2Q earnings from flynas and Adnoc Distribution

War costs drag on flynas earnings

Budget airline flynas trimmed its 2Q 2026 net loss to SAR 240.6 mn from SAR 862.5 mn a year earlier, according to its earnings release (pdf). Revenue, meanwhile, increased by 3% y-o-y to SAR 2.2 bn during the same period.

The bottom line looks better than it did before: The prior-year quarter included SAR 1.08 bn in one-off IPO and ESOP listing costs. Excluding those costs, flynas swung from an adjusted net income of SAR 220 mn in 2Q 2025 to this quarter’s loss.

The war left its mark: It pushed the fuel bill up 86% y-o-y to SAR 838 mn as jet fuel prices more than doubled and kept part of the international network suspended. Flynas responded by cutting flight capacity by 15% y-o-y to protect margins, but passenger traffic fell faster, down 27% to 2.6 mn, and load factor slipped 8.4 points to 71.2%.

Why revenue held up: Flynas pushed fares hard into the disruption. Unit revenue rose 22% y-o-y as tighter industry-wide capacity let carriers raise prices, lifting revenue despite fewer flights. The low-cost carrier business generated 73% of revenue, Hajj services contributed 25%, and general aviation the remaining 2%.

The half-year read: 1H revenue rose 6% y-o-y to SAR 4.2 bn, but flynas still posted a net loss of SAR 123 mn against a SAR 715 mn net loss a year earlier. Excluding last year’s listing costs, however, flynas swung from a SAR 368 mn adjusted net income to a loss.

Adnoc Distribution reaps the rewards of higher fuel prices

Higher fuel prices, commercial margins, and inventory gains pushed Adnoc Distribution’s 2Q 2026 net earnings up 94.3% y-o-y to AED 1.3 bn, while its revenue climbed 52.8% to AED 13.2 bn, according to the company’s earnings release (pdf).

That momentum also showed through in 1H results, with net income climbing 58.5% y-o-y to a record AED 2.1 bn on revenues of AED 22 bn, up 28.8%, as the fuel retailer benefited from higher commercial margins, expanding non-fuel retail operations, and lower finance costs. Fuel volumes increased only 1.6% y-o-y to 7.7 bn liters in 1H, meaning that the earnings growth came less from selling more fuel and more from selling it more profitably. The firm noted a 139.4% increase in volumes sold to the aviation sector during 2Q, in particular.

Growth is likely to continue through next year as well: In July, Adnoc agreed to acquire Shell Downstream South Africa in a transaction valuing the business at around USD 1 bn — its fourth operating market after the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.