Mobily reports improved profitability in first half 2026

Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat Company, better known as Mobily, closed the first half of 2026 with a solid rise in profitability, giving investors another data point that the kingdom's telecom sector is holding up well even as competition across mobile, fixed line, and enterprise segments keeps intensifying. Net profit for the six month period climbed 12 percent year on year to SAR 1.8 billion, up from SAR 1.6 billion in the same period last year, while revenue rose 5 percent annually to SAR 9.6 billion. Breaking the numbers down by quarter shows the growth held up consistently rather than being driven by a single strong month. Second quarter net earnings alone rose 9 percent year on year to SAR 901 million, landing right around analyst expectations of roughly SAR 904 million. Quarterly revenue followed a similar pattern, increasing 5 percent to just over SAR 5 billion against a consensus estimate of about SAR 5.1 billion. The consumer segment played a meaningful role here, with revenue growth in that business partly credited to the Hajj season in May, a period that reliably drives a spike in mobile usage and data consumption across Saudi Arabia. The wholesale segment performed even better on a relative basis, adding 10 percent, continuing a trend from earlier in the year where wholesale had been benefiting from deeper partnerships with hyperscale cloud providers and rising demand for data and AI related connectivity. The improved bottom line reflects more than just top line growth. Mobily has been leaning on operational efficiency gains to protect margins even as it ramps up capital spending on network infrastructure. The company's EBITDA margin has stayed in the high 30s percent range through the year, among the stronger levels in the regional telecom sector, helped by a slightly lower cost of service even as depreciation, amortization, and zakat expenses have crept higher. On the back of these results, Mobily's board approved a dividend payment for the first half exceeding SAR 1 billion, or SAR 1.4 per share, with the payout scheduled for August 19, giving shareholders a fairly direct signal of management's confidence in the company's cash generation. That confidence comes even as analysts flag some near term caution. One brokerage noted that Mobily's investment activity is likely to pick up further in the second half of the year, which combined with somewhat softer operating cash flow could put pressure on free cash flow in the short run, even though the same firm maintained a buy rating on the stock. Mobily shares closed at SAR 61.80 following the results, up slightly on the day but still down around 6 percent since the start of the year, a reminder that strong earnings alone have not been enough to fully lift sentiment given broader market conditions. For the region, Mobily's steady performance sits within a larger story about how Gulf telecom operators are managing the shift from pure connectivity providers into infrastructure partners for cloud and AI workloads. The wholesale segment's growth, tied directly to hyperscaler demand and data center activity, mirrors what operators like stc and Zain are also chasing across Saudi Arabia and the broader Gulf, as governments push data localization and AI infrastructure investment as part of their economic diversification agendas. Saudi Arabia's aggressive rollout of 5G coverage and fiber infrastructure, paired with the country's growing role as a data center hub, means telecom operators there are increasingly competing not just for mobile subscribers but for a share of the enterprise and cloud connectivity market that companies like Mobily are now counting on for a growing slice of revenue.