Today, the meeting of the Board of Directors of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., chaired by Marina Berlusconi, reviewed and approved the Half-Year Financial Report at 30 June 2026 presented by CEO and General Manager Antonio Porro.

“The results for the first half of 2026 demonstrate the strength of our business model and confirm the effectiveness of the development strategy we are pursuing,” said Antonio Porro, CEO and General Manager of the Mondadori Group. “Against the backdrop of a buoyant book market, supported in part by resources from the Library Fund, we delivered strong growth in both revenue and profitability, driven by the contribution of our recent acquisitions of Hoepli Education and Edilportale.com in the strategically important education and digital sectors. The quality of these results, together with the positive performance of our businesses and our solid cash-generating capacity, enables us to confirm our guidance for the full 2026 financial year, with results expected to come in at the upper end of the projected range,” Porro concluded.

GROUP PERFORMANCE AT 30 JUNE 2026

In the first half of 2026, consolidated revenue reached € 415.9 million, an increase of 6.8% compared with € 389.5 million at 30 June 2025.

Excluding changes in the scope of consolidation between the two periods, namely the inclusion of MA Retail (from 1 December 2025), Edilportale (from 1 January 2026), and Hoepli Education (from 1 May 2026), organic revenue growth was approximately 3%, driven primarily by the strong performance of the Trade Books area and the continued momentum of the physical Retail channel.

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to € 45.6 million, an increase of 12.5% compared with € 40.5 million in the first half of 2025, driven primarily by the performance of the Trade Books and Digital areas. Around half of the Group’s margin growth was attributable to the contribution from recently acquired companies.

The Group’s reported EBITDA reached € 40.8 million, up € 1.6 million (+4.1%) from € 39.2 million in the first half of 2025. This improvement was achieved despite higher non-recurring expense of approximately € 2.5 million, partly related to completed extraordinary transactions and partly to the project to migrate to new logistics providers, as well as increased restructuring costs of around € 0.9 million.

The Mondadori Group’s EBIT was positive by € 6 million for the first six months of 2026, down € 2 million compared with € 8 million in the first half of 2025.

In addition to the non-recurring expense described above, this performance was mainly attributable to higher depreciation and amortisation (totalling € 3.6 million) resulting from investments made during the 2025 financial year, together with increased lease expenses under IFRS 16 associated with the expansion of the Retail area’s directly operated store network.

Neutralising extraordinary items and amortisation arising from the Purchase Price Allocation (PPA) of companies acquired over the past five years, adjusted EBIT for the first half of 2026 would have been € 14.8 million, an increase of approximately € 1.1 million compared with € 13.6 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

Consolidated result before tax was positive by € 1.3 million, compared with € 4.1 million at 30 June 2025. The € 2.9 million decrease was attributable to the trend in operating result and the increase in financial expense.

The Group’s net profit at 30 June 2026, after minority interests, was € 1.4 million, compared with € 3.5 million in the first half of the previous year.

The adjusted net profit, excluding all non-recurring items and PPA amortisation, net of the related tax effects, amounted to € 8 million, up 5.8% compared with € 7.6 million at 30 June 2025.

Cash flow from ordinary operations, after financial expense and tax payments, totalled € 64.6 million for the twelve months preceding 30 June 2026, in line with the cash generation achieved in the 2025 financial year, which confirms the Group’s ability to continue funding its inorganic growth strategy while delivering increasing remuneration to shareholders. This performance is particularly positive considering the logistics disruption that impacted the Retail area’s e-commerce revenue only in the first quarter of 2026.

At 30 June 2026, extraordinary cash flow was negative by approximately € 68 million, mainly due to cash-outs of around € 58 million related to acquisitions completed over the previous twelve months, restructuring costs of approximately € 4 million, and expenditure of approximately € 2 million for the refurbishment of the Segrate headquarters.

As a result, Free Cash Flow at 30 June 2026 stood at € -3.4 million.

During the 2026 financial year, dividends payable to shareholders in respect of the 2025 financial results were recognised, amounting to € 40.2 million. Half of this amount was distributed in May, with the remaining balance payable in November 2026, representing a 10% increase compared with the previous year.

The Net Financial Position excluding IFRS 16 at 30 June 2026 stood at € -262.1 million (net debt), compared to € -218.8 million at 30 June 2025.

The IFRS 16 Net Financial Position at 30 June 2026 amounted to € -346.9 million (net debt), compared with € -300.1 million at 30 June 2025, reflecting the same factors.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS IN SECOND QUARTER 2026

In the second quarter of 2026, consolidated revenue reached € 245.1 million, a significant increase of 8.9% compared with € 225.1 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

This result was driven, in particular, by the positive performance of the book market and the consolidation of recently acquired companies; on a like-for-like basis, performance would have shown 4.6% growth, thanks to the Trade Books (+6.3%) and Retail (+8%) areas.

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to € 44.2 million, up 14.4% from € 38.7 million in the second quarter of 2025.

The Adjusted Net Profit for the second quarter of 2026 stood at € 21 million, up 12% from approximately € 19 million in the same quarter of the previous year.

OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR

In light of the positive results achieved in the first half of the year and the continued strength of the book market during the period under review, the Group confirms the guidance previously announced for the 2026 financial year.

