freenet makes a successful start to FY 2026 – strong revenue growth and a significant increase in adj. free cash flow

freenet makes a successful start to FY 2026 – strong revenue growth and a significant increase in adj. free cash flow

• Revenues: +26.1% to € 761.9m – growth driven by the integration of mobilezone and IPTV customer acquisition
• EBITDA & free cash flow: Adj. EBITDA at € 122.0m (–3.6%) and adj. free cash flow up significantly to € 85.7m (+10.4%)
• Mobile Communications: +29k postpaid customers and +182k postpaid contracts in reselling – growth deliberately managed with a focus on margins
• IPTV: Dynamic customer growth (+42k) and continued strong adj. EBITDA performance (+49.0%)
• Outlook: Guidance for the 2026 financial year confirmed

Büdelsdorf, 15 May 2026 – freenet AG [ISIN DE000A0Z2ZZ5] has made a successful start to the 2026 financial year. Operational developments in the first quarter confirm the Group’s strategic focus on value-creating growth in the Mobile Communications and IPTV businesses.

In the first quarter, freenet’s consolidated revenue rose to € 761.9m (+26.1%). The increase is largely attributable to the integration of mobilezone Deutschland into the Mobile Communications segment, as well as further profitable customer growth in the IPTV business.

The total adj. EBITDA amounted to € 122.0m (-3.6%) and the total adj. free cash flow was € 85.7m (+10.4%). Cash conversion was higher than in the prior year due to a positive change in working capital, whilst earnings were, as expected, impacted by the negative effect of an agreement with a network operator.

Mobile Communications: Growth with a clear focus on quality

During the reporting period, freenet increased the number of postpaid customers by 29k to a total of 8.270m. In addition, 182k postpaid contracts were concluded through reselling. This growth was achieved while meeting higher margin targets, with the expected impact on volumes, particularly in the postpaid segment. At the same time, this supports a higher-quality and more sustainable earnings profile from these customers

Following the integration of mobilezone Deutschland, revenues in the Mobile Communications segment rose significantly to € 658.8m (+30.4%), driven mainly by hardware and reselling business. Postpaid service revenues also rose slightly to € 409.8m (+0.9%), although postpaid ARPU fell to € 16.6 (-5.4%).

Adj. EBITDA in the Mobile Communications segment stood at € 93.7m (-9.8%) and, as expected, was impacted by the negative effect on earnings resulting from an agreement with a network operator. This effect has already been factored into the 2026 guidance and will have a negative impact on adj. EBITDA for the remainder of the year unless the ongoing renegotiations are successfully concluded. At the same time, freenet is taking targeted operational and commercial actions to offset this effect in line with the 2028 financial ambition.

IPTV: waipu.tv continues to show strong adj. EBITDA growth

waipu.tv continued its profitable growth in the IPTV business and gained a net total of 42k subscribers. In total, waipu.tv now has 1.797m subscribers. Revenues stood at € 52.8m (+7.7%) and were derived predominantly from the subscription business. At the same time, the targeted advertising business continues to develop dynamically as a second revenue pillar.

The financial scalability of the business model was once again evident in the results: Adj. EBITDA rose by 49.0% year-on-year to € 9.0m. waipu.tv is thus continuously increasing its contribution to consolidated EBITDA and is developing – as envisaged in the 2028 financial ambition – into a key driver of EBITDA and value.

Other/holding: Reduction in the Executive Board has a positive impact on adj. EBITDA

The Other/holding segment, which since this year has also included the Media Broadcast business, performed as expected, with revenue of € 61.9m (-0.5%). Adj. EBITDA improved to € 19.3m (+15.4%), driven in particular by lower personnel expenses following the reduction in the size of the Executive Board implemented in the prior year.

Outlook: 2026 Guidance confirmed

Based on the performance in the first quarter, the Executive Board confirms the guidance for the 2026 financial year. freenet considers itself well positioned operationally to actively manage the temporary impact on adj. EBITDA in the Mobile Communications segment, to continue the positive momentum in the IPTV business, and to ensure stable cash flow development as the basis for dividend capacity.

Conference call

The conference call on the results for the first quarter of 2026 will take place on Friday, 15 May 2026, at 10:00 am (CEST). Participation in the conference call is available via webcast (listen-only mode). A recording will be made available afterwards.

Key figures

Further documents relating to the publication

fn.de/downloadsir

¹ Including subscribers to the app-based tariffs freenet FUNK and freenet FLEX

² For the reporting period

³ Excluding O2TV subscription customers from the sales partnership with Telefónica Deutschland

⁴ With regard to the restatements for the first quarter of 2025, reference is made to the explanations in section 2.17 and 38 of the 2025 annual report.

⁵ The reference value comprises the prior‑year figures of the Other/holding segment and the value of Media Broadcast

Contact

Investor Relations    

Phone: +49 (0)40/ 513 06 778   

Email: ir@freenet.ag    

Public Relations

Phone: +49 (0)40 / 513 06 777

Email: pr@freenet.ag