Good morning, this is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the doValue First Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Daniele Della Seta, Investor Relations of doValue. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, operator. I'm Daniele Della Seta, Head of Investor Relations at doValue. Today, I'm pleased to be joined by Manuela Franchi, our Group CEO, and Davide Soffietti, our Group CFO. We are glad to share with you our quarterly results. As usual, Manuela, we start by providing an overview of our results together with insights into the latest market and business trends. After that, Davide will give a detailed review of our financial performance for the period. At the end of our presentation, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for joining us today. I will now hand over to Manuela to begin.
Thank you, Daniele. doValue started 2025 on a strong note with a very positive quarter across key indicators and tangible strategic progress. This is also the first quarter fully consolidating the results of Gardant, and we are very pleased with how the integration is progressing, both operationally and commercially. We are proud to report that year to date, we have already generated EUR 9.2 billion GBV of new business, exceeding our full-year target of EUR 8 billion. On the back of this remarkable performance, we are now raising our new business target for 2025 to over EUR 12 billion GBV, reflecting the strength of our pipeline, cross-border commercial execution, and sustained client trust. We recorded the remarkable increase in gross revenue and EBITDA ex NRI, which more than doubled last year. Revenue reached EUR 141 million, and EBITDA ex NRI stood at EUR 51 million.
From a financial standpoint, we continue to deliver even in a low seasonality quarter, when historically leverage has increased. Leverage decreased to 2.3 times in March 2025, from 2.4 at year-end. The reduction was supported by strong free cash flow across the group and reflects our focus on financial discipline. We remain on track to reach 2 times leverage by the end of the year, in line with our guidance. Our revenue diversification strategy is also delivering results. Non-MPR revenue rose to nearly 40% of gross revenues, a meaningful step towards our 2026 target of 40%-45%. This was mainly driven by the continued and sustainable growth in value-added services, rooted in our strategy as outlined in the business plan. Lastly, our cash generation has significantly improved. In the first quarter, we achieved a strong cash conversion, above 90%, compared to 16% in Q1 2024.
As a result, free cash flow rose to EUR 32 million in first Q 2025, confirming our capacity to generate robust cash flows. Moving now to page three, we are closely monitoring the macroeconomic context, which is showing a clear upward trend in bankruptcy across Europe, including all of our core markets. This trend is particularly relevant given the nature of our business. Our business plan projections are built on conservative assumptions, including a stable macroeconomic environment and default rates of around 1%-1.5%, well below historical average. However, the reality is that the current environment is gradually deteriorating, and that may actually serve as a tailwind for our GBV inflows. A more challenging economy is expected to accelerate MPL formation, potentially generating up to EUR 30 billion in additional GBV to our overall addressable market.
At the same time, we expect the impact on collection to remain limited, given the nature of our portfolios. Around 90% of our IUM have vintages older than five years, and over 85% are either in judicial stages or classified as a REO. This structure shields our performance from short-term macro volatility. If you follow me on page four, you will see the tangible results of our commercial efforts. As of today, we have already generated EUR 9.2 billion in new business GBV, which is 15% above our full-year target just in the first few months of 2025. This outstanding performance was mainly driven by excellent results in the Lannit region, where both Greece and Cyprus won new mandates year to date. New mandates in the region also include EUR 0.9 billion from smaller and single-ticket transactions.
In Italy, the Group won significant new mandates, while in Spain, the Group also delivered positive results, winning the EUR 300 million new mandates from a leading banking institution and expanding the scope of products that we serve in the region on top of the forward flow, which are improving quality and therefore collectability. On forward flow, we recorded EUR 1.1 billion in the first quarter, already reaching more than half the initial target of EUR 2 billion. Based on the current pipeline and confirmed client discussions, we believe we are well positioned to maintain this momentum throughout 2025. As a result of the outstanding results delivered to date, we decided to increase the target of new business to over EUR 12 billion GBV for 2025, while we confirm our guidance on the other metrics.
