Rami Al-Saadi

Writer,

icn.live

Rami Al-Saadi has written for Reuters MENA, Business Insider Middle East, and CoinNews Arabia over a career that now spans seven years. Rami is an ICN.live writer since 2024 and his investigations explore Capital and Business sectors. Rami pursued graduate-level study in Media Studies with a focus on digital economies.

Abu Dhabi

ADNOC Gas Q2 2026 net income clears guidance despite Hormuz disruption

ADNOC Gas Q2 2026 net income reached $665 million, a figure that carries the strain of the months behind it. In early April, security-related incidents hit the Habshan processing site, and Reuters tied them to intercepted drone and missile attacks in the region. Supply from the site fell. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed. The company still cleared the top of its own forecast, which had run from $400 million to $600 million.

Margins in the domestic gas business held firm, and that steadiness carried the numbers when exports came under pressure. Recovery at Habshan moved faster than planned. Gas supply returned to 85 percent, past the year-end target the company had set in May. Managers leaned on inventory and rerouted logistics to keep customers supplied while the Strait of Hormuz disruption dragged on. ADNOC Gas supplies close to 60 percent of the UAE’s sales gas and reaches customers in more than 20 countries, so a stalled export lane touches a wide base. None of it erased the damage. It softened the edges.

A larger bet behind the numbers

The quarter’s real weight sits in a decision made beside it. ADNOC Gas took final investment decisions on Phases 2 and 3 of its Rich Gas Development project and awarded $8.2 billion in engineering, procurement and construction contracts. Wison Engineering won the $3.9 billion Phase 2 award to build a new gas processing train at Habshan. Tecnimont took the $4.3 billion Phase 3 award for a natural gas liquids fractionation train at Ruwais. Added to the $5 billion Phase 1 committed in 2025, total spending on the project reaches $13.2 billion. Chief Executive Officer Fatema Al Nuaimi framed the awards as a step up in ambition rather than steady progress.

ADNOC Gas Q2 2026 net income against a longer plan

Set against that spending, the ADNOC Gas Q2 2026 net income reads as one marker on a long line. The company lifted its ADNOC Gas EBITDA growth 2030 target to 60 percent versus 2023, up from an earlier goal of more than 40 percent through 2029. Reaching it means roughly $28 billion of investment between 2026 and 2030. Four megaprojects anchor the plan: Ruwais LNG, MERAM, the Rich Gas Development work, and Estidama, together expected to generate $13.4 billion in In-Country Value. MERAM is due in 2027, with the others advancing on schedule.

Part of the efficiency story runs through hardware. ADNOC Gas is putting aerial drones, four-legged inspection robots and tank-climbing crawlers across its sites. The company says the tools can cut some inspection costs by up to 75 percent and finish certain checks as much as 15 times faster. They also pull workers out of hazardous spots. The direction points toward more autonomous operations over time, and it feeds the same goals behind the earnings.

Dividend and the road ahead

Shareholders drew a clear signal. The board approved a $940 million ADNOC Gas dividend for September, holding to a promise of 5 percent annual dividend growth through 2030. ADNOC Gas remains the largest dividend payer on the Abu Dhabi exchange. Guidance for the third quarter runs from $600 million to $800 million, and it assumes the Strait stays contested. If maritime routes reopen by the fourth quarter and pricing steadies, the company expects full-year net income between $3.5 billion and $4 billion. The ADNOC Gas Q2 2026 net income gives that range a firmer base. Read against a year ago, the picture is harder. Reuters reported net income fell 52 percent from $1.39 billion in the same quarter of 2025. The ADNOC Gas Q2 2026 net income shows a company earning through the pressure, not around it.

By Rami Al-Saadi
3 min read

Real Estate

Emaar Properties H1 2026 Results Show Profit Rising 23 Percent

A number sits at the center of the Emaar Properties H1 2026 results, and it is worth pausing on. The revenue backlog reached roughly AED164.9 billion, or about US$44.9 billion, as of 30 June 2026. That figure is money already committed by buyers but not yet booked as revenue. It tells you what the next few years might look like before they arrive.

Emaar reported revenue of AED23.9 billion, up 21 percent against the same period last year. EBITDA rose 24 percent to AED12.9 billion. Net profit before tax reached AED12.8 billion, a gain of 23 percent. These are the headline lines, and they build on a first quarter that already ran ahead of 2025.

The backlog matters because it de-risks what comes next. When a developer sells homes before completion, the cash lands over time as construction hits each stage. Emaar’s backlog grew 13 percent year-on-year, giving the group visibility that many builders lack.

