Kuwait’s Zain Lifts Nine-Month Net Income 59% to KWD 304 Million With Investment Gains
The Takeaway: Zain Group says its nine-month net income rose 59%, against restated 2025 figures, to KWD 304 million, a total that includes gains on Zain Ventures’ technology investments. Revenue reached the group’s highest level for the period in 17 years, though growth slowed in the third quarter; over the nine months, Zain says, regional instability and Sudan’s currency devaluation weighed on parts of the business. The company gives no profit figure that excludes the investment gains.
Zain Ventures, the Kuwaiti telecom group’s investment arm, recorded $501 million of gains in the first nine months on investments that include SpaceX, Cohere, Groq and Revolut.
Those gains are part of nine-month net income of KWD 304 million, or $990 million, up 59% on the year by Zain’s count, which uses restated 2025 figures. Earnings per share came to 70 fils.
Investment gains equal about half of reported net income
On The Edge’s calculation, the $501 million gain is equal to 51% of reported net income in dollar terms. That compares two amounts as Zain reports them and is not an estimate of how much the gain added to profit; the release does not say whether the gain is stated before or after tax and minority interests.
Zain gives no profit figure that leaves the gains out. Its chief executive, Bader Al-Kharafi, said the group would keep investing while “methodically divesting to strengthen cash flows”.
Most of the gain came in the first half. Zain’s half-year release put it at $411 million, of which $288 million came in the second quarter.
That leaves $90 million for the third quarter, on The Edge’s calculation from the two releases. Third-quarter net income was KWD 84 million, up 30% on the year, Zain says.
Measured against the second quarter, third-quarter net income was 40% lower: second-quarter net income of KWD 140 million included the larger gain.
Zain Ventures gains and net income (in $ millions)
| Period | Gain | Net income |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 288 | 457 |
| H1 2026 | 411 | 717 |
| Q3 2026 | 90 | 273 |
| 9M 2026 | 501 | 990 |
Dollar figures as Zain prints them. The third-quarter gain is the nine-month gain less the half-year gain.
All year-on-year rates in this article are Zain’s own. For the group, they are measured against restated 2025 figures, which the nine-month release does not print.
Those rates do not match the figures Zain first published in October 2025, when it reported nine-month net income of KWD 178 million. The nine-month release gives no reason for the difference.
Zain’s half-year interim statements label the 2025 comparatives as restated and give the basis. They say that during 2025 the group concluded Sudan’s economy had been hyperinflationary since 2015, applied IAS 29, the accounting standard for hyperinflationary economies, retrospectively and restated comparative information.
In The Edge’s reading, fourth-quarter profit will rest more on the operating business unless Zain Ventures books further gains, as its stated divestments could. The gain fell to $90 million in the third quarter from $288 million in the second. Iraq’s currency devaluation in October also falls in the final quarter.
Revenue reaches a 17-year high as third-quarter growth slows
Zain reports that nine-month revenue rose 4% to KWD 1.8 billion. It says that is its highest for the period in 17 years.
EBITDA, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, also grew 4%, to KWD 587 million. Zain puts the EBITDA margin at 34%.
Nine-month results, January to September 2026 (in KWD millions)
| Line | 9M 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1,800 | 4% |
| EBITDA | 587 | 4% |
| Net income | 304 | 59% |
Zain gives nine-month revenue as KWD 1.8 billion, rounded, and prints no exact figure; the 34% EBITDA margin is Zain’s own. Changes are Zain’s, against restated 2025 figures. Earnings per share 70 fils.
The release gives no balance-sheet figures, and Zain had not posted its interim financial statements for the period on its investor-relations page by the evening of 10 November.
Growth slowed in the third quarter. Zain reports revenue 2% higher on the year, at KWD 615 million.
EBITDA grew 1% to KWD 209 million. Zain puts its margin at 34%.
Against the second quarter, revenue was 8.3% higher, up from KWD 568 million. EBITDA rose 6.6% from the second quarter, when its margin had been 35%.
Third-quarter results, July to September 2026 (in KWD millions)
| Line | Q3 2026 | Q3 change on year | Q2 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 615 | 2% | 568 |
| EBITDA | 209 | 1% | 196 |
| Net income | 84 | 30% | 140 |
The change on the year is Zain’s own rate for the third quarter, against restated 2025 figures; the Q2 2026 column is from the half-year release. Earnings per share were 19 fils in the third quarter and 32 fils in the second.
Over the nine months, the chief executive said, regional instability hit roaming, device availability and enterprise revenue in several key markets. He also cited currency devaluation in Sudan.
Data services supplied 39% of group revenue over nine months. Their revenue grew 11% to $2.3 billion.