Moving on page five, we are pleased to report a substantial expansion of the 18-month pipeline, from EUR 35 billion at the end of 2024 to EUR 27 billion. Importantly, this expansion is not the result of a shift in market dynamics, but rather the outcome of the strategic execution of our diversification plan. In the past year, we have defined the operating model and target ID infrastructure to enable segregated servicing for a new business segment, and the launch of the digital platform has marked a key milestone for doValue, unlocking the opportunities from non-financial receivables, significantly expanding doValue's addressable market. Non-financial receivables include corporate MP generated by telcos, utility companies, and wider corporate space, as well as tax receivables. Moving to page six, we touch further on the diversification roadmap, one of the key pillars of our business plan.
We are proud to share that all the initiatives we targeted have either been launched or are currently underway. Starting with our digital platform, which is now fully operational in Greece with all core capabilities live. We are now exploring the next phase of development, focused on restructuring functionalities. In Italy, the platform implementation is going with a solution ready to participate in tenders by June. In Spain, we already have operational digital functionalities thanks to capabilities acquired with Team4, which are being announced to cover the full debtor journey. Finally, in Cyprus, the rollout is set to start with go-live in Q3. Turning to fintechs, our mortgage broking business, despite being fully operational for less than six months, is growing very fast and already generating revenues.
The business signed an exclusive collaboration with the biggest real estate dealer in Greece, which provides leads for mortgages and has signed an intermediation agreement with the systemic bank. The MyHome2 initiative by the Greek government, offering 50% interest-free loans to new couples who want to purchase a home, is further supporting the number of leads generated by fintechs. With regards to doAdvice, our advisory business launched in the second half of 2024, it already generates profits both on doValue deals and on third-party deals, with third-party revenue well above our targets in 2024. We expect the function to continue its growth trajectory in 2025.
Moving on to our Stage Two Predictive Models, we completed the first iteration of the model, which identified the high-risk stage two borrowers before any credit events occurred, to enhance reporting and risk management tools relying on advanced datasets that go beyond credit and financial data points. We are currently starting the commercialization activity through a pilot program with Italian mid-sized banks, which will have the double effect of allowing the bank to trial the platform while we perfection the model. On the asset management side, we are leveraging Gardant's existing platform to launch more funds and internalize the business proposition to encompass opportunities in all countries where we operate. On top of these initiatives, we remain committed to expanding our specialized data services by expanding the client base to non-banking clients, enlarging the product offering, and the geographic reach of the data.
Thanks to all these efforts, the revenues from non-financial non-MPL activities have reached 39.5% of gross revenue in the first quarter, closing in towards our target of 40%-45% by 2026 of gross revenue coming from non-MPL products. Now, if you follow me to page seven, we provide you with a brief update on the integration of Gardant, which is progressing smoothly and in line with our expectations. This reflects our strong track record in managing complex integration, particularly in the Italian markets, where we have handled significant consolidation efforts in the past in this country. Today, we have successfully completed the initial migration of the master servicing platform to a unified system in preparation of the merger of Dunex and Master Gardant, which is scheduled for the beginning of July.
The filing for this merger has been submitted to Bank of Italy, and we expect a response by end of May. Looking ahead, we plan to merge Gardant and Gardant Special in January 2026, optimizing additional overhead costs and processes. In the meantime, we have rolled out a unified corporate governance model, aligning the rules across legal entities and reducing functional duplications. On the HR front, we have efficiently reallocated doValue FPE to support the Gardant portfolio, thus reducing the number of exits originally foreseen. At the same time, we have also closed the agreement with the unions for a voluntary exit plan, which is now active and being completed by June. Overall, the strong start of 2025 confirms our ability to execute strategic initiatives, drive operational synergies, and deliver on our value-added proposition. With this, let me hand over to Davide to cover the financials in more detail.
Thank you, Manuela, and good morning, everyone. Let's dive into the financials of the first quarter of 2025. Moving to page nine, you can see a summary of the first quarter financials. Overall, in Q1, we registered very positive results across all key metrics, with strong growth not only in revenues and EBITDA, but also on cash conversion. Gross revenues in the first quarter of 2025 were EUR 141.4 million, showing a strong double-digit growth of 45.6% versus prior year. Growth was achieved also by doValue standalone, thanks to strong growth in value-added services, which more than doubled year-on-year, continuing the positive momentum of the recent quarters. Net revenues rose to EUR 128.2 million, 48.5% higher versus Q1 for 2024, thanks to the continued impact of consolidation on outsourcing costs, which decreased by approximately 2 percentage points year-on-year, as percentage of gross revenues to 9.3% of revenues.
EBITDA ex NRI was EUR 51.4 million, more than double the Q1 2024 figure. EBITDA ex NRI grew double-digit, even excluding Gardant contribution, driven by strong revenues and cost containment initiatives. At group level, initial synergies were able to mitigate the impact of Gardant's cost base. EBITDA ex NRI margin at 36% grew over 10 percentage points year-on-year, despite the losses analogy normally shown in the first quarter, thanks to the creative impact of Gardant. Net income ex NRI was EUR 9.1 million, EUR 11.6 million higher than in the first quarter of 2024, thanks to the strong growth in EBITDA, which more than offset the increase in financial expenses and minorities. Moving now to page ten, we can find a breakdown of our gross revenues per region.
At group level, gross revenues grew plus 45.6% year-on-year, supported by Gardant contribution, initial synergies, as well as continued strong contribution of value-added services, which drove growth in gross revenues also on a standalone basis. Non-MPL revenues in Q1 2025 reached 39.5% of gross revenues, closing towards our target of 40.45% by end of 2026. Outsourcing costs as a percentage of gross revenues were 9.3%, down from 11.1% in Q1 2024. In the Lannit region, gross revenues increased by 8.3% year-on-year, mainly driven by UTP and value-added services, while MPL revenues were also positive versus the previous year. In Italy, gross revenues more than doubled year-on-year, driven by Gardant contribution and positive trends also on a standalone basis, with double-digit growth driven by UTP and value-added services, as well as secondary sales indemnities.
In Spain, revenues declined only by EUR 0.7 million year-on-year, as declining revenues were mitigated by improvements in all other categories. Moving to page 11, we show how we continue to contain the natural increase in operating costs and consolidation of Gardant's cost base through effective cost discipline measures and initial deployment of the synergies. In the first quarter of 2025, total operating expenses accounted for EUR 76.8 million, up only EUR 15.4 million due to a continued cost discipline across functions, which successfully contained the natural increase in operating costs from the consolidation of Gardant. HR costs were up by 27.7% versus Q1 2024, linked to the effect of Gardant's consolidation and to the increase in variable compensation following better-than-expected performance of the business. HR costs increased also in Greece due to the onboarding of new portfolios.
When it comes to IT, real estate, and SCGN expenses, we recorded an increase of only EUR 2.4 million year-on-year, thanks to the initial synergies that we were able to successfully mitigate the effect of Gardant's consolidation. Moving now to page 12, EBITDA ex NRI for the group was EUR 51.4 million, more than twice the EBITDA of Q1 2024. This variation was mainly driven by the increase of Italy and by the strong performance of UTP and value-added services driving revenues. EBITDA ex NRI margin increased significantly thanks to the accretive impact of Gardant. The EBITDA for the Lannit region increased by 7.7% year-on-year to EUR 23.3 million, driven by positive trends in UTPs and value-added services, which continue to grow sustainably in line with our strategy.
The region delivered an EBITDA margin of 44.7%, continuing to drive up group margins, 36.4% at group level, despite some onboarding costs of new portfolios in Greece. In Italy, EBITDA rose to EUR 28.8 million, up from EUR 4.7 million in Q1 2024, thanks to Gardant, as well as to positive contribution of UTP and VAS to gross revenues. Effective cost discipline measures coupled with initial synergies mitigated the impact of consolidation of Gardant's cost base. In Spain, EBITDA was slightly negative in a losses analogy quarter, driven by lower revenues mitigated by lower cost base, much improved versus first quarter of 2024, leaving the country on track to deliver positive EBITDA in the full year. Non-recurring costs were very limited during the first quarter, amounting to only EUR 500,000, leading to the reported EBITDA of EUR 50.9 million.
Moving to page 13, we show how EBITDA ex NRI is translating to a flattish reported net income, negative by EUR 0.9 million, up by over EUR 6 million year-on-year, and a solid EUR 9.1 million net income ex NRI, up nearly EUR 12 million year-on-year. This is a very positive outcome, showing our ability to significantly improve profitability despite the increase in financial charge and minorities. Breaking down the number, we start from a higher EBITDA, driven by positive momentum across key products and markets. Write-downs on property, plant, equipment, intangibles, loans, equity investments were EUR 20.7 million, in line with the collection curve.
