NAGA Group: Lessons from a Nine-Year Struggle for Profitability

The NAGA Group AG has reported its first-ever profitable first half since its founding, swinging to a net profit of €0.9 million in H1 2026 from a net loss of €2.6 million in the same period a year earlier. The Hamburg-based fintech credited tighter cost control, AI-assisted operations and a strategic shift toward higher-value clients for the turnaround.

Group revenue fell 12% year-on-year to €27.7 million, or €28.6 million on an FX-adjusted basis, reflecting a deliberate move away from volume in favour of client quality. Reported EBITDA climbed 47% to €4.4 million, and rose 64% to €4.9 million when currency effects were stripped out, lifting the reported EBITDA margin from 9.3% to 15.9%.

Cost efficiency drove much of the improvement. Marketing spending was cut 25% to €11.2 million, reducing its share of revenue from 46.5% to 40.5%. Operating, personnel and technology expenses dropped 20% to €8.8 million, helped by an AI-supported operating model. NAGA added that average customer lifetime value jumped 32% to €2,757, while customer acquisition cost held steady at €1,117, raising the CLV/CAC ratio to 2.5x from 2.2x.

CEO Octavian Patrascu said the strategic repositioning is 'gaining traction' and that reaching first-half profitability is a milestone. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance of group revenue between €68 million and €75 million and EBITDA of €10 million to €15 million.

The result marks a potential turning point after a turbulent decade. Founded in August 2015 by Yasin Qureshi, Benjamin Bilski and Christoph Brück, NAGA built its SwipeStox platform, later renamed NAGA Trader, around social and copy-trading features. The company attracted high-profile backers including China's Fosun Group, which became an anchor shareholder in 2017, Deutsche Börse Group through a joint venture in Switex GmbH, and German private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser.

NAGA went public in 2017 and raised $50 million in an initial coin offering during the crypto boom, but later suffered a sharp stock decline, accounting restatements and tens of millions of euros in impairments. With a profitable first half on the board, the company is betting its leaner, AI-driven model can sustain the recovery.