By: OrePulse

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution (ADNOC Distribution) posted a net profit of $791 million, equivalent to about AED 2.9 billion at the dirham's fixed exchange rate of roughly 3.67 to the US dollar, for the first nine months of 2026, the company said on November 9. The figure represented a 37% increase from the $579 million the company reported for the same nine-month period of 2025, and was driven by record fuel sales volumes and improved margins across its network.

Fuel volumes for the nine-month period reached 11.86 billion liters, a company record. Of that total, 8.26 billion liters were sold through the retail segment, with the remaining roughly 3.6 billion liters distributed through other channels.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a commonly used measure of operating performance, rose 26% to $1.12 billion. Underlying EBITDA, a related measure that excludes one-off items, grew at a slower pace of 14%, to $944 million. Gross profit for the period climbed 20% to $1.67 billion. The company attributed the gross profit increase to higher sales volumes, inventory gains, and growth in both its non-fuel retail business and its international operations.

Non-fuel retail gross profit rose 13% to $217 million. ADNOC Distribution opened 71 new fuel stations during the nine-month period, expanding its total network to 1,081 stations. The company also raised its target for new station openings during 2026 as a whole to a range of 80 to 90 stations.

Chief Executive Officer Bader Saeed Al Lamki said the company was continuing to scale its higher-margin non-fuel retail operations while advancing its international expansion strategy.

That international expansion included an agreement reached in July to acquire Shell Downstream South Africa, which operates a network of 580 fuel stations, at an implied enterprise value of about $1 billion. The transaction has not yet closed and remains subject to regulatory approvals in South Africa. Company management has said that once the acquisition is completed, it expects the deal to add about 6% to earnings per share in its first full year of ownership, though it gave no date for when the transaction might close.

ADNOC Distribution's board also approved a third-quarter dividend of 5.14 fils per share, a subunit of the UAE dirham, in a payout worth approximately $175 million. The company said it expects total dividends for full-year 2026 to exceed $700 million. To qualify for the third-quarter payout, shareholders must hold their shares by November 12. The stock will begin trading ex-dividend on November 13, and the record date for the payment has been set as November 16.

ADNOC Distribution did not disclose a standalone net profit figure for the third quarter on its own, reporting its results only on a cumulative nine-month basis.