Financial interest and commissions increased to EUR 20.1 million, driven by the interest on the new bond issued in February, which amounted to EUR 2.8 million, including amortized costs, the interest of the new term loan funding the Gardant transaction, which amounted to EUR 7.7 million, including amortized costs, and the residual interest on 2026 senior security notes that emerged in February of EUR 1.3 million. The line also includes EUR 7.3 million non-recurring costs related to the early redemption of the 2026 bond and of the portion of the term loan dedicated to reference 2026 bond, which has not been arrived. Income tax for the period was higher on the back of the higher EBITDA and the consolidation of Gardant's consolidating legal entities in Italy. Finally, minorities increased due to Gardant's partnership with Banco BPM and Interbanca.
The non-recurring items at net income level amounted to EUR 10.1 million, mainly due to the formation of costs related to the refinancing of the 2026 bond, as well as to a lower expense payment for the exit of employees. Moving to page 14, let's have a look at the cash flow dynamics, which improved significantly. Cash flow from operations in the quarter increased considerably to EUR 47.3 million from EUR 3.9 million in Q1 2024. Cash conversion achieved a remarkable increase in Q1 at 93% versus 16% in Q1 2024. This positive result was achieved thanks to a notable reduction in net working capital, thanks to improved control of the invoicing cycle for stabilization and positive dynamics in advance payments. CapEx was slightly higher year-on-year at EUR 2.2 million, mainly driven by Gardant.
Lease payments slightly decreased versus the previous year to EUR 6 million, despite Gardant's processes, thanks to the real estate efficiencies carried out by doValue throughout 2024. Redundancies also decreased year-on-year to EUR 2.4 million in the first quarter from EUR 4.2 million in the first quarter of 2023. Other change in other asset liabilities were mainly related to payments from provisional funds and remained in line with our expectations for the full year. Free cash flow was significantly higher than the previous figure at EUR 31.5 million, up from negative of minus EUR 16.7 million in Q1 2023. The EUR 48.2 million increase in free cash flow was a notable result, in line with our ambition to return to historical levels of cash generation. Investments in equity and financial assets include the runout for doing lease, which shifted from December 2024 to January 2025.
On page 15, we show our net debt and leverage position for the first quarter of 2025. At the end of the period, net debt stood at EUR 504.1 million, down from EUR 514.4 million recorded at the end of 2024. During the first quarter, we successfully issued the EUR 300 million senior security notes due 2030 with a 7% coupon rate, which allowed us to refinance the EUR 296 million senior security notes due 2026. With this transaction, we successfully extended all the group's maturities. We closed the quarter with a solid cash position of EUR 143 million and enjoyed a liquidity buffer of EUR 273 million, including on raw revolving credit facility lines.
Net leverage at the end of March decreased to 2.3x on a pro forma basis with 12 months of Gardant's EBITDA, already decreasing from the 2.4 level at December 2024, supported by very positive cash flow dynamics and despite the EUR 11 million earn-out paid in Q1 of doValue. In this context, our corporate rating was confirmed as Double B with stable outlook in February, and our new bond trades at one of the lowest yields of the industry, reflecting the solidity of our upslide business model. Let's now move on to page 16. To conclude, we have a very positive quarter, which gives us confidence in our ability to reach the guidance for the full year of 2025 that we communicated in February.
As a reminder, the guidance implies gross revenues between EUR 600 million-EUR 650 million, EBITDA ex NRI between EUR 210 million-EUR 220 million, and net leverage at 2.2x , thanks to continued positive cash flow generation. With regards to GBV, we increased the end-of-the-year target to EUR 135 billion-EUR 140 billion, given the strong dynamics in new business figures to date, and the increased target of EUR 12 billion plus of new business expected for the current year. This is it on our side today. Thank you all for your attention. We will now take your questions.
This is the Chorus Call Conference Operator. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on their touch-tone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and 2. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions.
Anyone who has a question may press Star and One at this time. First question is from Tommaso Nieddu, Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Hello, and thank you for taking my questions. Great results. Well done. I have three questions, please. The first one is, sorry again, on value-added services. I already asked it on the last quarter, but, it seems, again, this quarter was very strong and well ahead of expectations. Can you give us a little bit more color on what were the drivers behind and what we should expect for the full year? The second question is on the working capital dynamics. Two quarters in a row with good cash release. Can we consider the issue solved? And perhaps can you help us out to see it going forward? The third question is on Gardant.
