Viva Wine Group AB, the Stockholm-headquartered pan-European wine group, published its second-quarter interim report for the period April–June 2026 on 20 August 2026.
The report paints a picture of a company whose headline numbers look strong on paper — powered almost entirely by last year's acquisitions — while its underlying, organic business continues to feel the pinch of a jittery European consumer. The quarter's news was further overshadowed by a public takeover offer for the company announced just one day before the reporting period closed.
Headline Numbers: Growth Bought, Not Grown
Net sales for the second quarter climbed 21.2% to SEK 1,623 million (€146.1 million), up from SEK 1,339 million (€120.5 million) in Q2 2025. It's an eye-catching top-line jump, but the company is candid about where it came from: the acquisitions of Delta Wines (the Netherlands-based B2B distributor bought in May 2025) and Alpha Brands (a Norwegian non-alcoholic/low-alcohol beverage business acquired in February 2026). Strip those out, and the picture changes considerably — organic growth for the quarter was actually -3.7%, compared with +1.0% in the same quarter last year.
Profitability told a similar story of acquisition-fuelled expansion:
- Adjusted EBITA rose to SEK 108 million (€9.7 million), up from SEK 102 million (€9.2 million), though the adjusted EBITA margin actually contracted to 6.7% from 7.6% a year earlier.
- Operating profit (EBIT) was flat at SEK 79 million (€7.1 million), unchanged year-on-year, with the operating margin slipping to 4.8% from 5.9%.
- Net profit dipped slightly to SEK 46 million (€4.1 million) from SEK 47 million (€4.2 million), largely due to higher interest expenses tied to the debt raised for the Delta Wines acquisition.
- Earnings per share came in at SEK 0.45 (€0.041), down from SEK 0.50 (€0.045).
The one clear bright spot was cash generation: cash flow from operating activities more than doubled to SEK 51 million (€4.6 million), from SEK 22 million (€2.0 million) in Q2 2025.
For the first half of the year (January–June 2026), net sales reached SEK 2,974 million (€267.7 million), up 33.1% on SEK 2,234 million (€201.1 million), while organic growth for the half was -1.4%. Adjusted EBITA for the half rose 19.8% to SEK 183 million (€16.5 million).
Two Speeds: B2B Holds Firm, B2C Feels the Squeeze
Viva Wine Group operates through two segments — B2B (Nordic monopoly sales plus European wholesale/retail/restaurant trade) and B2C (a German-based pan-European e-commerce operation).
B2B remains the engine of the business, generating roughly 90% of Group sales. Segment net sales rose 24.7% to SEK 1,460 million (€131.4 million), again almost entirely acquisition-driven, with organic growth of -4.0%. Management pointed to a genuinely tricky comparison: this year's Easter selling period fell in Q1 rather than Q2, unlike in 2025, distorting the year-on-year comparison. Encouragingly, June 2026 was the first month in which Delta Wines was measured against a full prior-year comparison period — and it contributed positively to organic growth. The company also held its market-leading position in the Nordic monopoly channel, with a market share of 22.8% (up from 22.6%), and adjusted EBITA for the segment rose 22.4% to SEK 111 million (€10.0 million).
B2C, the smaller but strategically important e-commerce arm, had a tougher quarter. Net sales fell 2.1% to SEK 162 million (€14.6 million), with organic growth of -1.3%, as weak consumer sentiment weighed on online wine purchases. Adjusted EBITA dropped sharply, down 45% to SEK 6 million (€0.5 million), a decline the company attributes to stepped-up marketing spend aimed at customer acquisition. That spending does appear to be working in volume terms — active customers grew 5.9% to 395,000 and total orders rose 3.7% to 192,000 — even as the average order value fell 3.1% to SEK 846 (€76.1).
Balance Sheet: Deleveraging After the Delta Wines Deal
Viva Wine Group's net debt stood at SEK 1,337 million (€120.3 million) as of 30 June 2026, down from SEK 1,539 million (€138.5 million) a year earlier — a decline the company attributes to repayment of debt incurred for the Delta Wines acquisition. Net debt/EBITDA improved markedly to 2.6x, down from 4.1x a year ago, and now sits back within the company's medium-term target of staying at or below 2.5x (with temporary excursions permitted around M&A). The equity ratio stood at 34.6%, and total assets were SEK 5,237 million (€471.3 million).
CEO Commentary: Optimism Despite Headwinds
CEO Emil Sallnäs framed the quarter as one of "acquisition-driven growth in a challenging market," pointing to the war in the Middle East as a source of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty that has weighed on consumer sentiment across Europe. He highlighted continued strength in B2B, growth in the B2C customer base, and strong operating cash flow as the quarter's key positives, while acknowledging that increased freight and distribution costs, a weaker consumer backdrop, and currency volatility are all expected to keep pressuring performance in the near term. Sallnäs also noted the Group is "actively utilising AI, among other tools" to deepen customer relationships and boost customer lifetime value — and pointed to newly finalised climate targets as part of the company's sustainability transition plan (a 64% emissions cut in its own operations by 2035, among other targets).
The Elephant in the Room: A Take-Private Bid
The most consequential news of the quarter arrived on 29 June 2026, when a consortium — CEO Emil Sallnäs, along with Björn Wittmark and John Wistedt — announced, through a vehicle called Riesling Ventures AB, a public takeover offer for all outstanding shares in Viva Wine Group at SEK 38.5 per share in cash (approximately €3.47 per share). The company's independent bid committee has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer. The acceptance period runs from 31 July to on or around 28 August 2026.
Because the CEO himself is part of the bidding consortium, the take-private attempt adds an unusual layer of governance context to an otherwise fairly typical interim report — investors reading the Q2 numbers are, in effect, also evaluating whether SEK 38.5 per share represents fair value for a business that is growing through M&A but seeing negative organic sales.
After the Quarter: A Legal Claim Comes and Goes
In a coda to the reporting period, Viva Wine Group disclosed on 3 August 2026 that it had received a letter of claim from Aglaja AB, seeking SEK 125–155 million (roughly €11.3–14.0 million) in connection with the company's 2019 acquisition of Giertz Vinimport AB. The company stated it intended to dispute the claim as without merit — and just eleven days later, on 14 August, announced that Aglaja was no longer pursuing it, with no financial compensation changing hands.
The Bigger Picture
Viva Wine Group's Q2 2026 results underline a familiar tension for serial acquirers: reported growth looks robust, but the underlying, organic business is currently shrinking in both of the company's segments. Management's own explanations — a shifted Easter, geopolitical shocks dampening consumer confidence, rising freight costs — are plausible, but they will need to reverse for the "acquisition-driven growth" story to evolve into genuine, broad-based growth. With a takeover offer now on the table at SEK 38.5 per share, the market's verdict on that question may be settled well before the next interim report, due on 12 November 2026.
Source: Viva Wine Group