Orange Polska Raises Guidance on Record Growth, Pivots to Defense and Clarifies Data Center Stance
Strong Q2 2026 results driven by IT&IS and wholesale; company lifts EBITDA and cash flow guidance, signs first defense contract, and tempers AI data center ambitions.
OPL.WA · Earnings Call · 2026-07-28
Strong Results, Higher Ambitions
Orange Polska (OPL.WA) delivered a standout Q2 2026, with revenue up 12% year-over-year and EBITDA up 3% despite a tough comparison that included a PLN 75 million one-off in the prior-year quarter. The company raised its full-year guidance across revenues, EBITDAaL, and organic cash flow, citing strong commercial momentum and cost transformation gains. CEO Liudmila Climoc noted, “As a consequence, we are raising our full year guidance in most areas, so for revenues, for EBITDAaL and for organic cash flow.” — Liudmila Climoc, CEO · 2026-07-28 This marks a notable shift from earlier expectations, with EBITDA growth now guided above 6% for the year, up from the initial 3%–5% range.What Changed: Defense Contract and Data Center Strategy
Perhaps the most significant strategic development is the company's first major contract in the defense sector. While management remained vague due to confidentiality, CEO Liudmila Climoc described it as “a significant milestone, although we are bound by confidentiality” — Liudmila Climoc, CEO · 2026-07-28 and added that contributions will begin in 2027. This expands Orange Polska's addressable market beyond traditional telecom and IT services, aligning with growing geopolitical demand for secure communications and infrastructure. On data centers, the company took a clear—and somewhat contrarian—position relative to the broader market's AI-driven data center frenzy. In response to a question about large-scale AI data center investments, CFO Jacek Kunicki stated, “We do not envisage today huge projects such of the scale, as you have mentioned, and targeting the AI boom, but would rather be continuing to look for ways to serve our business customers with this low-intensity data center services.” — Jacek Kunicki, CFO · 2026-07-28 This positions Orange Polska as a provider of connectivity and value-added services around data centers rather than a developer of massive AI infrastructure, a strategy that is notably different from many peers and the global AI boom theme highlighted in the market tape.Consistency with Prior Themes
The company's focus on profitable growth and cost efficiency is a continuation of its "Lead the Future" strategy. In the Q1 2026 call, management emphasized the importance of cost transformation, with Jacek Kunicki noting, “What we are doing is we are attempting to be at least PLN 100 million greater impact of transfer for 2026.” — Dawid Gorzynski, Analyst · 2026-04-23 This commitment to controlling indirect costs and driving operating leverage is clearly paying off, as evidenced by flat indirect costs year-over-year despite strong revenue growth. The raised guidance also stems from the same levers, with the EBITDA growth now expected to outperform initial forecasts. Wholesale and IT&IS remain key growth engines. In Q2, IT&IS revenues surged 50%, driven by a backlog of digital transformation and infrastructure contracts, while wholesale grew 17% despite the loss of a national roaming contract. Management emphasized that nonrecurrent projects will continue to fuel wholesale, with CFO Jacek Kunicki stating, “It's not that we've run out of one-off projects. It's that wholesale is a lot about nonrecurrent projects, and we are working and developing those projects, and we're quite confident that wholesale will continue to deliver quite nice revenue growth.” — Jacek Kunicki, CFO · 2026-07-28 This agility in capturing project-based revenue is a recurring theme from prior calls, including the Q4 2025 discussion on wholesale momentum.So today, we stick to this. But clearly, our ambitions are at the high end of this guidance.