If you can help us understand what was the contribution in the quarter in both revenues and EBITDA. Thank you.
Yeah. I'll take the first and the last, and Davide will address the working capital one. On VAS, as we told you, since our business plan last year, we have made a significant effort in launching new products and also announcing the product scope we have. I would say that we have primarily three, four products which are contributing to most of the growth. Clearly, the real estate business, especially on the big front, the data offer on the Italian front, which was primarily focused on capital portfolios. Obviously, we expanded it to Gardant, but the major contribution comes also from new clients outside the captive clients.
We have grown significantly the legal services segment, especially on the Italian market, but we are growing and creating also a new business line in Spain, for example, and all the other activities related to master servicing and the asset management business, which partially we had and partially we acquired with the Gardant transaction. We have launched last year the two new ventures, which are Synthesis and doAdvice, which are growing beyond our expectations and give us the opportunity to tackle new segments. This is only on value-added services.
Clearly, there is also the big effort on the non-MPL servicing that is everything to do with UTP, earlier performing, and non-financial receivables that we have a double contribution also to the new contracts of Gardant on the deeper side, but also winning the mandates we had on the Festo Fund end of last year, which are now contributing very good results and opening up all the walls on non-financial receivables that we used to manage all in Spain through the acquisition of Team4 and have now started to manage also with new tenders in Greece with the digital platform. We will start in this quarter, the second quarter, also in Italy with tenders we have participated in the first quarter, and we will start progressing well during the next quarter.
All in all, an effort from all the products we have launched and the existing products with the renewed business development team, which we strengthened at the beginning of last year that we had announced, which is bringing results. In terms of Gardant, we had said at the beginning when we announced the result of 2024 that Gardant was contributing around EUR 50 million out of the adjustable EUR 50 million out of the EUR 210 million, EUR 11 million of EBITDA out of 24, so around 30%-35% contribution on revenue and EBITDA. This has been consistent also in the 1 Q. The overall performance above these targets, which is clearly the plus 45% on the revenue side and plus 100% on the EBITDA side, has been contributed mostly by the remaining perimeter, which has been growing.
The doValue standalone Italy performance has grown on the value-added services by a significant level based on the initiative I mentioned that had started already beginning of last year. The same for Greece on the value-added services side for the initiatives we launched in the second half of the year. Therefore, there's been a steady progression on all the fronts.
On the working capital that I mentioned, we are very happy with the results because we are going exactly where our guidance at the beginning of the year. We can say that the issue of the previous year has been resolved. The actual number seems exactly this. We have a target to have this positive trend from working capital by the end of the year of about EUR 10 million- EUR 15 million. We are working to improve this effect. This effort is very positive.
This comes also from Greece, where we had the diminish on the advance payment that now we have resolved, but also the positive contribution of Gardant that is very positive dynamic in the net working capital. Our focus remains, but I would say that we will continue this trend, and the cash flow will benefit from these dynamics.
Thank you.
Next question is from Simonetta Chiriotti, Mediobanca. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everybody, and congratulations for this strong quarter. My first question is on the trend in net debt. You have reported a free cash flow of EUR 19 million, but the debt decreased by EUR 10 million. If you could help us to understand this difference and if we should expect similar impacts in the coming quarter. The second question is more in general, a general question.
I would like to understand how repeatable is this extremely positive quarter, so the trend underlying how repeatable they are in the coming quarters, also because you have strongly increased the target on new business while you have confirmed all the other targets, while underlying that the macroeconomic context is favorable. If you could elaborate on this broader picture. Thank you.
Good morning, Simonetta. We'll take the first question. The topic I like is related to the fact that, as you know, we have reimbursed the 2025 bond in December, paying all the interest that were due in December, and then we have issued a new bond, a terminal loan, at the beginning of the year.
Because we used to report in our gross debt also the interest that's matured, but we do not pay, we have this EUR 10 million of interest due in the first quarter, but we are netting that we did not pay. This is increasing our gross debt position. This will not be recurring because this happens mainly because we have closed the bond at the end of the year. When we start to pay on a running basis, the interest in June, every six months, the effect will be quite neutral. I think the EUR 10 million effect is mainly in this quarter, and then already in June, we will normalize.
