Europe’s push toward digital payments infrastructure, driven by new EU regulations and declining cash use, is the backdrop against which Nexi S.p.A. released its first-quarter 2026 financial results on May 7. The Milan-listed payments company reported revenues of €821.4 million for the three months ending March 31, 2026.
Revenue and profit
Total net revenues for Q1 2026 came in at €821.4 million, up 1.0% compared to the same period last year. The company said the headline growth figure was held back by a tougher comparison related to bank contract effects. Excluding those, underlying revenue growth stood at 5% year-on-year.
EBITDA reached €396.5 million, a 2.6% increase versus Q1 2025. The EBITDA margin was 48.3%, up 73 basis points compared to the prior year period. Total costs were €424.9 million, roughly stable year-on-year.
“Our first-quarter results confirm the strength and resilience of Nexi’s diversified model, delivering solid growth, profitability and cash generation, and enabling us to return €1.45 billion to shareholders, including this year’s €350 million dividend. We are now entering a new phase strongly focused on execution: strengthening commercial performance, protecting medium-term growth, improving cost efficiency, and leveraging AI to enhance productivity. As a core infrastructure of the European payments ecosystem, we are uniquely positioned to drive the evolution of digital payments in Europe,” said Bernardo Mingrone, CEO of Nexi Group.
Nexi business segments performance
Nexi operates across three separate divisions.
Merchant Solutions, which accounts for roughly 55% of group revenue, reported €453.8 million, down 1.4% year-on-year. Excluding the bank contract effects, underlying growth was 3%. The division processed 4,844 million transactions in the quarter, up 5.0% year-on-year, with a total value of €201.5 billion, up 2.8%. Customer growth in the SME segment was noted in the DACH region and Poland.
Issuing Solutions, about 34% of group revenue, reported €278.3 million, up 4.7% year-on-year. The division processed 5,359 million transactions, up 8.7%, with a value of €228.1 billion, up 7.6%. Growth was supported by both international and national card schemes, including the ramp-up of the Nexi Bancomat processing hub in Italy.
Digital Banking Solutions, approximately 11% of group revenue, reported €89.3 million, up 2.8% year-on-year. Growth was attributed to SEPA Clearing volumes, Open Banking services, and new products, including Zippay — an account-to-account payment solution launched for Irish banks, as well as bill payment initiatives under Italy’s PagoPA scheme and new Verification-of-Payee services.
Debt and cash obligations
Net financial debt stood at €4,860 million as of March 31, 2026. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 2.5x. The weighted average debt maturity was approximately 2.8 years, with a weighted average pre-tax cash cost of debt of approximately 2.35%. The company also noted that around €976 million in debt maturities were repaid in April 2026 using available cash.
A dividend of €0.30 per share, totalling approximately €350 million, is set to be paid on May 20, 2026. This represents a 20% increase versus the prior year.
Nexi 2026 guidance
Nexi confirmed its full-year 2026 targets: revenue growth broadly in line with 2025, with Merchant Solutions expected to reaccelerate; EBITDA broadly stable in absolute terms after strategic investments; excess cash of approximately €750 million; and the €0.30 per share dividend distribution. The company also reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining investment-grade credit status.
So far, the modest growth announcement hasn’t influenced Nexi shares much. Yet, in the latest weeks, the fintech company’s stock has returned to its December 2025-January 2026 levels, after a steep 20% decline in March, following the company’s 2025 results below expectations and updated three-year plan with a flat 2026 revenue growth outlook.
EU regulatory context
Nexi’s results arrive at a moment of significant regulatory change for European payments. In early 2026, Europe’s payments ecosystem is being reshaped by several converging reforms, including the revised EU Payment Services framework (PSD3/PSR), the acceleration of the Digital Euro legislative track, and the ramp-up of eIDAS 2.0 digital wallets. The European Central Bank has separately confirmed that the Governing Council moved the digital euro project to its next phase in October 2025, targeting readiness to issue by 2029, subject to lawmakers adopting the relevant regulation in 2026.
For payment processors specifically, the EU Instant Payments Regulation that came into force in April 2024 mandated that payment service providers offering SEPA Credit Transfers must also provide SEPA Instant Credit Transfers, prompting significant upgrades to infrastructure and connectivity. Nexi’s Digital Banking Solutions segment reported growth in SEPA Clearing volumes during Q1 2026, consistent with this broader industry shift.
The ECB’s own strategy documents note that current home-grown European digital payment solutions mainly cater to national markets and specific use cases, and that the lack of European payment solutions available at a European scale means Europe is not competitive within its own market — a challenge the EU regulatory agenda is explicitly designed to address, and one that companies like Nexi position themselves to benefit from.
