A sea of earnings from Fertiglobe, EGA, Emsteel, Dewa, Adnoc L&S, Space42, and Spinneys

Logistics costs squeeze Fertiglobe’s margins

Abu Dhabi fertilizer giant Fertiglobe’s 3Q revenue rose 19% y-o-y to USD 904.5 mn, but its net income attributable to shareholders dipped 90% to USD 22.7 mn, according to the company’s financial statements (pdf). Adjusted for one-off items, net income fell a smaller 62% to USD 51 mn. Higher ammonia prices and sales volumes lifted revenue, more than offsetting lower urea prices and a planned maintenance shutdown at its EBIC plant in Egypt. But sharply higher logistics and operating costs squeezed margins, Fertiglobe said in its management discussion and analysis report (pdf).

Exports from the UAE recovered: 95% of its UAE production was exported in 3Q, up from just 56% in 2Q. Now that the EBIC maintenance is done, Fertiglobe expects the plant’s ammonia output to rise by about 20%.

Zooming out to 9M: The broader 2026 picture is notably rosier. Over 9M, revenue jumped 44% y-o-y to USD 2.9 bn, while adjusted net income increased 56% to USD 341 mn. It closed out the nine-month period with its bottom line up 29.3% to USD 547.7 mn.

Emsteel’s pricing power is starting to fade

Emsteel’s net income nearly doubled y-o-y to AED 190 mn in 3Q 2026 as revenue rose 15% to AED 2.5 bn, according to the company’s management discussion and analysis report (pdf). Higher selling prices helped offset weaker steel volumes, but the quarter lost momentum from 2Q, with net income down 27% q-o-q as regional disruption pushed up raw material and logistics costs.

Steel did more with less volume, as division revenue rose 15% y-o-y to AED 2.2 bn even as sales volumes fell 5% to 770k tonnes because exports of heavy sections and sheet piles were constrained. A 17% rise in average selling prices for finished steel more than made up the difference. Those higher prices had already helped Emsteel absorb rising costs in 2Q, but by 3Q the cushion was getting thinner. Raw materials bought cheaply earlier in the year were being replaced by pricier supplies shipped through longer alternative routes. That pulled the division’s EBITDA margin down to 13.7% from 18.2% in 2Q, though it was still up from 11.9% a year earlier.

Cement had a better quarter: Division revenue rose 12% to AED 252 mn on 12% higher volumes, and its EBITDA margin widened to 29.7% from 23.3%.

On a 9M basis, net income climbed 165% y-o-y to AED 751 mn, widening the net margin to 10.7% from 4.4%, while revenue rose 9% to AED 7 bn. The wider margin recovery started in 1Q, when cheaper raw materials and stronger pricing lifted earnings despite softer steel volumes. The 3Q results show that cost tailwinds are beginning to unwind as disrupted logistics make replacement supplies more expensive.

Tanker windfall for Adnoc L&S

Higher charter rates and a larger fleet lifted Adnoc Logistics & Services’ 3Q net income 321% y-o-y to USD 887 mn, according to the company’s financials (pdf). Net income was still about 7% below 2Q’s record USD 951 mn, by our math. Revenue rose 149% y-o-y to USD 3.3 bn.

Shipping did all the work: Segment revenue nearly quintupled to USD 2.7 bn. Tankers brought in USD 2.1 bn (up 358%), and gas carrier revenue jumped 855% to USD 433 mn on new LNG contracts and three second-hand VLGCs. Integrated logistics went the other way, with revenue down 18% to USD 545 mn and net income down 37% to USD 87 mn, after the G-Island offshore project wrapped up in late 2025.

The 9M picture: Net income rose 227% to USD 2.1 bn over the first nine months of the year, while revenue climbed 82% to almost USD 7 bn.

Adnoc L&S has roughly tripled its full-year income growth guidance. It now expects 2026 net income to grow in the low-360% range, up from the high-110% range it guided to previously. It raised revenue growth guidance to the low-100% range from the mid-20% range and expects shipping revenue to grow in the mid-270% range.

