Industries Qatar Q.P.S.C. (IQCD) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Industries Qatar. I'd like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Bobby. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Hi, hello, everyone. This is Bobby Sarkar, Head of Research at QNB Financial Services. I wanted to welcome everyone to Industries Qatar's Second Quarter and First Half 2026 Results Conference Call. So on this call from QatarEnergy's Privatized Affairs Group, we have Abdulla Al-Hay, who is the Manager for Privatized Companies Affairs. We have Saoud Alabdulghani, who is the Head of Investor Relations and Communications. We have Ahmad Zakri, who is Assistant Manager in Financial Operations. And we have Saffan Mohammed, who is the Senior Financial Management Analyst. So I would now like to turn the call over to Saoud to begin. Saoud, please go ahead.

Thank you, Bobby. Good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us today. Before we go into the business and performance updates, I would like to mention that this call is purely for IQ investors, and no media representatives should be attending this call. Additionally, please note that this call is subject to Industries Qatar disclaimer statement as detailed on Slide #2 of the IR presentation. Kindly note that the Microsoft Teams link is provided to display the Investor Relations deck as we present our call. Moving into the call. On Wednesday, 12 August 2026, Industries Qatar published its results for the 6-month period ended 30 June 2026. And during today's call, we'll go through these results and provide you an update on the key financial and operational highlights. Today in this call, we have Ahmad Zakri, Assistant Manager, Financial Operations; myself, Saoud Alabdulghani, Head of Investor Relations Communications; and Saffan Mohammed, [ Senior Financial Management Analyst ]. We will structure this call as follows: first, I'll provide a brief overview of IQ ownership structure, competitive strength and overall governance structure. Secondly, Ahmad will provide an overview of the group's financial and operational performance, then Saffan will provide an update on the performance of each operating segment. To begin with, as detailed in the IR presentation, IQ ownership structure comprised QatarEnergy, which holds 51% stake with the remaining 49% comprising the free float on the Qatar Exchange and held by various domestic and financial institutions, corporate and individuals. Additionally, on 2nd May 2026, QVC became a direct holding of the group, increasing IQ's effective ownership in QVC from 25.5% to 44.8%. Industries Qatar is the second-largest company in the Qatar Stock Exchange by market capitalization. The group maintains a strong credit profile and currently rated AA negative with a stable outlook by S&P Global Ratings and Aa3 with a stable outlook by Moody's, reflecting IQ's strong business and financial fundamentals. QatarEnergy, being the main shareholder of IQ, provides most of the head office function through a service-level agreement. The operation of IQ Group companies are independently managed by their respective Board of Directors, along with the senior management team. In terms of competitive advantages, as detailed in the presentation, the group benefits from several key strengths, including an efficient and well-maintained asset base, a highly skilled and experienced workforce, reliable access to feedstock and competitively priced energy sources and a low-cost operating structure. The group also benefits from dedicated marketing capabilities through QatarEnergy Marketing for petrochemical and fertilizer products as well as a strong and well-established joint venture partnerships. In addition, the group is supported by an experienced senior management team with a proven track record of delivering value. The presentation also provides additional details on IQ's governance structure, including various aspects of the group corporate governance framework. I will now hand over to Ahmad.

