UAE Results: Borouge Q3 Profit Falls 63%, TECOM Nine-Month Profit Rises 10%

By The Edge Research Team

Among third-quarter results filed on the Abu Dhabi and Dubai exchanges on 28 and 29 October, Borouge’s quarterly profit fell 63% to $109 million, though it guides to a stronger fourth quarter.

The other two companies covered here grew. TECOM Group grew in both periods, led by its Dubai land leasing business. Ghitha Holding’s nine-month revenue passed AED 5 billion, though its profit includes a disposal gain.

Lower volumes and higher costs cut Borouge’s margin

For Borouge shareholders, the quarter shows output recovering faster than profit: the adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 19% from 39% a year earlier. The company put the year-on-year drop mainly down to lower sales volumes and higher costs, including propylene feedstock and logistics. Against the second quarter, lower realised prices also weighed.

Sales volumes recovered 22% from the second quarter but stayed 21% below a year earlier. Prices moved the other way: the average selling price was 22% above a year earlier, yet 19% below the second-quarter spike.

Third-quarter selling and distribution expenses doubled on the year. Borouge said it shipped all available output through alternative logistics routes during the regional disruption, without depending on the Strait of Hormuz. It cites elevated freight and logistics costs among the pressures on its margins.

Both periods fell, the quarter more steeply: profit dropped 63% in the third quarter against 41% over nine months. Revenue was broadly flat in the quarter and 3.5% lower over nine months.

Borouge Plc results (in $ millions)

Periods to 30 September. Net profit is profit for the period, including non-controlling interests; profit to owners excludes them. Total assets compare 30 September 2026 with 31 December 2025; net debt compares 30 September in both years. Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA adjusted for foreign exchange gains or losses and impairment of property, plant and equipment, as the company defines it.

Borouge guides to its strongest quarter of 2026

Average utilisation reached 76% in the quarter and 90% in October, as ethane feedstock supply improved, the company said. It expects fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA to be significantly higher than the third’s, on higher production volumes and improved pricing, subject to no material deterioration in the regional operating environment. In The Edge’s reading, that guidance is the claim the next filing will test, because it rests on October’s recovery in output and prices carrying through.

Total assets were little changed since December, while net debt rose 15% on the year. Borouge reaffirmed its intention to pay a 2026 dividend of 16.2 fils per share, after an interim 8.1 fils paid in September. It also restated its commitment to pay at least that amount each year until at least 2030.

Its Borouge 4 project, which is expected to add 1.4 million tonnes of polyethylene capacity once fully ramped up, reached mechanical completion and commissioning of the PE7 plant, a 700,000-tonne unit. Borouge International has owned 90% of Borouge Plc since March 2026. Borouge said a share-exchange tender offer into Borouge International, followed by an ADX listing and a capital raise, is targeted for 2027, subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals.

Also on ADX: Ghitha’s sales jump

Ghitha Holding, the Abu Dhabi food and agriculture group that is a subsidiary of 2PointZero, grew revenue 27% over nine months and 23% in the third quarter. Gross profit grew more slowly, so the nine-month gross margin narrowed to 19.0% from 22.0%. During the third quarter Ghitha signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Amazon to support UAE fresh produce.

Profit attributable to shareholders rose in both periods, to AED 116.3 million over nine months from AED 48.5 million. The third-quarter figure was AED 35.2 million, from a low base of AED 7.6 million.

A disposal gain lifts the nine-month figure: continuing operations include an AED 85.4 million gain on a partial disposal of an investment in an associate. Excluding that gain, pre-tax profit from continuing operations would have been AED 158.3 million, 28% below a year earlier, on The Edge’s calculation. Nine-month losses from discontinued operations narrowed to AED 34.7 million, from AED 119.2 million.

Ghitha Holding results (in AED millions)

Periods to 30 September, converted from the filing’s thousands. Continuing-operations profit is after tax and zakat; for 2026 it includes the gain on the partial disposal of an investment in an associate. Total assets compare 30 September 2026 with 31 December 2025. Total assets are rounded to the nearest million.

Also on DFM: TECOM’s land leasing quickens

TECOM Group owns and runs 10 specialised business districts in Dubai. Its profit grew in both periods, and faster in the third quarter, at 12% against 10% for the nine months. Reported net profit in the financial statements equals the recurring net profit in the company’s release.

Land leasing led: the portfolio’s nine-month revenue jumped 26%, which the company tied to strong demand and its expansion. In the third quarter alone, land lease revenue rose 35%. Commercial assets, the largest segment, grew revenue 10%, with occupancy at 95%.

Industrial assets grew revenue 13%, with occupancy at 98%. Growth came without a cost to profitability, as the EBITDA margin stayed at 79%. More tenants also stayed, with customer retention up to 95% from 93%.

TECOM Group results (in AED millions)

Periods to 30 September. Total assets compare 30 September 2026 with 31 December 2025.

Figures are from the companies’ financial statements, management reports and results releases filed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market, dated 28 and 29 October 2026; percentages and comparisons not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.

Sources: Borouge, Ghitha Holding, TECOM Group, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, The Edge.

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