We are a leading, management-owned research boutique with a focus on companies from Europe. Our role is that of an intermediary between companies on the one hand and investors on the other.
Our research products are directly distributed to more than 200 mutual and pension funds, family offices and independent asset managers from Central and Eastern Europe, the German-speaking region, Scandinavia, France and UK. In addition, we publish our reports on platforms such as Thomson Reuters, Capital IQ, Factset, Researchpool.com, rsrchxchange.com, ERI-C.com, Visiblealpha.com, ISBNews and PAP, thus ensuring that they are available to institutions from around the world. By organising roadshows and conferences, we provide investors with direct access to corporate decision makers.
Our team consists of professionals with long capital market experience in both Western Europe and the CEE region.
Team
Adrian Kowollik
Adrian Kowollik is Managing Partner at East Value Research and the analyst covering the sectors Technology/Media/Telecom, IT, E-Commerce and Health Care. He graduated in Business Administration from Humboldt University in Berlin and has more than 8 years of experience in equity research and corporate finance. Adrian, who grew up in both Poland and Germany, is a strong believer in the concept of broker-independent equity research and the advantages, which it provides to both companies and investors. Linkedin profile
Mateusz Pudlo (Analyst)
Mateusz Pudlo is Analyst. He has a Bachelors‘s degree in Accounting and Finance from the Wroclaw Business School and a Master’s degree in Economics and Business from Erasmus School of Economics in Rotterdam. His tasks include the preparation of sector reports, company analyses and valuations. Previously, he worked as Assistant in Accounting at EY (Polish branch).
Yusuf Bilgic (Advisor)
Yusuf Bilgic is Advisor to East Value Research. During his impressive career, he was among others Managing Director, Head of Equity Sales & Equity Sales Trading at Lampe Capital in London (previously, part of the German Oetker Group); Director Equity Sales at the oldest German private bank Bankhaus Metzler in Frankfurt; and Vice President Cash Equity Sales Trading at Banco Santander in Frankfurt. Among his clients were institutional investors incl. long/short hedge funds from continental Europe, UK and the United Arab Emirates. Yusuf is based in London.
Michael Lexa (Advisor)
Michael Lexa is Advisor to East Value Research. He looks back at a successful career as Equity Sales among others at Centrobanca, Julius Baer and Dresdner Bank. Over the last 30 years, Michael, who is based in Milan, has been introducing Italian listed companies to DACH-based institutional investors.
Services
Research
We provide broker-independent research on companies that are headquartered in Europe. Our main focus is on small-, micro- and nanocaps, an area, which is usually below the radar of typical brokerage houses. Scientific studies have shown that broker-independent research can be very helpful for companies when it comes to increasing their market visibility and liquidity.
In addition to analysis of single companies, which can be either sponsored or fully independent, we also offer sector reports, whereby we leverage our sector expertise and knowledge of markets in Western and Eastern Europe. Investors can gain access to all our past and future research reports through 1. the relevant research platforms and 2. by purchasing a yearly subscription on our website.
Roadshows
For the companies, which we cover, we organise international roadshows. Thus, we provide them with access to new investor groups and help to diversify the shareholder structure. Through our broker partners, we can also act as an intermediary in capital market transactions.
Consulting for Start-ups
In addition to services for listed companies, we also offer advisory for European start-ups, especially when it comes to raising capital in CEE and Western markets.
Valuation Services & Corporate Finance
Our offering is complemented by valuation services as well as corporate finance advisory, which we are able to offer our clients through our partnership with the Berlin-based firm InveSP Capital Partners. InveSP Capital Partners provides M&A, restructuring and financing advisory services for smaller companies from Western and Eastern Europe. In the last years, it has completed transactions worth EUR >1bn, many of which were crossborder deals.
Imprint
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Conflicts of interest East Value Research GmbH has taken several measures to prevent conflicts of interest. One of these is that its employees are prohibited to trade in stocks from its coverage that is being sponsored e.g. by issuers. In addition, its employees are not permitted to accept gifts or any other beneficial contributions from individuals, who have an interest in the content of our research publications.
Owned by three members of its management board, who still control >50% of the votes, Wirtualna Polska Holding (WPL) is the largest Polish operator of online portals. Among its websites, there are wp.pl and o2.pl, the 2ndand 4th most popular online information portals in Poland, money.pl (No 1 financial portal in Poland), WP Sportowe Fakty (online sports service), pudelek.pl (No 1 entertainment portal), wakacje.pl (No 1 travel search engine), among others. Wirtualna Polska also operates the digital TV channel WP (available on the 8th multiplex (MUX8), on Cyfrowy Polsat and CANAL+ satellite platforms, in selected Polish cable networks and the Pilot WP service) and radio Open.fm (most popular internet radio in Poland). Since December 2024, the company has also been a strong international player in travel due to its acquisition of 100% of the Czech Invia Group for c. EUR 244m, which apart from Czechia is active in Germany (operates the popular travel search engine ab-in-den-urlaub.de there), Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Wirtualna Polska Holding currently has >2,000 employees and has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2015, when it debuted at an IPO price of PLN 32. Apart from 2020, the company has been a regular dividend payer, with its dividend policy foreseeing a DPS of PLN >1/year and a target payout ratio of max. 70%.
Below is an overview over the latest traffic statistics of its web portals:
Source: similarweb.com, East Value Research GmbH
Financials
Since 2014, Wirtualna Polska has demonstrated rapid growth, with revenues increasing at a CAGR of 22.8% to PLN 1.57bn in 2024 and EBITDA rising at a CAGR of 25.9% to PLN 446.8m. Between 2022 and 2024, the company recorded an average gross margin of 65.8% and an average ROCE of 14.2%. Following the acquisition of Invia Group — which, according to Wirtualna Polska, generated annual revenues of EUR 183m and adjusted EBITDA of EUR 37m in 2024 — WPL’s revenues reached PLN 912.8m in H1 2025 (+24.9% y/y). Adjusted EBITDA amounted to PLN 207.7m (+13.7% y-o-y, with a margin of 22.8%), while net income declined to PLN 3.2m (-91.7% y-o-y).
The sharp drop in profitability y-o-y was mainly driven by a 46.2% increase in external service costs (including, for instance, marketing and IT services), PLN 12.7m higher interest expenses, and a 34.7% increase in depreciation and amortization following the Invia acquisition in Q4/24.
Regarding business segments, Tourism has become the most significant for WPL, accounting for 48.7% of total revenues and 37.5% of total adjusted EBITDA in H1/25. Other key segments include Advertising (35.6% of revenues and 53.5% of adjusted EBITDA) — the most profitable segment, with an EBITDA margin of 34.1%— and Consumer Finance (12.8% of revenues and 7.5% of adjusted EBITDA). Thus, the group’s overall performance is dependent on the economic cycle.
As the Invia acquisition was financed with debt, WPL’s net debt increased to PLN 1.26bn after H1/25, up from PLN 482.6m at year-end 2024. Although net gearing of 140.5% is high, the structure of interest-bearing debt is favorable, with 94.8% being long-term. In H1/25, WPL generated solid net operating cash flow, up 20.7% y-o-y to PLN 297m.
Summary & Conclusion
Over the past 12 months, WPL’s share price has declined by 28%, significantly underperforming its benchmark index, the mWIG40, which delivered a 32.6% return over the same period.
Although WP’s share price currently trades below its 200-day moving average, the stock appears to present an attractive long-term investment opportunity. WPL is management-controlled, has a strong brand, an excellent track record, and ranks among the largest listed online groups in Central and Eastern Europe. The group has consistently generated EBITDA margins above 20%, and current sell-side consensus estimates for its EPS growth in 2026E and 2027E of 127.8% and 17.5%, respectively, stand well above the corresponding P/E ratios of 8.2x and 7.0x.
In terms of market potential, both advertising and travel spending in Central and Eastern Europe still offer significant growth opportunities compared with Western Europe. For instance, in Poland, advertising spend per capita remains roughly 3.5 times lower than in Germany, while household spending on travel in Poland, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia represents only 3–4% of total expenditures, compared to 6.1% in Germany.
This blog post is the result of our recent trip to Hungary, which amazed us with its rich historical heritage, cleanliness, and excellent transport infrastructure.
Like Poland, the modern Hungarian state emerged after World War I, following more than 370 years of foreign rule — primarily under the Ottoman and Habsburg empires. During most of World War II, Hungary collaborated with Nazi Germany, in contrast to Poland, whose underground army bravely resisted the occupiers. After 1945, both Poland and Hungary became communist countries and members of the Warsaw Pact. However, Hungary followed a more liberal path: its Communist Party allowed, for example, small private businesses, limited company-level decision-making on production and pricing, and travel to the West. As a result, by 1990, when the Soviet bloc collapsed, Hungary’s GDP per capita was more than 100% higher than Poland’s (USD 3,312 vs. USD 1,629).