Thank you, Saoud. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I will walk you through an overview of the consolidated results and also present an update on the company's financial performance. Starting with our operational performance, as previously announced, the group implemented production reductions and temporary stoppages for certain products during the reporting period. As a result, overall production volumes were lower compared with both the previous quarter and the corresponding period of last year. Production utilization rates and average reliability also declined, mainly due to a higher number of planned and unplanned shutdowns associated with these production adjustments, which have been in place since the first quarter of 2026. Despite these challenges, the underlying integrity and condition of our assets remains strong, reflecting the robustness of our facilities and our continued focus on operational excellence. At the same time, we maintained our unwavering commitment to Health, Safety and Environment with HSE continuing to be a core priority across all our operations. Moving on to financial performance. The IQ Group reported a net profit of QAR 216 million for the 6-month period ended 30th June 2026, representing an 89% decrease compared to the same period last year. Revenue for the period reached QAR 5.9 billion, while EBITDA amounted to QAR 1.4 billion with an EBITDA margin of 24% compared to 35% in the first half of 2025. The decline in profitability was mainly driven by lower revenue, reflecting reduced sales volumes together with lower other income. This was partially offset by higher average selling prices and lower operating costs. Looking at the key drivers behind the group's financial performance. Average selling prices increased by 24% compared to the same period last year, and this positively contributed to earnings. This improvement was mainly supported by supply-side market dynamics. However, sales volumes declined by 46% compared to the first half of 2025, largely due to reduced production levels and shipping disruption experienced during the period. On the cost side, operating costs decreased moderately, primarily due to lower sales volumes and the associated reduction in input costs. Turning to our quarterly performance. The group reported a weaker result in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter, recording a net loss, primarily due to lower revenue. This was largely attributable to reduced sales volumes, which reflected the lower production levels for certain products during the period. On the other hand, average selling prices improved across all segments, supported by supply side constraints and ongoing logistics disruptions in key markets. Despite the challenging operating environment, the group continues to maintain a strong financial position, underpinned by robust liquidity and a debt-free balance sheet with no long-term financial borrowings. During the period, the group distributed dividends relating to the second half of 2025 while continuing to advance its capital expenditure program. Capital spending was primarily directed towards investment projects, planned turnarounds and initiatives aimed at enhancing asset reliability and strengthening health, safety and environment performance. The group also continued to generate positive operating cash flows together with disciplined capital spending, which supported positive free cash flow generation during the period. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now hand over to my colleague, Saffan, to cover the segmental review for IQ Group.

Thank you, Ahmad. Moving to the segmental performance of the group and starting with the Petrochemical segment. The Petrochemical segment reported a net loss of QAR 240 million during first half of 2026, representing a significant decline compared to the corresponding period of last year. The decrease was primarily driven by lower revenue and reduced gross margins. Revenue declined due to lower sales volume, reflecting reduced production levels as well as shipping and logistics disruption. Looking at market conditions, product prices strengthened significantly during March and April as supply disruption tightened products and market availability. As supply chains gradually normalized, prices moderated during May. However, they remained above the level seen in the first half of last year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, segment moved from a marginal profit in Q1 to a net loss in Q2, primarily due to lower sales volumes. Sales volumes declined as a result of ongoing logistics disruption together with lower production levels, although this was partially offset by higher average selling prices. Moving on to the Fertilizer segment. The Fertilizer segment reported a net loss of QAR 49 million for the first half of 2026, reflecting a sharp decline compared to the same period of last year. The decrease was primarily driven by lower sales volumes resulting from disruption caused by the regional conflict. Operating costs declined due to lower input costs associated with the lower production and sales volumes. Average selling prices increased during the period supported by strong demand from key agricultural markets, supply constraints and export restrictions. However, sales volumes declined due to reduced production levels and ongoing shipping and logistics disruptions. Compared to the previous quarter, the segment moved from a net profit in Q1 2026 to a net loss in Q2, primarily due to lower revenue reflecting the full quarter impact of the regional conflict. Average selling prices increased quarter-on-quarter, mainly supported by supply constraints from the GCC region. Now moving on to the Steel segment, the Steel segment reported a net profit of QAR 367 million for the first half of 2026, representing an increase of 39% compared to the corresponding period of last year. The improvement was primarily driven by stronger margins resulting from high average selling prices and lower operating costs despite lower sales volumes. Higher selling prices were supported by improved regional macroeconomic fundamentals, tighter supply conditions and recovering demand. Compared to the previous quarter, segment's profitability declined by 13% as lower sales volumes were more than offset the benefit of higher average selling prices. I will now hand over the call back to Saoud for the closing remarks.

Thank you, Saffan. With that, we conclude our call. We would like to thank our investors for their continued trust and support, and we look forward to speaking with you again during the next earnings call.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.