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Asseco Poland SA (ACP.WA)
Teknik & IT · Polsk IT-mjukvara & tjänster (holdingkoncern) · LTM Q1 2026
Analysis date: 2026-07-21
Price at analysis: PLN 186.15
Method: mttssn_manual_v1
Conviction: MEDIUM
BUY
Conviction: MEDIUM
Asseco creates real economic value — consolidated ROIC 16.3% vs 8% WACC, EP +PLN 812m — and sits on ~PLN 3.6bn net cash after the December Sapiens disposal. But ~42% minorities dilute parent capture (attributable owner earnings ~PLN 718m LTM) and a second straight year of acquisition goodwill write-downs flags fragile CGUs. On attributable earnings plus net cash the stock trades ~18% below fair value. BUY, medium conviction.
Adj. ROIC
16.3%
WACC 8% → spread +8.3pp
Economic Profit
+PLN 812M
+PLN 812m consolidated; parent captures ~58%
FCF Yield
n/a
Record-based; net cash ~PLN 3.6bn funds returns
Price / Target
PLN 186 → PLN 220
+18% base; BUY
Revenue (LTM)
PLN 17.1B
LTM Q1'26; continuing ops, IT software & services
EBIT Margin
10.2%
Op margin 11.7% Q1'26 (post-Sapiens simplification)
EV / IC
n/a
Enterprise value / invested capital
Net Debt
n/a
Net cash ~PLN 3.6bn
Thesis

Asseco Poland is a founder-led IT software and services holding — proprietary banking and public-sector software plus long-tenured maintenance contracts (concluded for indefinite periods with termination notice), consolidated across the Formula Systems and Asseco International sub-groups. Adjusted consolidated ROIC of 16.3% against an 8% WACC produces genuine economic profit of +PLN 812m on a PLN 9.7bn capital base.

The critical subtlety is the NCI trap: reported consolidated net profit (PLN 3,628m) is dominated by minorities (68.6%) and by the one-off Sapiens disposal gain. On a continuing, attributable-to-parent basis true owner earnings are ~PLN 718m LTM, and NCI is ~42% of group equity — so the parent captures a little over half of the headline return. Every per-share read here uses attributable earnings.

Capital allocation is sound at the top (net cash ~PLN 3.6bn, steady dividends) but the acquisitive edge is fraying: a second consecutive year of goodwill write-downs (PLN 145m FY25, chiefly ASEE/Touras in India/UAE) says the acquired book is not reliably earning its cost of capital in the weaker CGUs.

Valuation · reverse-DCF & scenarios

Anchoring on attributable owner earnings of ~PLN 718m LTM at ~20x, plus the ~PLN 3.6bn net-cash pile (PLN 44/share), fair value is ~PLN 220 — roughly 18% above the PLN 186 price. Stripping the cash, the operating business trades at ~16x attributable earnings, undemanding for a franchise earning 16% ROIC.

Base PLN 220 (+18%) on a re-rate toward fair value; bull PLN 260 as core IT-services growth and the software mix compound attributable earnings; bear PLN 155 if goodwill write-downs recur in the fragile CGUs and IT budgets tighten, compressing the multiple.

Market-implied growth
-26.0%
NOPAT CAGR over 5y the EV already requires
No-growth value / share
PLN 335
180% of price; rest = priced-in growth
ROIC − WACC
+8.3 pp
ROIC 16.3% vs WACC 8.0% — positive = value creation
CAP (priced-in)
0.0 yrs
years of excess returns the price implies (fades to WACC)

The market pays today’s enterprise value for roughly -26.0% NOPAT growth over 5 years. The business earns 16% on capital against a 8% cost of capital (spread +8.3 pp); the no-growth value is PLN 335/share (180% of price), so the rest is priced-in growth.

Scenario24m targetImpl. gUpsideProb.Driver
BullPLN 260-11%+40%35%Core IT-services growth + software mix compound attributable earnings
BasePLN 220-18%+18%45%Re-rate toward fair value on attributable earnings + net cash
BearPLN 155-35%-17%20%Goodwill write-downs recur; IT budgets tighten; multiple compresses
Prob-weightedPLN 221+19%100%Scenario-weighted expected value

Sensitivity — fair value / share at WACC × growth

WACC \ g0%3%5%8%10%15%
6.50%439480509556590683
7.25%379411433469495566
8.00% (base)335360378406426480
8.75%302322336359374416
9.50%276292303321334366

Green = fair value above the current price of PLN 186.15. The reverse-DCF conclusion is dominated by WACC and growth — see the whole surface, not a single fair value.