Enterprise revenue rose 12%. Zain’s growth verticals, its newer businesses, brought in $759 million of revenue, up 30%.
That is 13.3% of group revenue. Within the verticals, ZainTECH, the digital and ICT solutions arm, lifted revenue 17% and has expanded into Egypt.
Zain Omantel International, the wholesale carrier business, grew revenue 46%. Customers of the group’s fintech services, Bede, Tamam and Zain Cash, rose 31% to more than 6.8 million.
Fintech revenue grew 6%. The customer base of the group as a whole rose 3% to 53 million, which Zain attributes to network restoration in Sudan and expansion in Iraq.
Capital spending was $501 million over nine months, or 9% of revenue.
Saudi profit climbs 45% while Sudan and Iraq face weaker currencies
Zain KSA, the Saudi operation, raised nine-month net income 45% to $144 million.
Its third-quarter revenue grew 3% to $756 million. Zain credits 5G-Advanced services, launched in Riyadh and Jeddah, with growth in data revenue, now 41% of the total.
Third-quarter net income in the Kingdom was $36 million, against $41 million in the same quarter of 2025 as first published; the release prints no rate for it.
Zain Iraq’s third-quarter revenue rose 8% to $368 million. The chief executive called it the operation’s highest quarterly revenue in more than a decade, and customers rose 4% to 21.1 million.
Quarterly net income in Iraq was $37 million, against $47 million reported for the third quarter of 2025.
The chief executive said the group is putting in place measures to soften the impact of Iraq’s 13% currency devaluation in October. In Sudan, Zain says a 15% devaluation during the quarter weighed on the operation.
Zain Sudan earned $63 million in the quarter on revenue of $155 million.
Its EBITDA margin was 46%. The customer base grew 8% to 13.2 million.
In Kuwait, which Zain calls its flagship and most profitable operation, third-quarter revenue was KWD 93 million. A year earlier it had reported KWD 99 million.
Zain Kuwait’s EBITDA rose 4% to KWD 35.7 million. Its EBITDA margin improved to 38%.
Nine-month net income in Kuwait was KWD 55 million, against KWD 60 million reported for the same period of 2025. Zain says regional instability cut roaming revenue and delayed several enterprise deals.
The Kuwait unit won, with Zain Omantel International, a 15-year project to link Google’s three data centres in the country. With ZainTECH it also secured a five-year national smart-metering programme with the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy.
Revenue and net income by operation (in $ millions)
| Market | Q3 | Q3 net | 9M net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 756 | 36 | 144 |
| Iraq | 368 | 37 | 108 |
| Kuwait | 302 | 62 | 178 |
| Jordan | 159 | 21 | 61 |
| Sudan | 155 | 63 | 178 |
| Bahrain | 58 | 4.5 | 11.3 |
Q3 is third-quarter revenue; Q3 net and 9M net are net income. Dollar figures as Zain prints them; Kuwait’s are converted by Zain from KWD 93 million, KWD 19 million and KWD 55 million. Ranked by third-quarter revenue.
Zain Jordan grew third-quarter revenue 4% to $159 million.
Its nine-month net income rose 2% to $61 million. Data services made up 57% of its revenue.
Zain Bahrain’s third-quarter revenue rose 13% to $58 million. Its nine-month net income grew 2% to $11.3 million.
Interim dividend paid and a tower platform with Ooredoo
Zain paid an interim dividend of 17 fils a share, totalling KWD 73.6 million, on 6 October for the first half. The nine-month release announces no further distribution.
A year earlier, the board declared a second interim dividend of 25 fils with the nine-month results. The first-half interim then was 10 fils.
The Edge set out on 28 October, with Ooredoo’s nine-month results, the first closing of the tower venture that combines Zain’s towers in Kuwait with Ooredoo’s in Qatar, 4,000 in all. Each company is to hold half, and more towers are to be added subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions.
The Edge set out on 1 July Zain’s 25-year licence to run a mobile network in Syria, won with a $747 million bid. The half-year release targets a launch of the Zain brand there in the first quarter of 2027.
Nour Al-Jassim, chair of the board, said the board is working with management to address regional socio-economic challenges. MSCI raised Zain’s ESG rating to AA from A during the period.
Method: figures are from Zain Group’s results release for the nine months to 30 September 2026, dated 10 November 2026, with comparisons from its half-year release of 10 August 2026, its nine-month release of 28 October 2025 and its half-year interim statements of 10 August 2026; the third-quarter investment gain, quarter-on-quarter changes and shares not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations from those figures.
Sources: Zain Group, The Edge.