IN CONTEXT- The company has committed roughly USD 3 bn to vessel acquisitions and newbuilds this year, by our count, including a USD 1.3 bn purchase of 11 large carriers in August. In 3Q, it took delivery of six VLCCs, three VLGCs, a VLAC, and four dry bulk vessels — and ten more vessels are due in 4Q.

Demand shows up for Dewa in 3Q

Dewa’s net income rose 9.2% y-o-y to AED 4.3 bn in 3Q 2026, outpacing a 5.4% rise in revenue to AED 10.9 bn, according to the company’s financial statements (pdf). Operating income slipped 3.2% to AED 4.5 bn as administrative expenses jumped 36%, while finance income rose more than fivefold to AED 1.2 bn. That turned a net finance cost of AED 157 mn a year earlier into net income of AED 436 mn.

Demand was still doing its part: Electricity revenue rose 5.4% y-o-y to AED 7.3 bn, water revenue increased 5.1% to AED 1.7 bn, and district cooling revenue grew 4.1% to AED 1.2 bn. That’s a recovery from 2Q, when revenue fell 2.6% and net income was broadly flat. Dewa’s customer base grew 5.5% y-o-y to 1.38 mn accounts.

For the first nine months, net income rose 11.7% y-o-y to AED 7.6 bn, while revenue increased 3.3% to AED 25.7 bn. Dewa also paid AED 3.1 bn to shareholders in October for 1H 2026, in line with its minimum AED 6.2 bn annual dividend policy, it said in its earnings release (pdf). Earlier this year, it raised its stake in Empower to 80% in a AED 5.2 bn transaction, increasing its share of the district-cooling company’s earnings.

Smart Solutions flips the script for Space42 in 3Q

Space42’s net income attributable to shareholders rose to USD 31.1 mn from USD 0.3 mn a year earlier, as revenue rose 6.2% y-o-y to USD 144.6 mn, according to the company’s financial statements (pdf) and earnings release (pdf). The turnaround came largely from Smart Solutions, its geospatial and AI unit, which moved into the black after dragging heavily on the group a year earlier.

Smart Solutions finally stopped being the drag. The geospatial and AI unit generated USD 5.2 mn in net income in 3Q, reversing a USD 25.1 mn loss a year earlier, as revenue climbed 18.5% to USD 29.3 mn. Its operating income swung to USD 6.0 mn from a USD 28.2 mn loss, helped by a sharp drop in project-delivery costs. That marks a major reversal from 3Q 2025, when Space42 was still restructuring Smart Solutions around Earth Observation and group earnings had fallen sharply.

Space Services still brings in most of the revenue: It accounted for USD 115.3 mn, or about 80% of the total, up 3.5%. That’s supported by Thuraya-4’s USD 700 mn, 15-year government capacity contract, which began in July 2025.

In 9M 2026, net income attributable to shareholders rose 31% to USD 49.4 mn on revenue up 11% to USD 404 mn. That means 3Q net income alone accounted for around two-thirds of YTD earnings, underscoring the weight of the Smart Solutions turnaround thanks to robust demand from government business.

Spinneys’ summer rebound lifts 3Q income

Spinneys’ 3Q revenue rose 6.9% y-o-y to AED 831 mn, while its net income climbed 18.6% to AED 49 mn as Dubai’s premium grocery retailer returned to growth after a difficult 2Q, according to Spinneys’ management discussion and analysis report (pdf). Gross income improved 5.7% to AED 345 mn, although cost of sales rose faster, by 8%. Selling, general, and administrative expenses climbed 6.3% to AED 204 mn.

Behind the numbers: More customers stayed in the UAE over the summer, CEO Sunil Kumar said, and like-for-like sales grew 3.3% over 9M. Fresh food made up 65.7% of sales and private label 47.6%, and online sales grew 24.5% y-o-y to 19.5% of revenue, from 16.6%. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz lengthened shipping times, and that pushed inventory days up to 31, from 29.

On a 9M basis, revenue rose 5.7% to AED 2.7 bn, while net income increased 5.7% to AED 224 mn. Operating cashflow dipped 20.4% to AED 362 mn on inventory build-ups and Saudi partner settlements, leaving AED 685 mn in liquidity.