The consolidation of the recently acquired Hoepli Education business for the period from May to December is expected to support the achievement of the Group’s financial and operating targets at the upper end of the previously announced guidance range.

Income Statement

• Low single-digit revenue growth.
• Low single-digit growth in Adjusted EBITDA and, consequently, confirmation of margins remaining consistently around 17%, driven by ongoing efficiency initiatives across all business areas. Once fully implemented over a multi-year horizon, these measures are intended to increase structural optimisation and enhance operational efficiency, as well as medium-term cash generation.

Cash Flow and Net Financial Position

• The Group is expected to confirm its significant cash generation capacity with an Ordinary Cash Flow in the range of € 65 to 70 million.

PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS AREAS AT 30 JUNE 2026

• TRADE BOOKS AREA

The book market made a strong start to 2026, with value growth of 5.1%^[1], supported in part by public funding for libraries, which benefited the physical channel exclusively, particularly independent bookstores.

Against this backdrop, the Mondadori Group’s publishing houses recorded a 3.3% increase in sell-out value compared with the first half of 2025, driven in particular by 4.5% growth in the second quarter of 2026 alone.

The Mondadori Group maintained its leadership in the Italian market with a 27% market share, broadly in line with the level recorded in June 2025.

Reflecting the strength of its publishing plan, the Group won the 80th Strega Prize with Michele Mari’s novel “I convitati di pietra” (published by Einaudi) and placed five titles among the top ten best-selling books by value during the first half of the year.

In the first six months of 2026, the Trade Books area generated revenue of € 188.4 million, up 4.7% from € 180 million in the first half of 2025.

The Area’s Adjusted EBITDA increased by 9.8% to € 22.7 million, compared with € 20.7 million in the first half of 2025, driven by strong publishing performance and, primarily, a reduction in the impact of the variable cost structure.

• EDUCATION BOOKS AREA

School textbook publishing is characterised by a well-established seasonal pattern, with the majority of revenue from textbook sales generated in the second half of the year.

Following the textbook adoption campaign, the Mondadori Group estimates a market share of 34.7% for the current financial year, including a 2.5% contribution from Hoepli Education.

In the first half of 2026, the Area generated revenue of € 74 million, up 6% from € 69.8 million in the first half of 2025, primarily reflecting the consolidation of Hoepli Education (€ 3.4 million) in May and June.

Consolidated revenue also benefited from a favourable timing effect resulting from earlier deliveries to top accounts.

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to € 8.5 million, an increase compared to € 7.3 million in the first half of 2025, reflecting the € 1.2 million contribution from Hoepli Education.

• RETAIL AREA

In the first half of 2026, the Retail area recorded 4.6% growth in book sales (sell-out value), with its market share reaching 13.3%.

The Group maintained its leadership in the physical channel of the book market, with a market share of almost 20%.

The Retail area generated revenue of € 97 million in the first half of 2026, a significant increase (+3.9%) from € 93.4 million in the corresponding period of 2025, despite the estimated € 2.3 million impact of logistics disruptions affecting the e-commerce channel earlier in the year.

Excluding this non-recurring impact, the Retail area would have delivered greater growth of 6.3%.

During the first half, the Area’s Adjusted EBITDA increased to € 6.2 million, up considerably by 13.6% from € 5.4 million at 30 June 2025, driven by the strong performance of the physical channel, which more than offset the decline in on-line turnover.

• DIGITAL AREA

In the first half of 2026, the Digital area generated revenue of € 51.2 million, a significant increase of 28.9% from € 39.7 million in the first half of 2025, driven by the combined effect of the inclusion of Edilportale in the scope of consolidation and the strong performance of MarTech activities (an organic growth of +3.3%).

The Area’s Adjusted EBITDA amounted to € 7.5 million, up 39.3% from € 5.4 million in the corresponding period of 2025, driven by the contribution from Edilportale.

• MEDIA AREA

In the first half of 2026, the Media area generated revenue of € 35.1 million, an increase of 4.2% compared with € 33.6 million in the first half of 2025. The result was driven by growth in add-on sales, which more than offset the structural decline in circulation.

The Area’s Adjusted EBITDA amounted to € 6.9 million, broadly in line with the € 7 million reported at 30 June 2025, despite lower income from government grants (€ 0.6 million). Performance was supported by the positive margins generated by new add-on sales initiatives, particularly those launched during the second quarter of the current financial year.

 

The presentation of the results at 30 June 2026, approved today by the Board of Directors, is available on www.1info.it and on www.mondadorigroup.com (Investors section). A Q&A session will be held in conference call mode at 3.30 p.m. for the financial community, attended by the CEO of the Mondadori Group, Antonio Porro, and the CFO, Alessandro Franzosi. Journalists will be able to follow the meeting in listening mode only, by connecting to the following phone number +39.02.8020927 or via web at: https://hditalia.choruscall.com/?calltype=2&info=company.

The Financial Reporting Manager – Alessandro Franzosi – hereby declares, pursuant to Article 154 bis, paragraph 2, of the Consolidated Finance Law, that the accounting information contained herein corresponds to the Company’s records, books and accounting entries.

 

Annexes:

1. Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
2. Consolidated Income Statement
3. Consolidated income statement – second quarter
4. Group cash flow
5. Glossary of terms and alternative performance measures used