Method & data. NOPAT PLN 1,590, invested capital and ROIC 16.3% are observed (adjustments.json); WACC 8.0% and terminal g 2.5% are assumptions. EV→equity uses net debt PLN -3,577. The model holds ROIC constant (no fade) over the explicit horizon; the CAP figure instead fades excess returns to WACC.

⤓ Download the full model (.xlsx) — formula-driven sheets; flex the blue input cells and the model cascades in Excel.

Key drivers

1. Above-WACC returns

Consolidated ROIC 16.3% vs 8% WACC with EP +PLN 812m — durable value creation from a sticky software installed base.

2. Fortress balance sheet

~PLN 3.6bn net cash post-Sapiens funds dividends, buy-ins of minorities, and bolt-ons without dilution.

3. Recurring maintenance base

Indefinite-term IT-maintenance and outsourcing contracts give a visible, high-retention cash-flow core.

4. Attributable-earnings discount

~18% below fair value on the honest attributable read plus net cash — a real margin of safety.

5. Minority buy-in optionality

Cash could be deployed to lift the parent's share of group economics, closing the NCI drag.

Key risks
Conclusion

Asseco is a founder-led IT compounder earning well above its cost of capital with a fortress net-cash balance sheet, trading ~18% below fair value on the honest attributable-earnings read. BUY, medium conviction; base target PLN 220 (+18%).

The conviction cap is governance-and-structure: 42% minorities dilute the parent's share of returns and a recurring pattern of goodwill write-downs in the acquired CGUs is the key watch-item. A clean impairment-free year would support an upgrade.

Footnote evidence & sources

Every adjustment traces to the cited note/page in the source filing — click to open it there. Annual report / 10-K: 📄 open  ·  Latest interim: 📄 open