On the second question, as you have noticed, I think since the business plan, we want to be very comfortable with our targets.
Clearly, the new business targets could not be confirmed and had to be increased because we are already over it, and we are increasing to a reasonable place where we think we can definitely achieve it. The same for the other targets. Although the market environment, the activities we are doing internally, and new products are progressing in the right direction, we prefer to upsize any targets only when we are 99% confident that we can beat them. That is why we take a conservative stance on them. All in all, positive, but at this stage, we still have nine months in front of us, and three quarters of the EBITDA to come. We prefer to keep it with conservativeness.
Also on the free cash flow side, where Davide has shown a progression which probably goes beyond our expectation, and that could be potential upside that we will confirm later on in the year observing the next quarters. The activity is there, is in place. The teams are working in the right direction to make it happen. Just to understand, the fact that you have confirmed these targets in the presence of such a strong quarter does not mean that this quarter is in any way exceptional. No, correct. The only thing is that there were some initiatives and contracts on the value-added side that in our trajectory were happening in the second quarter, and that we were faster in terms of execution of the agreements to close them in the first quarter, but they were in our plan already. It is in line with the expectation.
It has accelerated some of the successes we thought we would gather later on in the year. Obviously, if we are able to anticipate other of these successes along the way, we will be better than the results we have announced. We have a few initiatives that are not even in our budget that we are pursuing anyhow, which could create potential upside.
Thank you.
Next question is from Davide Giuliano, Equita. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my question. The first one is on cash for 2025 and 2026. Could you remind us the moving parts, particularly regarding items below free cash flow and in particular changing other assets and liabilities both for 2025 and 2026? The second one is on M&A.
In an interview a few weeks ago, you mentioned possible expansion into continental Europe while previous rumors suggested you were more focused on certain opportunities in Spain. Could you comment on your priorities in terms of cash allocation and specifically regarding M&A, which geographies you find most interesting? The third one on Greece, were there any indemnity fees in Greece during the quarter, and how many were in the same period last year, if any, and more broadly, if you can comment on the dynamics do you expect for the geography in the coming quarter, also considering the strong mandates you secured in the first quarter of this year? Thank you.
Sorry, I was muted. Good morning, Davide. Take the question on cash flow and the indemnity in Greece.
On cash flow, as I always say, we are confirming the guidance for 2025, also for 2026, and we are working to improve the 2025. The main dynamics are we have a CapEx that is the guidance was to be around EUR 22 million. We have for only 2025 a positive impact of the working capital from EUR 10 million-EUR 15 million that is already now shown in this first quarter with plus EUR 10 million. On other assets and liabilities, we have the leasing that could be around EUR 18 million-EUR 20 million. We have the redundancy that has been included in the 2025 budget of EUR 10 million, EUR 15 million, sorry. We have also the extended CapEx in 2025 related to the synergies we need to reach in Gardant is another EUR 5 million.
We have the financial charts that are roughly EUR 40 million-EUR 42 million, and the tax we pay that is between EUR 35 million and EUR 40 million. For this year, we have already paid the EUR 12 million overnight that we'll have also in 2026, EUR 12 million, and then this amount will not be paid in 2027, 2028, 2029. We have the last installment in 2030 of EUR 16 million. We also charge minorities that are in the range of EUR 7 million-EUR 8 million per year. Sorry, on the indemnity in Greece, as we mentioned last year, when we gave our guidance, we will say that the range of the guidance was mainly related to the potential secondary sales we were managing in Greece. At the end of the year, we did not close a couple of sales in Greece.
We were able to close in the first quarter, and we have continued to have the same dynamic and provisional and the forecast also for 2025 because we consider the secondary sales as an ordinary course of business. We will continue to have those sales. Also because thanks to the onboarding of the portfolio, we announced that we would like to maintain it also to increase a little bit the revenues coming from the secondary sales. I remind you that we are able also usually, as of today, we were able not only to gain from the sales fee when we set up the portfolio, but we are also able to keep, maintain the mandate on this GBV because the new buyer, new investor gave to us the mandate to manage the GBV.
