The payments group presents the plan for 2028. Extraordinary charges linked to the performance of the sector on the stock exchange. CEO Bertoluzzo: «Our positioning on the European market is unique»
Nexi raises its dividend and is preparing to distribute 1.1 billion in coupons to shareholders over the next three years. The payments group will pay members €350 million this year and aims to maintain this level of remuneration for the next two budgets. «It is one of the highest dividends in the sector», said Paolo Bertoluzzo, CEO of Nexi, presenting the new industrial plan. «We preferred it to the buyback because we want to give a message of continuity to investors», added the manager, explaining why the group decided not to replicate the 300 million share buyback concluded in 2025.
The stock market crash
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On the stock market, however, the stock opened in heavy red, with a drop of 20% in mid-morning. «The market period is not particularly calm, but we have presented a plan that guarantees long-term growth and this is our responsibility as a strategic platform, investing in products, technologies and growth areas”, commented Bertoluzzo. «Not all investors appreciate this prospect and the absence of buybacks – he continued – We are having a shift in our shareholder base from investors looking for high-growth companies to investors looking at cash generation and we will produce 800 million a year.”
The maxi-devaluation
In recent times, moreover, Nexi has suffered on the stock market (-34% in one year)as well as the entire payment chain, a due to fears about competition from big tech, fintech and now artificial intelligence. On this basis the group operated a «non-cash» devaluation of 3.7 billion of the goodwill which led to a loss of 3.4 billion in 2025. The maxi-devaluation was necessary “to realign the book values of the acquisitions made five years ago to the market multiples of our sector which have reduced”, said Bertoluzzo, referring to the paper-for-paper purchases of Sia and Nets.
The trend of the accounts
Net of this extraordinary charge, the group generated revenues of 3.6 billion, an operating margin of 1.9 billion and a profit of 783 million. Cash generation was 806 million and should remain at these levels in the coming years too, reaching a total of 2.4 billion in the three-year period. In addition to dividends, Nexi intends to use it to further reduce debt and for small acquisitions. Bertoluzzo recalled that this year, for the acquisition of the merchant book of Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Nexi will spend 150 million euros. «Today Nexi has consolidated a unique positioning in the European digital payments landscapeestablishing itself as a trusted platform capable of transforming the growing complexity of the sector into opportunities for citizens, businesses, banks and institutions”, underlined Bertoluzzo, also citing collaboration with the ECB for the digital euro.
Industrial plans
From the ordinary point of view, Nexi intends to defend its market share in Italy and in the Scandinavian markets, where it already holds around 50-60%. Then aim for increase its presence in German-speaking markets (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) and in Polandwhere there is a lot of room to grow, especially in the small and medium-sized business segment. Nexi then intends to invest in e-commerce payment solutions – which today represents around 6% of its turnover – and, obviously, in artificial intelligence. «First of all, it is a great opportunity for efficiency and within us we have 1,500 developers who are using AI with productivity improvements of more than 25%», said Bertoluzzo. «However, AI is also a tool for innovation and we are entering into agreements with Visa, Microsoft and other industry giants in the world of agent commerce which, however, will always require an underlying payment system».
