Best debt collector counts on increasing scale of operations in 2025; plans new bond issue

"Financial covenants and liquidity allow us to continue the growth rate of our investments. We are not going to let go this year, we are taking part in every tender. In the first quarter, we have been more observant, the situation related to the preparation for the merger with Kredyt Inkaso justifies us enough," said CEO Borusowski.

"We would like this year to end with an increase in the scale of operations, which will result not only from the merger, but also from the purchase of new assets," he added.

Best invested PLN 39.9 million (EUR 9.4 mln) in debt portfolios in the first quarter of 2025, down 25 percent year on year. The nominal value of the acquired portfolios amounted to PLN 163.5 million (EUR 38.5 mln), down 39 percent year on year. For the full year 2024, Best invested PLN 320.9 million (EUR 75.5 mln) in debt portfolios.

In the first quarter of 2025, Best acquired seven new debt portfolios, including one on the Polish market and six on the Italian market.

"We are not surprised that Italy has reached 20 percent [of the geographical structure of managed receivables - PAP ed.]," Borusowski said.

"We said to ourselves that we would like to have at least 30 percent of repayments from foreign markets, and we are slowly approaching that, but in three months' time, when we look at the combined sub-motor, these numbers will look different," he added.

In March, the extraordinary general meetings of Best and Kredyt Inkaso passed resolutions to merge the two companies.

Discussing the foreign markets in which Kredyt Inkaso operates, the CEO assessed that one of the markets, Romania, is one that the group would be interested in anyway.

"Bulgaria is smaller, but we have a good team there and we want to take advantage of this presence, to explore growth opportunities," he said.

"As for Russia, it is difficult to say anything because the situation is changing dynamically. We have no influence on it, but rather we are looking at how to protect value or withdraw from this market, which may involve losses," Borusowski added.

The first report with combined results will be for the first half of 2025, the board said.

Among the synergies resulting from the merger, the CEO pointed to the combination of assets and their increase with controlled costs, the exchange of data allowing for an increased ability to reach customers, the possibility to develop technology, with distributed costs spread out, as well as savings resulting from a simplified organisational structure.

Best's management board assessed that going to market with a new bond issue is possible later this year.

"This is conditional on a new prospectus, which must be drawn up on the basis of the combined results, i.e. it can only take place after the publication for the half-year report and not before the end of the third quarter. We hope to be back on the market in the last quarter," CEO Borusowski said.

"We are talking about prospectus bonds here. It doesn't close the way for us to go into other modes," deputy CEO Marek Kucner added.

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