Al-Shal Report: Listed companies earn KD 1.361 billion in the first half

The number of listed companies that announced their financial results for the first half of the current year reached 135, representing approximately 97 percent of the 139 listed companies, after excluding those that had not yet disclosed their results.

According to Al-Shal Consultancy’s weekly report, these companies achieved net profits of approximately 1.361 billion dinars, an increase of about 7.3 percent compared to the 1.268 billion dinars recorded in the first half of 2025.

The second quarter saw a surge of approximately 149.2 percent in profit levels compared to the same sample’s performance in the first quarter of 2026. These companies reported profits of approximately 970.9 million dinars in the second quarter of the current year, up from about 389.6 million dinars in the first quarter.

Al-Shal added that six out of 13 active sectors improved their profitability when comparing their performance with that of the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, profits declined in four sectors, two sectors reduced their losses, and only one sector shifted from profitability to losses.

The best-performing sector in terms of absolute value increase was the telecommunications sector, which recorded profits of approximately 261.3 million dinars, up from 186 million dinars, representing an absolute increase of 75.3 million dinars, or 40.5 percent. The banking sector followed, achieving the highest net profit value at approximately 922.2 million dinars, compared to 881.8 million dinars, an absolute rise of 40.4 million dinars, or 4.6 percent. The real estate sector came next, with profits rising from approximately 34.4 million dinars to 44 million dinars, an increase of about 9.6 million dinars, or 28.0 percent.

On the other hand, Al-Shal clarified that the financial services sector experienced the largest decline in profit levels. Its profits fell to approximately 152.5 million dinars, down from 224.6 million dinars recorded in the first half of last year, representing a decrease of 72.1 million dinars, or -32.1 percent.

The consumer services sector followed in terms of declining net profits, recording earnings of approximately 44.9 million dinars, down from 60.4 million dinars in the first half of last year, a drop of about 15.6 million dinars, or -25.7 percent.

The industrial sector recorded the largest losses in the first half of 2026, with total losses amounting to approximately 144.3 million dinars, a decrease of 61 million dinars compared to 205.3 million dinars in the first half of 2025. This was primarily due to Al-Jilaniya for Public Warehousing recording losses of 206.8 million dinars, which were non-recurring cash losses resulting from court rulings concerning its investments in Kuwait, compared to losses of approximately 270.4 million dinars for the same period in 2025.

Al-Shal indicated that the results for the first half of the current year suggest that 64 companies achieved net profits by the end of the first half of 2026. Among them, 50 companies increased their profit levels, while 14 others either turned profitable or reduced their losses. Thus, 47.4 percent of the companies that announced their results showed performance improvement, compared to 83 companies in the same sample during the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, 71 companies experienced a decline in performance, including 62 whose profits decreased and nine whose losses increased or who shifted from profitability to losses, compared to 52 companies that showed a decline in performance within the same sample during the corresponding period of the previous year.

Among the most profitable companies, 10 leading firms posted profits totaling approximately 1.171 billion dinars, accounting for roughly 86.1 percent of the aggregate profits of all reported companies and about 71.0 percent of the total profits of all profitable firms. Kuwait Finance House led the list with profits of approximately 363.1 million dinars, followed by National Bank of Kuwait in second place with around 324.8 million dinars, Zain (Mobile Telecommunications Company) in third with approximately 220.2 million dinars, and Kuwait Finance House (Commercial Bank) in fourth with about 62.3 million dinars.