Baltic Classifieds Funds Buyback With Debt As Revenue Grows 7% in FY26

Baltic Classifieds Group has taken the unusual step of borrowing to buy back its own shares, after the Board concluded that the market is undervaluing the Baltic region's dominant online classifieds operator. The company returned €101.1 million to shareholders through buybacks and dividends in the year to 30 April 2026, up sharply from €29.4 million a year earlier, and drew on new debt facilities to accelerate the programme. Highlights from the company's FY26 report released today include:

• Revenue grew 7% to €88.5 million (2025: €82.8 million).
• EBITDA rose 7% to €68.6 million, with the margin held at 78%.
• Operating profit increased 13% to €60.4 million.
• Profit for the year rose 14% to €50.9 million.
• Adjusted basic EPS increased 9% to 12.3 euro cent.
• €101.1 million returned to shareholders, up from €29.4 million in 2025.
• Total dividend for the year of 4.4 euro cent per share (2025: 3.8 euro cent).

"The Board believes the prevailing BCG share price undervalues the strength of the Company's business model, cash generation and long-term growth prospects and therefore accelerated its buyback programme, including the use of debt to finance purchases," the company said.

Financing the accelerated buyback pushed net debt, including lease liabilities, to €46.2 million from just €4.4 million a year earlier, lifting leverage to 0.7x from 0.1x. By the date of the announcement, €118.0 million had been drawn under the new facility. Cash generation stayed strong, with cash from operating activities up 5% to €69.9 million and cash conversion steady at 99%.

Beneath the group total, Real Estate was the standout performer, growing 17% to €26.0 million and cementing its place as BCG's engine of growth. Jobs and Services rose 9% to €17.4 million, while the smaller Generalist segment grew 3% to €13.6 million. Business-to-consumer revenue grew 13% across the group, outpacing a 1% rise in consumer-to-consumer revenue as faster property sales reduced the pool of private listings. Traffic averaged 57 million visits per month, unchanged on the prior year, with BCG noting that visits originating from AI search remain negligible.

Baltic Classifieds Group Assets

Chief executive Justinas Šimkus struck a confident note on the year ahead. "Looking ahead, the strategic C2C price changes we implemented in March 2026, alongside our planned B2C enhancements for the autumn, position us well to accelerate our top-line growth back into the double digits next financial year," he said.

The group expects revenue growth of around 10% in 2027, weighted towards the second half, with the EBITDA margin guided to the mid-70s. After the year-end, in June 2026, BCG acquired Cenubanka.lv, a Latvian property data and market analysis platform, strengthening its data capabilities in the Baltic real estate market.

BCG's 78% EBITDA margin keeps it among the most profitable classifieds businesses anywhere, in the same rarefied band as UK portal peer Rightmove. Its willingness to gear up the balance sheet to buy back stock reflects a familiar tension for cash-generative classifieds operators, where public market valuations can lag the private worth of near-monopoly network positions.