Ports and gas players grow in 3Q as fuel costs hit utilities and airlines

Flynas recovers lost ground

Flynas swung back to a net income of SAR 27 mn in 3Q 2026 from a SAR 241 mn loss in 2Q, after it rebuilt the flying capacity the regional conflict had forced it to cut, the budget airline said in its Tadawul disclosure and its earnings release (pdf).

Getting back in the air helped: Available seat-km (ASK) rose back toward pre-disruption levels, a sharp turnaround from the 15% cut in 2Q, when flynas grounded routes after the late-February conflict suspended parts of its network. Load factor climbed 6.2 percentage points from 2Q to 77.4%, and EBITDA reached SAR 503 mn, a 22.6% margin, as restored capacity and firm pricing pulled the airline out of the second quarter’s loss.

Against last year, though, fuel is the biggest drag. Measured y-o-y, net income fell 77% from SAR 120 mn in 3Q 2025 as the fuel bill jumped 51% to SAR 666 mn on prices elevated since the conflict began. That ate into the gains from a 6% y-o-y rise in revenues to SAR 2.2 bn on stronger pricing, with Revenue per ASK up 11% and Low Cost Carrier (LCC) revenue up 9%.

The rest of the cost base was mixed. Rental expenses more than doubled to SAR 115 mn as short-term wet-leased aircraft are now booked there, and staff costs rose 14% to SAR 268 mn. Lower handling and landing fees (down 13%), maintenance (down 15%), and depreciation (down 13%) softened the blow.

Demand is still catching up: Passenger traffic fell 14% y-o-y to 3.6 mn, and load factor was down 5.7 points y-o-y. Low-cost flying now makes up 97% of revenue, on higher unit revenue. Hajj revenue dropped 67% y-o-y to SAR 19 mn, as the 2026 season ended in 2Q while last year’s ran into 3Q, and general aviation slipped 11% to SAR 37 mn.

9M stays in the red, narrowing against last year. Over nine months flynas posted a net loss of SAR 96 mn, mostly the 2Q hit, against a SAR 594 mn loss a year earlier that included SAR 1.1 bn in one-off IPO and ESOP costs. Excluding those, 9M 2025 was a net income of SAR 489 mn, so the company swung to a loss on an adjusted basis. Revenue came in at SAR 6.4 bn, up 6.3%.

REMEMBER- Flynas spent the past months upgrading and expanding: signing an agreement to provide low-cost air travel services to Saudi government entities, buying 10% of groundhandler Swissport Saudi Arabia, and taking a 49% stake in flynas Syria with operations set to begin in 4Q 2026.

4Q is looking like fresh turbulence: The current quarter kicked off with strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, which closed for weeks before partially reopening at the end of last month. Other airports were also struck across the Kingdom. Flynas said it adjusted its network to fly from open airports and cut costs to protect liquidity, but the extent of the shock’s impact on the carrier remains to be seen.

Higher fuel costs trim Marafiq’s 3Q as industrial demand softens

The Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq) reported a 9.9% y-o-y drop in its net income to SAR 171 mn in 3Q 2026, according to a Tadawul disclosure and its earnings presentation (pdf). Revenue also dipped 2.2% y-o-y to SAR 2 bn, as lower Tawreed (down SAR 42 mn) and power-segment sales (down SAR 32 mn), tied to softer industrial demand in Jubail, outweighed growth in water.

Blame the fuel: Fuel costs used in production rose SAR 63 mn y-o-y, the main drag, alongside a SAR 11 mn drop in associate income. Lower finance costs (down SAR 27 mn), power-purchase costs (down SAR 19 mn), and consumption costs partly offset the hit.

The quarter was far stronger sequentially, net income swung from a SAR 46 mn loss in 2Q as water revenue recovered SAR 99 mn and power revenue SAR 61 mn.

