Is e& (Etisalat Group) profitable in 2026?

Yes. e& reported FY2025 net profit of AED 14.4bn, up over 33% year on year, on revenue of AED 72.9bn (+23.1%), announced 24 February 2026. Q1 2026 revenue continued growing at AED 19.4bn, up 15.1% YoY.

e& is majority state owned. The Emirates Investment Authority, the UAE's federal sovereign wealth fund, holds 60%, with the remaining roughly 40% free floating on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange as of mid-2026.

Could AI replace e&'s core business?

No. e&'s core UAE telecom operations rest on regulated spectrum licenses and physical network infrastructure that AI cannot substitute. e& already runs over 400 AI use cases and 160 machine learning models internally for network optimization, per Mordor Intelligence, July 2026.

Is e& laying off staff or shrinking divisions?

e& is not cutting core telecom staff but is actively divesting non core units: it sold its Khazna data center stake (March 2025), part of Careem to Uber (June 2026), and its entire Vodafone stake (July 2026), while reviewing e& capital and Beehive for possible sale as of 16 July 2026.

Who is e&'s biggest competitor?

In UAE mobile telecom, e& and du together hold about 97.5% of sector revenue, per Mordor Intelligence, mid-2026, making du its main direct rival. In enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure, Microsoft, AWS, and UAE's G42 are the more active competitive threats.

Did e& sell its Vodafone stake?

Yes. e& sold its entire 16.21% stake in Vodafone Group to Xavier Niel's Vega vehicle for $5.95bn; the agreement was signed 10 July 2026 and completed 17 July 2026, ending a stake it had built since May 2022.

Telecom infrastructure · state-owned · United Arab Emirates

e& (Etisalat Group)

eand.com ↗

UAE's majority state-owned telecom operator, now retreating from tech bets to refocus on core telecom.

Hard to displace

Assessed 25 July 2026 · Evidence as of 25 July 2026

Strong structural protection; the business model survives ai pressure.

On the recordSince 25 July 2026 · Checkable from Q3 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Q2/Q3 2026 earnings test whether organic revenue growth holds once PPF Telecom consolidation effects fade

The call

e& sits behind regulatory walls that no AI product can breach, but its new CEO is unwinding the tech and VC bets that once promised growth beyond those walls.

e& is the United Arab Emirates' largest phone and internet company, owned mostly by the government and protected by law as one of only two major telecom providers in the country. It is very hard to replace because the government controls which companies can buy radio frequencies and build phone towers, and e& already owns most of the infrastructure. The main thing that could change is whether the company's basic phone business keeps growing as fast as it did in 2025, since last year's big growth came partly from buying another company rather than from its own operations getting better.

Why

AI pressure: Microsoft Azure, AWS, and G42 in enterprise AI/cloud services. Global cloud and AI infrastructure providers could out-compete e&'s enterprise digital push, though core telecom pipes stay untouched. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: SpaceX Starlink and other satellite broadband providers. Satellite internet could erode fixed broadband demand over time, though UAE regulation limits direct competition for now. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.

What protects it. UAE's regulated telecom duopoly, 60% state ownership by EIA, and control of spectrum and physical network infrastructure.

What would change this call

e& reports Q2/Q3 2026 organic revenue growth excluding PPF Telecom consolidation. Shows whether core UAE telecom demand holds up once acquisition-driven growth fades.
Completion or cancellation of e& capital and Beehive divestment review by end of 2026. Confirms whether new CEO is following through on retreat from fintech/VC bets.
Any UAE regulatory announcement on a third national telecom license. Would signal erosion of the duopoly protection that underpins e&'s moat.

Key numbers

FY2025 revenue AED 72.9bn, up 23.1% YoY (2025-12-31)
Market cap AED 176.9bn (~$48.2bn), shares down 8.6% over 3yrs (2026-07-15)
Sold 16.21% Vodafone stake for $5.95bn (2026-07-17)

Named risks

New CEO winding down non core diversification, creating instability in VC, fintech, and super app units. Severity: high
FY2025 23% revenue growth partly inflated by one-off PPF Telecom consolidation, base effect could fade. Severity: medium
Share price down 8.6% over three years despite record profit, signaling investor skepticism. Severity: medium
Enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure segment exposed to Microsoft, AWS, and G42 competition. Severity: medium
EU continues monitoring PPF Telecom anti-subsidy commitments after September 2024 approval. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company)	contesting	e& and du jointly hold ~97.5% of UAE telecom revenue, per Mordor Intelligence, mid-2026
Microsoft/AWS	gaining on	Hyperscalers expanding UAE enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure share alongside e& enterprise, 2026
G42	gaining on	G42 took e&'s Khazna data center stake (Mar 2025) and launched sovereign AI push with Microsoft, Jul 2026
Uber	losing to	Uber took control of Careem, buying 12.5% from e& for $100m, June 2026, reducing e& to 37.53%

Questions people ask

Is e& (Etisalat Group) profitable in 2026?: Yes. e& reported FY2025 net profit of AED 14.4bn, up over 33% year on year, on revenue of AED 72.9bn (+23.1%), announced 24 February 2026. Q1 2026 revenue continued growing at AED 19.4bn, up 15.1% YoY.
Who owns e&?: e& is majority state owned. The Emirates Investment Authority, the UAE's federal sovereign wealth fund, holds 60%, with the remaining roughly 40% free floating on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange as of mid-2026.
Could AI replace e&'s core business?: No. e&'s core UAE telecom operations rest on regulated spectrum licenses and physical network infrastructure that AI cannot substitute. e& already runs over 400 AI use cases and 160 machine learning models internally for network optimization, per Mordor Intelligence, July 2026.
Is e& laying off staff or shrinking divisions?: e& is not cutting core telecom staff but is actively divesting non core units: it sold its Khazna data center stake (March 2025), part of Careem to Uber (June 2026), and its entire Vodafone stake (July 2026), while reviewing e& capital and Beehive for possible sale as of 16 July 2026.
Who is e&'s biggest competitor?: In UAE mobile telecom, e& and du together hold about 97.5% of sector revenue, per Mordor Intelligence, mid-2026, making du its main direct rival. In enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure, Microsoft, AWS, and UAE's G42 are the more active competitive threats.
Did e& sell its Vodafone stake?: Yes. e& sold its entire 16.21% stake in Vodafone Group to Xavier Niel's Vega vehicle for $5.95bn; the agreement was signed 10 July 2026 and completed 17 July 2026, ending a stake it had built since May 2022.

Timeline

2026-07-17e& completes $5.95bn sale of entire 16.21% Vodafone stake to Xavier Niel's Vega vehicle
2026-07-16Reuters reports e& reviewing e& capital and Beehive for possible divestment
2026-07-06G42 and Microsoft launch Catalyst agentic AI integration targeting UAE government operations
2026-06-01Uber acquires 12.5% of e&'s Careem stake for $100m, e& retains 37.53%
2026-04-01Masood M. Sharif Mahmood becomes e& Group CEO, succeeding Hatem Dowidar
2026-03-31Hatem Dowidar steps down as e& Group CEO after six years
2026-02-24e& reports FY2025 record revenue AED 72.9bn and net profit AED 14.4bn
2025-04-02e& PPF Telecom completes 100% acquisition of SBB d.o.o. Serbia for EUR 825m
2025-03-26e& completes sale of 40% Khazna Data Center stake to G42 for $2.2bn
2024-09-30EU approves e&'s PPF Telecom acquisition with commitments after anti-subsidy probe

Revision history

25 July 2026

First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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