However, over the last 35 years, Poland has developed more successfully than Hungary, largely due to the bold economic reforms implemented by Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz in the early 1990s. In contrast, especially since 2010, when Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party first gained an absolute parliamentary majority, Hungary’s macroeconomy has developed weaker and the country-which like Poland joined the EU in 2004-has faced significant international criticism—not only from the EU but also from global investors. The reasons include controversial reforms such as the nationalization of private pension assets, the alleged weakening of courts, the centralisation of media ownership close to the ruling party, and the rejection of several important EU initiatives e.g. on sanctions against Russia.
Poland vs. Hungary: Average GDP growth and nominal salary growth, current inflation rate, government deficit, public debt as % of GDP and unemployment
Sources: Polish Statistical Office, tradingeconomics.com, East Value Research GmbH
The Hungarian capital market vs. other CEE countries
With 40 listed companies and an annual turnover of c. EUR 9bn, the Hungarian stock exchange is the 2nd most liquid one in CEE – with >2x higher annual turnover than the Czech and >3x the Romanian one – but is far behind the Warsaw Stock Exchange (760 listed companies, c. EUR 175bn yearly turnover). The trading activity in Budapest concentrates on just four names: OTP (Bank), MOL (oil & gas), Richter Gedeon (Pharma) and Magyar Telecom (Telco). Despite a weaker economic performance and less solid public finances, the main Hungarian equity index BUX has outperformed the Polish WIG (both exclude dividends, which in both countries are significant) by a wide margin over the last 10 years (367.5% vs. 109.5%).
What are currently the most interesting stocks in Hungary?
In our opinion, only a handful of stocks on the Budapest Stock Exchange are actually tradeable for international investors.
While bank stocks—especially OTP—are fundamentally strong, we believe their valuations are currently at a peak and are likely to decline as central banks cut interest rates. However, several other companies appear undervalued, offer attractive dividends, and are expected to continue performing well.
The first of our top picks is Richter Gedeon, a vertically integrated specialty pharmaceutical company with global sales, >11,600 employees and a yearly R&D budget that corresponds to 10% of its annual sales. The company’s pipeline of projects includes several dozen projects in the areas of Neuropsychiatry, Biosimilars, Women’s Healthcare and Blood & Metabolism/Cardiology/Pain & Neurology, most of which have already completed or are currently undergoing clinical studies. Richter Gedeon has been paying attractive dividends (current DYield equals 4.8%) each year since 1995 and is currently trading at PEG ratios of just 0.65-0.70 based on analyst’ EPS estimates for 2025E-2026E.
Another company, which we like now, is Magyar Telecom, the largest Telco operator in Hungary and Northern Macedonia that is owned by Deutsche Telekom. Out of 9.6m Hungarians and 1.8m North Macedonians, Magyar Telecom has 6.6m mobile clients, 1.6m broadband, 1.4m Pay TV and 1.2m fixed voice customers. The company, which due to its stable cash flows has been able to pay dividends and conduct buybacks each year since 2020, is currently trading at an EV/EBITDA 2025E of 4.9x (Orange Polska: 5.3x, Hrvatski Telekom: 7x) and a DYield of 4%. Its net gearing equals 47.4% and is thus at a reasonable level.
Finally, our third pick is MOL, which is the Top 3 integrated oil and gas company in all countries of the fast-growing CEE/SEE region. In addition, it has upstream operations in the CIS region incl. Russia (which we consider the main risk), Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt. According to its latest investor presentation, with currently >25,000 employees it explores and produces oil (c. 94,000 of oil equivalents per day), has a capacity of 380,000 barrels per day in currently 3 refineries, operates 2 petrochemical facilities, >2,300 service stations and a 6,000 km natural gas pipeline in Hungary. Its current reserves equal 332,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Latest net gearing equals 17.4%, the current EV/EBITDA 2025E is historically low (2.6x vs. a 5-year average of 3x) and the DYield of 9.5% very attractive. In 2025E-2030E, MOL plans to spend 30-40% of its c. USD 1.9bn CAPEX on low-carbon circular projects in the areas of waste management, biogas production, green hydrogen and solar, among others.