Where the sales came from

Emaar property sales reached approximately AED26.6 billion in the first half, drawn from its master-planned communities and a set of timed launches. The company said pricing held firm across those developments, a sign buyers kept their confidence through the period.

Eleven residential launches went out across Emaar South, Dubai Hills Estate, The Heights Country Club, The Oasis, Rashid Yachts and Marina, and Expo Living. Alongside these, the group announced a new AED200 billion masterplan, adding to a pipeline that already spans a large share of Dubai’s developable land.

The development engine

Emaar Development, the build-to-sell arm, carried much of the weight. It reported revenue of AED13.3 billion, up 34 percent, with net profit before tax of AED7.8 billion, a rise of 41 percent. Counting other UAE operations, Emaar Development revenue from property development in the country reached AED17.7 billion, up 30 percent.

The backlog for UAE development projects stood at AED135.7 billion as of 30 June, up 6 percent on the first half of 2025. Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar, tied the group’s steady footing to Dubai itself. He said the city never stands still, and that its stable, business-friendly environment continues to draw capital and talent even against a more uncertain global backdrop.

The recurring side of the ledger

Beyond selling homes, Emaar runs malls, hotels, and leased space that produce income year after year. That side held its ground. Recurring revenue reached AED5.1 billion, close to the prior year, with recurring EBITDA at AED4.0 billion.

The malls, retail, and commercial leasing portfolio brought in AED3.5 billion, up 9 percent, with occupancy near 98 percent. Hospitality, leisure, and entertainment generated AED1.6 billion, and UAE hotels ran at 60 percent average occupancy. International work, led by Egypt and India, added property sales of AED4.2 billion and revenue of AED1.1 billion, about 4.6 percent of the group total.

Emaar net profit before tax, then, rests on two engines running together. One sells the city as it grows. The other collects rent on what is already built. The Emaar Properties H1 2026 results suggest both kept pace through the half.

By Rami Al-Saadi
3 min read

Qatar

Qatar 2026 Labor Market Index Lands the Country in Second Place Worldwide

A single number tells the story. The Qatar 2026 labor market index placed the country second in the world, a position that carries weight for anyone deciding where to move capital, open an office or take a job. The ranking comes from the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, and it sits inside the report’s business efficiency pillar. Behind that number is a longer question about how a small economy built a workplace system that draws people in and keeps them.

What the ranking measures

The yearbook grades economies on how well their labor markets function. Qatar came second on that measure. According to a QNA report, the standing reflects the strength of the national economy, the flexibility of the labor market and the country’s capacity to attract and hold onto talent. Those threads run back to Qatar National Vision 2030, the long-term plan that shapes much of the country’s economic policy.

Economists linked the result to steady changes rather than one event. They pointed to updated labor legislation, a smoother business environment, wider investment openings, digital transformation programs and better government services. Each change, on its own, looks modest. Together, they moved the needle.

Why investors are watching

Ali Bu Sherbak Al Mansori, Acting General Manager of Qatar Chamber, said the second-place standing showed the success of the economic policies and legal reforms the country adopted in recent years. He said those steps made the labor market more appealing and built a system that protects both workers and employers.

Al Mansori tied the ranking to investor behavior. He said it would strengthen confidence among local and international businesses in an environment shaped by stability, transparency, developed infrastructure and supportive commercial law. Private companies, he said, feel the effect directly. They reach specialized talent more easily, and they operate in a business climate that keeps improving. Those advantages, in his view, help Qatari firms grow and compete across the region and beyond.

The Qatar labor market efficiency story also connects to the country’s broader ambitions. Al Mansori said the ranking would support private-sector recruitment for expansion, feeding into Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy. He said Qatar Chamber would keep working with government agencies to deepen public-private partnerships.

A pattern across the rankings

The Qatar 2026 labor market index result did not arrive in isolation. On June 23, the National Planning Council announced that Qatar ranked first regionally and among the world’s top five economies for economic resilience in the same yearbook. The council said the performance covered economic, business, institutional and social measures.

The record stretches back further. Qatar entered the global top 10 of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for the first time in 2025, ranking ninth overall. Its Qatar business efficiency ranking rose from 11th to fifth that year as reforms strengthened labor-market flexibility and supported the private sector. The country held seventh place in both economic performance and government efficiency, and it moved up three spots in infrastructure.

Other indices tell a similar story. Qatar ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa in the 2025 Global Peace Index, placing 27th globally among 163 countries. It reached the top 20 in the 2025 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, which assessed 69 countries. The labor market result adds one more marker to that run, and it raises a question worth holding onto. A country this size does not land near the top of a global list by accident. The Qatar 2026 labor market index reflects years of deliberate work, and the next test is whether the momentum holds.

By Rami Al-Saadi
3 min read

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