UAE Corporates: ADNOC Drilling Earns 1.07 Billion Dollars, NMDC Energy 420 Million Dirhams
ADNOC Drilling earned 1,072 million dollars in net profit in the first nine months of 2026, the Abu Dhabi driller said on 27 October. That was 1 percent more than a year earlier. NMDC Energy’s nine-month revenue rose 9 percent to 14.2 billion dirhams. Its net profit came to 420 million dirhams, 55.8 percent below the same period of 2025 on our calculation. Separately, EDGE completed the purchase of a controlling stake in Italian engine maker CMD.
ADNOC Drilling: Nine-Month Profit 1.07 Billion Dollars, Quarterly Payout 350 Million
Revenue rose 2 percent. EBITDA also rose 2 percent, to 1,663 million dollars. The EBITDA margin stayed at 45 percent. The company called its nine-month revenue, EBITDA and net profit records. Onshore drilling revenue grew 5 percent, helped by the consolidation of regional operations and partly offset by the planned phasing of unconventional work and repurposed onshore rigs. Offshore revenue rose 4 percent on added capacity, including an AI-enabled island rig that joined the fleet in June 2026.
ADNOC Drilling, Nine Months to September
| Measure | 9M 2026 | 9M 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue ($m) | 3,707 | 3,626 | 2% |
| EBITDA ($m) | 1,663 | 1,638 | 2% |
| Net profit ($m) | 1,072 | 1,060 | 1% |
| EPS ($) | 0.0667 | 0.0663 | 1% |
Company figures in millions of dollars, except earnings per share in dollars; changes as printed by the company.
The third quarter is the nine months less the first half the company published on 30 July. On that basis, revenue was 1,247 million dollars, 1.0 percent below the 1,259 million of the third quarter of 2025, on our calculation. Net profit was 366 million dollars against 368 million, a decline of 0.5 percent on our calculation. EBITDA moved the other way. It rose 3.4 percent to 579 million dollars on our calculation, and the quarter’s EBITDA margin widened to 46.4 percent from 44.5 percent, also on our calculation. Against the second quarter, revenue rose 1.2 percent and net profit 1.9 percent, on our calculation.
ADNOC Drilling, Third Quarter
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue ($m) | 1,247 | 1,259 | -1.0% |
| EBITDA ($m) | 579 | 560 | 3.4% |
| Net profit ($m) | 366 | 368 | -0.5% |
Our calculation: nine-month figures less first-half figures, both from the company’s releases of 27 October and 30 July 2026, in millions of dollars.
The board approved a third-quarter payout of 350 million dollars, an estimated 8.03 fils a share by the company’s own figure. It combines the 262.5 million dollar base dividend with the first 87.5 million dollar tranche of a 175 million dollar discretionary dividend. Shareholders on record on 5 November are due to be paid in the second half of November. The second tranche is subject to shareholder approval. If it is approved, the 2026 total reaches 1.225 billion dollars, which the company put at 22.5 percent above 2025, implying a 2025 payout of 1.0 billion dollars on our calculation. Four base dividends make 1.05 billion dollars on our calculation, the company’s stated 2026 floor, so the discretionary payment lifts the year 16.7 percent above that floor, on our calculation. As our own comparison, not a payout ratio the company reports, the 350 million dollars equals 95.6 percent of the 366 million dollar quarterly profit we derive, on our calculation.
ADNOC Drilling’s guidance for 2026 is an estimated 5 billion dollars in revenue, 2.2 billion dollars in EBITDA and 1.45 billion dollars in net profit. The nine months delivered 74.1 percent of the revenue guidance, on our calculation. They delivered 73.9 percent of the profit guidance, also on our calculation. Reaching those figures needs fourth-quarter revenue of 1,293 million dollars and net profit of 378 million on our calculation, both above the third quarter’s levels. The 1.225 billion dollar dividend would equal 84.5 percent of the guided profit, on our calculation. For 2027 the company expects low-to-mid single-digit revenue growth. It expects net profit to remain broadly stable as higher depreciation and financing costs offset operational growth.
NMDC Energy: Revenue 14.2 Billion Dirhams, Profit 420 Million
NMDC Energy’s revenue grew 9 percent in the nine months to 30 September, WAM reported, citing the company’s release. UAE operations supplied 72 percent of revenue, or 10.2 billion dirhams on our calculation. International markets supplied the other 28 percent. The UAE share was 70 percent at the half-year. The company pointed to its ability to steadily convert and execute its backlog despite a challenging operating environment.
Net profit was 420 million dirhams. In the same period of 2025 the company earned 951 million dirhams, so the decline is 55.8 percent on our calculation. Net margin narrowed to 3.0 percent of revenue from 7.3 percent, on our calculation. The first half produced 251 million dirhams of profit, according to the company’s July release. That leaves 169 million dirhams for the third quarter, or 40.2 percent of the nine-month total, on our calculation from the company’s rounded figures.
NMDC Energy, Nine Months to September
| Measure | 9M 2026 | 9M 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (AED bn) | 14.2 | 13.0 | 9% |
| Net profit (AED m) | 420 | 951 | -55.8% |
| Backlog, end-September (AED bn) | 33.0 | 45.6 | -27.6% |
2026 figures from the company’s release of 27 October as carried by the UAE state news agency; 2025 figures from the company’s release of 28 October 2025. The revenue change is the company’s; the profit and backlog changes are our calculation.
Backlog stood at 33.0 billion dirhams at the end of September. That is 0.9 percent below the 33.3 billion dirhams of end-June and 27.6 percent below the 45.6 billion dirhams of a year earlier, both on our calculation from the company’s releases. It equals 2.3 times the nine months’ revenue, on our calculation. Cash stood at 3.0 billion dirhams. Nine-month revenue already equals 75.9 percent of the company’s full-year 2025 revenue of 18.7 billion dirhams, on our calculation.
EDGE Takes Control of Italy’s CMD
EDGE completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in CMD S.r.l., an Italian designer and developer of propulsion systems for automotive, marine and aeronautical uses, WAM reported on 26 October. The deal was signed in Rome. It follows an agreement reached in May 2026 at CMD’s plant in Atella, in Southern Italy’s Basilicata region, and brings more than 35 years of piston engine manufacturing into the group. No price was given. CMD’s current shareholders keep a significant minority stake and stay in key management roles, and the two sides will now draw up an integration plan. EDGE said it will invest heavily in CMD’s manufacturing and research. Its chief executive, Hamad Al Marar, cited demand in unmanned, maritime and automotive markets.
Why it matters: ADNOC Drilling added revenue slowly in the nine months but is raising what it pays shareholders. Its 2026 payout would reach 1.225 billion dollars, against nine-month profit growth of 1 percent. NMDC Energy grew nine-month revenue 9 percent, but its net margin fell to 3.0 percent on our calculation. On our reading, the profitability of its 33.0 billion dirham backlog now matters more than its size. For EDGE, CMD adds a European engine plant to the UAE group’s industrial base.
Outlook: ADNOC Drilling’s base dividend and first discretionary tranche are due in the second half of November to holders on record on 5 November. The second 87.5 million dollar tranche goes to shareholders for approval. Payment is expected in or around April 2027. NMDC Energy’s full-year accounts will show whether the fourth quarter changes its nine-month net margin of 3.0 percent, on our calculation. EDGE and CMD will now define an integration plan together.
Sources: ADNOC Drilling, NMDC Energy, WAM, The Edge.