Toya, which is based in Wroclaw/Poland, has been present on the market since 1990, when its predecessor Toya Import-Eksport S.C. was founded. In 2001, Toya was transformed into a joint-stock company and opened a distribution & logistics center in Wroclaw (Southern Poland). In 2003, it introduced the own brands YATO (hand & pneumatic construction, workshop and garden tools), STHOR (electrotools for construction and renovation work), VOREL (hand and pneumatic tools designed for electricians, locksmiths, service technicians, welders, plumbers and DIY enthusiasts), POWER UP/FALA/FLO (tools and devices for various applications) and started its international expansion: first to Romania – where today it has an office and warehouse with c. 7,000 sqm – and in 2008 to China (currently 29,250 sqm in the Zhejiang province). In Poland, Toya opened another warehouse in 2007 in Nadarzyn (24 km from Warsaw), which today has 26,370 sqm. Since its IPO in 2011, the company, which sells to >100 countries worldwide, has increased its revenues and EBIT at a CAGR of 11% to PLN 821m in 2024 and 7.2% to PLN 87.4m respectively. In 2024, 43.7% of its revenues stemmed from the Wholesale channel (sales from Poland, Romania and China), 11.8% from Retail chains (Poland & Romania) and 10.4% from Online (the company’s own web shops www.toya24.pl & www.toya24.ro as well as external popular online platforms, generates the highest gross margin of c. 46%). Last year, Toya’s international business accounted for 34.1% of its total revenues.
Einhell, which is based in Landau an der Isar/Germany, was founded in 1964. In 1968, it started its international expansion in Europe and Asia and in 1998 listed its shares on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Today, it has production facilities and warehouses in Germany (distribution, R&D, design and logistics center with a max. capacity of 2.3m products), in South-Western Hungary (production of battery packs and chargers incl. the Power X-Change battery platform mainly for European clients) and China (production of electro- and garden tools through external partners for international customers). Over the last 10 years, Einhell has increased its revenues at a CAGR of 10.3% to EUR 1.1bn in 2024 and its EBIT at a CAGR of 28.3% to EUR 101.2m. Last year, 61% of the company’s revenues stemmed from clients that are based in Western Europe incl. DACH, 12% from Eastern Europe and 27% from other parts of the world. While Einhell does not publish a detailed split of the share of distribution channels, it has made public in the past that most of its revenues are generated in stores for DIY enthusiasts and professional users. Proprietary products that are based on the Power X-Change platform account for >50% of Einhell’s annual revenues.
Profitability and Cash Flow
Over the past five years, both Toya and Einhell have consistently generated gross margins above 30% and delivered double-digit ROCE. While Einhell’s slightly higher gross margins suggest a more favorable product mix, including a greater share of own brands, its Polish peer has reported consistently higher EBIT margins—likely due to its main operations being located in countries with significantly lower wage costs than Germany.
Toya vs. Einhell: Gross margin, EBIT margin and ROCE 2020-2024
Sources: Company information, East Value Research GmbH
As the tables below show, in 2020-2024 Einhell has shown a stronger cash flow generation than Toya. In addition, due to a lower share of working capital in total sales it seems to better manage its working capital than its Polish peer.
Toya: Cash flow and working capital 2020-2024
Sources: Company information, East Value Research GmbH
Einhell: Cash flow and working capital 2020-2024
Sources: Company information, East Value Research GmbH
At the end of Q1/25 – the latest quarterly numbers that are available for both companies – Toya had a net gearing of 4.1% and Einhell 22.3%. 72.1% of the Polish company’s interest-bearing debt of PLN 61.5m was short term. In case of Einhell, its interest-bearing debt equalled EUR 134.3m (thereof 21% short-term).
Current valuation & conclusion
So far in 2025, Toya and Einhell generated a YTD return of 39.1% and 13.3% respectively.
Currently, the Polish company is valued at a P/E 2025E of 9.2x, which corresponds to a PEG ratio of 0.77 based on analyst’ consensus estimates. Its German counterpart is valued at a P/E 2025E of 11.3x (PEG = 0.92), which seems to be justified by its superior gross margins and cash flow generation. However, in terms of the PEG ratio the Polish company appears to be more attractively valued at present. An additional factor, which supports our bull case for Toya, is the announced share buyback of max. 12.5m shares at PLN 6-18 per share by 31/12/2027 (16.7% of total shares outstanding).
We expect that in the coming years, both companies will benefit particularly from the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) trend — driven by a growing number of people who believe they can complete home improvement projects more cheaply, more personally, and more sustainably themselves than by hiring contractors — as well as from a recovering construction sector, supported by declining interest rates.
