NMDC Group revenue rises 4% to $5.8B but profit falls 14% on project costs
EBITDA margin narrowed to 16.6% from 18.7% as insurance, logistics and fuel costs climbed, and third-quarter net profit dropped 24%.
NMDC Group lifted revenue 4% year-on-year to $5.8 billion (AED 21.4 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, while net profit slipped 14% to $646.4 million (AED 2.4 billion). Higher project costs drove the divergence. The contractor published the results on Friday.
EBITDA fell 7% to $969.1 million (AED 3.56 billion) between January and September, and the EBITDA margin narrowed to 16.6% from 18.7% a year earlier. The company traced the decline to cost overruns, citing higher insurance, logistics and fuel expenses incurred during a period of regional unrest.
Sales growth came from NMDC Energy, where revenue climbed 9% and pulled the group total upward. NMDC Dredging & Marine generated a smaller share of turnover but most of the profit: 34% of group revenue and 82% of net profit.
The third quarter was harder than the nine-month averages suggest. Revenue rose 1% to $2 billion (AED 7.28 billion) while net profit dropped 24% to $209.1 million (AED 768 million). Against the previous quarter, earnings fell 37%, and the quarterly net margin contracted to 10.6% from 16.3%.
Awards kept coming. NMDC secured $2.6 billion (AED 9.7 billion) of project work in the nine months, led by dredging and marine contracts. Backlog stood at $14.0 billion (AED 51.3 billion) on September 30, rising to $14.7 billion (AED 54.1 billion) once additional NMDC Energy contracts signed in October are counted. A further $28.4 billion (AED 104.4 billion) sits in the potential pipeline, made up of submitted tenders, expressions of interest and prospective opportunities. The expected execution schedule assigns $6.3 billion (AED 23.2 billion) of backlog to 2027 and $4.2 billion (AED 15.4 billion) to 2028.
Cash generation swung sharply. Operating cash flow reached $545.1 million (AED 2 billion), reversing a $49 million (AED 180 million) outflow in the same stretch of 2025. Free cash flow came to $314.8 million (AED 1.16 billion). Cash and bank balances nevertheless fell 8% from the end of 2025 to $1.3 billion (AED 4.61 billion), and net working capital rose to $1.2 billion (AED 4.25 billion) at the end of September, partly on an increase in unbilled contract revenue.
For project-based engineering and construction firms, a 4% gain in revenue rarely keeps pace with input costs, and the squeeze surfaces in margin before it reaches the bottom line. NMDC's contracted base gives it visibility, but future profitability rests on executing work at or below the cost assumed when the bids were priced, and on turning unbilled revenue into cash.
NMDC placed second in a 2026 ranking of the region's top 10 construction companies and 93rd in a 2026 list of the region's 100 most valuable companies. Chief executive Yasser Zaghloul ranked 13th in a 2026 list of the region's top 100 CEOs and first in the manufacturing and industrials category of a 2026 ranking of Middle East sustainability leaders. The group is widening its marine and infrastructure operations.