9M is not as weak as it seems: Reported 9M net income came in at SAR 235 mn, down 41% y-o-y but the comparison is skewed by a SAR 476 mn one-off high-intensity electricity consumption tariff adjustment booked in 2025, which inflated the base. Higher fuel prices remained a drag, though, costing SAR 200 mn. Revenue still rose 7.4% to SAR 5.49 bn.

Gasco turns up the gas

Gasco Holding’s bottom line rose 47.5% y-o-y to SAR 102.8 mn in 3Q, the gas distributor said in a Tadawul filing. Revenue climbed 60.5% to SAR 1.3 bn, driven mainly by a SAR 430 mn increase in gas sales on higher prices and volumes, alongside a SAR 47 mn rise in transportation services revenue. Higher operating expenses, up SAR 32.7 mn, and a SAR 7.4 mn decline in investment and finance income weighed on the results, while finance costs also edged up.

The nine-month performance stayed strong, with net income up 31.6% y-o-y to SAR 244.2 mn and revenue rising 31.7% to SAR 3.1 bn. Gas sales accounted for most of the growth, increasing SAR 657 mn on higher prices and volumes, while commercial projects added SAR 37 mn and transportation and maintenance services contributed another SAR 55 mn.

Ports power Sisco’s earnings surge

Sustained Infrastructure Holding’s (Sisco Holding) net income jumped 271.2% y-o-y to SAR 63.1 mn in 3Q 2026, riding on a record quarterly revenue of SAR 764.6 mn, up 94.8%, the ports-and-logistics investor said in a Tadawul filing and its earnings release (pdf). The surge was driven by its ports business, where revenue more than doubled to SAR 649.6 mn on higher gateway volumes at Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), a jump in Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) volumes and the ramp-up of RSGTI. Logistics revenue also grew 79.4% to SAR 57.7 mn.

Counterbalancing the results is impairments, SAR 24 mn for an RSGT operating asset damaged in an accident and SAR 21.8 mn on a Logipoint project site, plus higher finance costs and a SAR 14.1 mn rise in Zakat.

9M told the same story, with net income rising 140.7% y-o-y to SAR 148.5 mn and revenue climbing 82% to SAR 1.9 bn, driven by ports growth and the inclusion of Ports Services and Storage Company (PSS) in the logistics segment. Some of the volume gains also reflected the temporary redirection of shipping activity following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, CEO Mauricio Zuazua said.

Retal sells more, earns less

Retal Urban Development posted a 6.8% y-o-y decline in 3Q 2026 net income to SAR 51.7 mn, even as it posted a record of SAR 764.7 mn in quarterly revenue, up 13.1%, the developer said in a Tadawul filing. The growth came from a 14.2% y-o-y rise in development contract revenue, which also hit an all-time quarterly high on faster project completions.

Revenue is at a record, but it’s earning less per SAR: Gross income fell 14.5% y-o-y as a shift in the sales mix and higher handover costs pushed up the cost of revenue. Operating expenses also rose 23.4%, driven by marketing tied to real estate conferences and exhibitions, and after-sales spending. Net income was even cushioned by a one-off SAR 17.3 mn gain from the partial liquidation of a fund Retal part-owns, plus a higher contribution from associates. Strip that out, and the margin squeeze would have cut deeper.

9M lays bare the squeeze: Net income fell 50.6% y-o-y to SAR 93.7 mn despite revenue rising 13.8% y-o-y to a record SAR 2 bn for the period, as the same factors weighing on 3Q earnings continued to bite.

Alkhorayef feels the gap between contracts

Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies’ (AWPT) net income slipped 6.3% y-o-y to SAR 65.2 mn in 3Q as revenue fell 11.8% y-o-y to SAR 530.6 mn, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The drop traces to a gap in the work cycle — older projects were completed and handed over while the company transitions to new contracts.

The 9M picture was slightly better: Net income edged up 2.1% y-o-y to SAR 193.4 mn, while revenue fell 17% y-o-y to SAR 1.6 bn.