On the other question regarding the M&A, our M&A strategy has not really changed in the sense that we continue to monitor markets with good dynamics in terms of our core business and the diversification of capabilities on the value-added servicing side. Spain is a country where we are smaller in size, so we continue to look there to grow, especially on the value-added servicing side, but so far nothing tangible. Otherwise, we would have obviously communicated. The continental Europe angle, which I mentioned, is just because these are countries where the level of delinquencies is increasing more than in Southern Europe on a relative basis, and where our traditional space, which is mid to large files secured, is not toggled with the same depth as it is in Southern Europe. By definition, they become interesting. This is the driver of that comment.
We have the leveraging part which we are pursuing, but as we said, the capital allocation is driven also by restarting the remuneration to shareholders that we would like to deliver from this year onward. In terms of dynamics of performance by country, clearly the business, the drivers are different by region. While in Greece, we have had onboarding on a relative basis of large portfolios, which will drive more of the growth compared to the value-added services, although they are developing very well. The size of the new mandate has been so large that on a comparative basis, that drives more the growth. In Italy, we are focusing on the profitable mandates because our priority is to deliver the integration of Gardant in a smooth and manner, which is obviously something we control in a much better way.
The effort on the value-added services is very relevant. The impact on the Italian numbers in that sense is significant. On the traditional business, as I said, focus on profitability. On the operating machine, focus on integration. On Spain, the growth of the non-financial receivable is the one which is progressing faster because we had already the operating model in place with Team 4, and also the new business from bank, both forward flow and new business, has been higher than the investor side. Clearly, there you see the effect versus last year of the restructuring we did last year on the cost base, and the effort to improve on that front continues while we look for opportunity to enlarge the value-added services proposition. The drivers are similar, but with a different weight by region.
Thank you.
Next question is a follow-up from Simonetta Chiriotti, Mediobanca.
Please go ahead.
Yes. A question on forward flows. They were EUR 1.1 billion in the first quarter. Is this amount like a recurrent one? And broadly speaking, where did they come from? And if you could remind us in terms of contract with banks, what is changing in the near term? Thank you.
Yeah. The forward flow are primarily contributed by UniCredit, Santander, Eurobank, Banco BPM, and Deutsche Bank. Clearly, the Santander, sorry, the UniCredit contract will terminate in October in terms of forward flow, while on the stock side, it's continuing. This is embedded in our estimates. On the Santander side, also the contract finished in October, but we are assuming a continuation, although the confirmation on that will come at the end of the second quarter.
The quality of the flow, and I had mentioned in my description before, is better in the sense that in the past, the Santander flows in the last two years were very much impacted by the IPO loans granted during and post-COVID by the government, which have lower collectability, while the new ones do not have these features to allow for higher collection on comparative terms in terms of similar size. The trends on the other contracts are pretty much in line with expectations. In the past, we had done in the last three years between EUR 3 billion and EUR 4 billion that we hope to improve this year based on a very good first quarter.
Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. Next question is from Valentina Sponza Duvalli. Please go ahead. Sorry.
Valentina is from our IR team, so probably there was only a mistake from the operator side. We do not have questions from IR.
Thank you. Next question is from Davide Giuliano, Equita. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for a follow-up. Just another quick question, if I may, regarding costs, because we have seen, in my view, little SG&A this quarter. I was wondering the outlook for next quarters and also in terms of integration costs related to Gardant. I remember about EUR 15 million in 2025. If you can remind us how many are expected in the coming quarters and how many have already been expensed to P&L. Thank you.
Yeah. The integration costs for the simulation of Gardant are EUR 10 million that are mainly related to the Gardant costs. We will have in the next quarter. Now we have EUR 2.6 million.
We will continue to have mainly in the second quarter and stay in the last part of the year. In terms of integration costs, in the CapEx, we had EUR 5 million that are still in the first quarter, just a number below EUR 1 million. So most of these costs will be in the second part of the year.
Thank you.
Sorry, I forgot. Also another question was on the SG&A.
No, it was only related to cost and SG&A selling and administrative expenses.
Yeah. The SG&A costs was already we have already impact of the synergies with Gardant in 2025. We have embedded in our plan the positive income, positive synergies coming from Gardant that will be mainly on HR part in the second part of the year. The SG&A benefit will come the last quarter and in 2026.
Thank you.
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