Adjustment / figureValueSourceWhy mttssn treats it this way
LTM revenue (continuing ops)17,135FY IS p.4 / Q IS p.6 note 5.1FY2025 continuing 16,779.8 − Q1'25 restated 4,043.8 + Q1'26 4,399.4. Continuing operations only — Sapiens revenue reclassified to discontinued (note 2.10 restatement removed 533.1 from Q1'25 revenue).
LTM operating profit / EBIT (continuing)1,741FY IS p.4 / Q IS p.6FY2025 1,615.0 − Q1'25 restated 386.3 + Q1'26 512.6. Continuing ops; Sapiens operating profit (83.8 in Q1'25) excluded via note 2.10 restatement.
Net income attributable to PARENT (continuing, LTM)718FY IS 'Attributable to Shareholders of the Parent, from continuing operations' p.4 note 6.6 / Q IS p.6FY2025 continuing-to-parent 617.8 − Q1'25 128.5 + Q1'26 228.4 = 717.7. NOT total consolidated NI (FY reported total 3,628.5 incl. 2,467.0 Sapiens-disposal discontinued). Continuing consolidated NI is 1,347.3 (parent 717.7 + NCI 629.6).
DISCONTINUED-OP split reconciliation (Sapiens)2,467FY IS p.4 note 3.11 / Q note 2.10 restatement p.20Sapiens sold 17 Dec 2025 (loss of control), classified discontinued per IFRS 5. FY2025 discontinued NI 2,467.0 (of which 520.9 to parent, 1,946.1 to NCI — disposal gain). Q1'25 restatement note 2.10 reconciles EXACTLY: as-reported EBIT 470.1 − discontinued 83.8 = 386.3 continuing; as-reported continuing NI 350.1 − 70.5 = 279.6. All flow figures encoded continuing-only.
NCI split of consolidated net income (FY2025)2,490FY IS p.4 / note 7.7FY2025 total consolidated NI 3,628.5 split parent 1,138.7 / NCI 2,489.8 (NCI took 68.6% of consolidated — dominated by Sapiens disposal gain to NCI 1,946.1). On CONTINUING basis: parent 617.8 / NCI 543.7. LTM continuing NCI 629.6. NCI is ~42% of group equity (5,697.9 of 13,484.8, Q1'26 BS p.9).
Goodwill impairment (FY2025) — post-tax add-back145Note 6.3 other operating expenses p.63 / note 7.5 impairment tests p.93ASEE Group (Touras India + Touras UAE) 132.1m + ACE/XANTA 0.6m (Asseco International) + Nextbank 12.3m (Asseco Poland). In other operating expenses. Non-tax-deductible (tax recon p.94 adds 28.9m to tax for impairment non-deductibility). SECOND consecutive year (FY2024 was 24.7m). Post-tax add-back = full 145.0.
Intangible/PPA impairment ZAP customer relations (FY2025) — post-tax add-back71.5Intangibles note p.75-76 (business-combination column impairment)Impairment of ZAP Group customer-relations recognized in PPA (Formula Systems segment). Part of FY2025 total intangible impairment 89.7m; residual ~18.2m other items excluded from clean add-back. Added back post-tax.
Impairment-test assumptions (discount rate / growth / headroom)0Note 7.5 impairment tests + sensitivity p.92-95FCFF value-in-use, 5-yr detailed forecast (2026-2030) + residual. Post-tax discount rates applied in model: Formula Systems 7.7-8.0% (residual 8.4%), ASEE 9.4-10.4% (residual 10.9%), Asseco Central Europe 7.8-7.9%. Pre-tax rates up to 12.8% / 13.5% residual. Headroom (limiting CAGR to reach carrying value): ASEE only −23.4% (thinnest — just impaired), most CGUs deeply negative or infinite (large headroom). ASEE/Touras is the fragile acquisition capital.
PPA amortization (LTM, KEPT in opex)200FY segment non-cash items p.49 / Q p.33FY 207.0 − Q1'25 52.3 + Q1'26 45.1. Amortization of acquired intangibles from business combinations (customer relations, backlog, tech). mttssn does NOT add back — recurring roll-up cost.
Share-based comp (LTM, KEPT in opex)63.2FY segment non-cash items p.49 / Q p.33FY 65.3 − Q1'25 13.6 + Q1'26 11.5. Stock-option plans (Matrix / Magic / Sapiens-legacy). Kept in opex.
Capitalized development spend (FY2025)64Development-projects note p.76Internally-generated software capitalized (Asseco Poland 18.7 + International 33.6 + Formula 11.7). mttssn expenses it (R&D reversal). vs FY2024 75.5m.
Amortization of internally-generated software (FY2025)76.6Intangibles roll-forward, 'Internally generated software' column p.75Amortization charge FY2025. Net vs capex 64.0 = +12.6 pretax R&D reversal.
Internally-generated software NBV + dev-in-progress (removed from IC)273Intangibles roll-forward NBV 31 Dec 2025 p.75Internally-generated software NBV 215.1 + development projects in progress 58.0 = 273.1 removed from IC (capitalized_rd_removal). Externally-financed capital only.
Total equity (31 Mar 2026)13,485Q BS equity p.9Parent 7,786.9 + NCI 5,697.9. Includes +63.7m translation reserve (OCI, stripped).
Non-controlling interests (31 Mar 2026)5,698Q BS equity p.9 note 6.4~42% of group equity. Retained in IC (consolidated basis).
Interest-bearing debt (31 Mar 2026)2,818Q BS p.9 note 6.101,420.7 non-current + 1,397.6 current bank loans/borrowings/debt securities. Leases excluded.
Cash and bank deposits (31 Mar 2026)6,581Q BS p.8 note 6.8Large net-cash post-Sapiens disposal. 342.7 operational (2% rev), 6,238.0 excess subtracted from IC.
Quality · Buffett tenets11 / 15
Understandable business
IT software & services holding — mission-critical banking/public-sector systems, own maintenance IP; understandable model but sprawling group consolidated across Formula Systems / Asseco International with ~42% minorities adds complexity.
Durable moat
[byteskostnader · stabil] high switching costs — IT-maintenance contracts concluded for an indefinite period with termination notice, sticky public-sector/banking installed base; test: consolidated ROIC 16.3% > 8% WACC persistently, EP +PLN 812m. Falsifier: SaaS/cloud displacement of on-prem core banking or loss of a major public-sector framework. Frame: ROIC−WACC, spread positive; acquired ASEE/Touras CGUs contest the moat at the edges.
Able & honest management
[allokering · candor] founder-led (Góral), fortress balance sheet (~PLN 3.6bn net cash post-Sapiens), steady dividends; candid — impairments taken promptly. Röd flagga: SECOND consecutive year of acquisition goodwill write-downs (PLN 145m FY25 vs 24.7m FY24, ASEE/Touras India/UAE the recurring problem child) signals soft M&A discipline in the fragile CGUs.
Financial strength
Consolidated ROIC 16.3% vs 8% WACC, EP +PLN 812m (8.3% margin on IC), net cash ~PLN 3.6bn — a genuine fortress. Caveat: 42% NCI means the parent captures only ~58% of group returns; attributable owner earnings ~PLN 718m LTM.
Margin of safety
On attributable owner earnings (~PLN 718m) at ~20x + net cash, fair value ~PLN 220 vs PLN 186 price — ~18% discount. Reverse-DCF on consolidated NOPAT overstates per-share value because it ignores the minority claim; the attributable read is the honest one.