There is a temptation, when reading a telecom earnings release, to treat the numbers as the conclusion. Revenue grew, profit rose, subscribers increased; the analyst ticks the boxes and moves on. But the more interesting question is always structural: what do the numbers reveal about the underlying economics of the business, and what do those economics tell us about where the capital is actually going and why? When e& reported its full-year 2025 results in February and followed them in late April with its first-quarter 2026 figures, the two releases together told a more intricate story than either could tell alone. One was the culmination of a transformation. The other was its first real test under new management, in a regional environment that has grown measurably more complex.

Start with the full year, because the scale of it deserves a moment of genuine attention.

e& reported consolidated revenues of AED 72.9 billion for 2025, an increase of 23.1 per cent year-over-year.

Net profit jumped 33.6 per cent to AED 14.4 billion, compared with AED 10.8 billion in 2024.

Consolidated EBITDA rose 21.1 per cent to AED 32.0 billion.

For a company of this size, operating in markets that range from the saturated connectivity landscape of the UAE to the still-developing mobile ecosystems of Africa and South Asia, those are not incremental improvements. They represent a genuine step change in the group's financial profile, one that reflects both the organic momentum of its core businesses and the deliberate restructuring of its asset base over several years.

The group's total subscriber base grew to 244.7 million, marking a 31.3 per cent increase compared to 186.5 million in 2024.

That headline figure, however, requires careful reading. Much of the subscriber growth reflects the consolidation of the PPF Telecom portfolio, which brought Central and Eastern European mobile and fixed-line customers into the group's reported base. The organic growth story, while real, is somewhat quieter than the headline suggests.

On a like-for-like basis, excluding e& PPF Telecom, e& reported double-digit revenue growth year-over-year of 10.1 per cent.

That is still a creditable performance for a mature infrastructure business, but it contextualises the headline number appropriately. The PPF consolidation was a structural choice about geographic diversification and the acquisition of regulated infrastructure assets in markets with relatively predictable return profiles. The organic business, meanwhile, continues to compound at a pace that most European incumbents would regard with considerable envy.

The asset portfolio decisions made during 2025 are arguably as analytically significant as the revenue line.

e& completed the divestment of its 40 per cent stake in Khazna for a value of USD 2.2 billion, equivalent to AED 8.0 billion.

e& recognised a gain of USD 1.4 billion, or AED 5.1 billion, before federal royalty and corporate tax on the transaction.

The Khazna sale was not a distress disposal. It was a disciplined monetisation of a data centre asset at what the group clearly judged to be an attractive valuation, releasing capital that could be redeployed into higher-growth verticals. The timing was shrewd: data centre valuations across the region have been elevated by the wave of sovereign AI infrastructure investment, and e& extracted that premium rather than allowing it to erode. The transaction also illustrates something important about how the group now thinks about its balance sheet, namely as a portfolio to be actively managed rather than a static collection of legacy holdings.

The dividend trajectory reinforces this reading of management intent.

The proposed final dividend payout for the second half of 2025 was 47 fils per share, representing a total dividend payout of 90 fils for the full year, a year-over-year increase of 8.4 per cent.

The full-year dividend per share of 90 fils is set to increase to 95 fils in 2026.

A progressive dividend policy is, in the language of capital allocation, a statement of confidence. It commits management to a rising cash return in future periods, which constrains discretionary spending and signals that free cash flow generation is expected to remain robust. For a business that is simultaneously investing in 5G network densification, enterprise cloud infrastructure, and geographic expansion across three continents, maintaining that commitment is not trivial. It implies a degree of financial discipline that the earnings record, at least so far, has vindicated.

The Q1 2026 results, reported on April 29, introduced a more nuanced chapter.

The group's consolidated revenue reached AED 19.4 billion, reflecting 15.1 per cent year-on-year growth, while consolidated net profit reached AED 2.9 billion, with 3.9 per cent YoY growth excluding the gain from the sale of Khazna.

The revenue growth rate, while solid in absolute terms, represents a moderation from the pace recorded through much of 2025.

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That headline figure, however, requires careful reading.

For context, consolidated revenue in Q3 2025 had grown 29.2 per cent year-over-year, while the first nine months of 2025 recorded growth of 25.3 per cent.

The deceleration from that trajectory into the mid-teens is partly a base effect, partly a reflection of the Khazna gain that inflated the Q1 2025 profit comparison, and partly an early signal that the easy gains from consolidation accounting are now largely absorbed into the base.

EBITDA grew by 16.5 per cent year-on-year, reaching AED 8.6 billion in Q1 2026.

The fact that EBITDA grew faster than revenue in the quarter is a constructive signal on operating leverage: the group is extracting margin improvement even as the top-line growth rate normalises.

Capital expenditure was up 16.8 per cent to AED 2.8 billion, with spectrum acquisitions in Hungary and Pakistan offsetting slower network build in Q1.

The capex composition matters here. Spectrum payments are lumpy, non-recurring in their timing, and should be evaluated separately from the underlying network investment run-rate. The Hungary and Pakistan spectrum acquisitions reflect the group's continued commitment to securing long-duration infrastructure assets in its international markets, a strategy that is capital-intensive in the short term but creates durable competitive positioning over the licence period.

The group's subscriber base maintained its upward trajectory with 30.8 per cent year-on-year growth, reaching 248.0 million subscribers.

UAE subscribers increased to 16.6 million.

The UAE domestic business remains the group's highest-margin engine, and subscriber growth in a market that is already among the most penetrated in the world reflects both the quality of the network and the stickiness of the bundled service proposition that e& has built around connectivity, fintech, and digital content.

The Q1 2026 results also marked the first full quarter under new Group CEO Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, who assumed the role on April 1 after Hatem Dowidar stepped down following six years leading the group's transformation. The leadership transition is analytically relevant not because it changes the strategic direction, which appears well-embedded, but because it signals a shift in emphasis. Masood brings deep operational knowledge of the UAE domestic business, and his elevation suggests that the board's near-term priority is execution quality and margin discipline rather than further transformational acquisitions. The group has spent the better part of four years expanding its geographic footprint, restructuring its asset portfolio, and rebranding from a regional telecom incumbent into something that aspires to the identity of a global technology group. The task now is to make that aspiration financially legible in the underlying operating metrics, quarter by quarter, market by market.

In 2025, e& international operating companies launched 5G services in three new markets, Morocco, Egypt and Serbia.

The enterprise vertical has been building enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure capabilities across the region, and the fintech platform, e& money,

surpassed 1 million cards issued

during the period, a modest but directionally meaningful milestone for a business that is still in the early stages of monetising its financial services ambitions.

Careem Technologies' total gross transaction value grew by 117 per cent, with GTV per user rising by 74 per cent year-over-year.

These are high-growth numbers on a relatively small base, and the question of when the digital services portfolio begins to contribute meaningfully to group EBITDA rather than simply to the narrative of transformation remains the central unanswered question in the investment case.

What the combined FY2025 and Q1 2026 results ultimately reveal is a business that has successfully executed the first phase of a strategic repositioning, delivering record revenues and profits while maintaining dividend discipline and actively managing its asset portfolio. The second phase, converting the breadth of the group's digital ambitions into durable margin expansion and free cash flow growth, is the harder task. It is also, for any analyst who finds the economics of infrastructure ownership in concentrated markets genuinely interesting, the more compelling one to watch.

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice, a solicitation, or a recommendation. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision.