for any webcast questions.
Over to you, Cristina.
Unknown Executive
We've got a question from the webcast. How much of the Q1, H1 international working capital outflow is temporary and reversible in H2 versus structural cash consumption from integrating or scaling Yodel and the international network?
Francisco van Engelen Sousa
Yes, I'll take that question. I think it is [indiscernible], right?
If you look at the free cash flow for the first half, I would roughly say you are going to be half-half. Half of that negative cash flow is really investing into network innovation to stay ahead of the market.
So we clearly are in a strategy for making sure we put the difference between us and competition when it comes down to APM and out-of-home usage, but also making sure our APMs are well spread around. We have in Q2 a temporary impact of some receivables and payables linked to tax payments in Poland and some longer receivables in France, but we expect that to be recovered in the second half of the year.
So I would say half of it is clearly investment territory, strategy, following our strategy, and half of it is temporary.
Unknown Executive
Thank you very much. These are all the questions on the webcast.
So I'll just hand over for closing remarks to management.
Francisco van Engelen Sousa
Look, I will make the closing remarks in line with what Rafal started with. It is a strong Q2 in terms of development, not just in terms of how we develop the business, but also because we are living our strategy.
If I break down the business on the base, Poland remains strong and stabilizing towards the future. Eurozone, strong volume growth and margin keeping up, and U.K.
is clearly recovering. At the same time as having a strong base business, we are investing.
We are investing, as Rafal said, record APM deployments. We are developing to door capabilities across the Eurozone, but we are also driving new innovation in Poland with initiatives like [ Centki ] or a deposit refund system.
So fundamentally, both on the base and on investments, it shows that we want to basically, via our vision of being the leader in basically finding new solutions for a more customer-centric and a planet-friendly e-commerce, and that is on our strategy, and our numbers reflect that. So thanks for your questions, thanks for the call, and talk to you next time.