Nebras Energy Q.P.S.C. (QEWS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to Nebras Energy First Half 2026 Results Call. Please note that this call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I'd like to hand over the call to the moderator, Bobby. You may now begin.

Okay. Thank you. Hi. Hello, everyone. Sorry for the delay. This is Bobby Sarkar, Head of Research at QNB Financial Services. I wanted to welcome everyone to Nebras Energy's Second Quarter and First Half 2026 Results Conference Call. So on this call, we have Shahzad Gill, who is the Chief Finance and Planning Officer at Nebras; and Dan Sabitov, who is the Corporate Planning, Performance and IR Manager. So we will conduct this conference with the management first reviewing the company's results followed by Q&A. I would now like to turn the call over to Shahzad. Shahzad, please go ahead.

Thank you very much, Bobby. Hi, everyone. Good afternoon, [Foreign Language]. And my apologies for the delay. We ran into some technical issues. So I'll start the call with results and commentary and analysis. Dan will pick up halfway through, and then we'll have -- you will have the opportunity to ask questions. So welcome to Nebras Energy's Half Year 2026 Financial Results Presentation. We shall start with the headlines, as I said, and then we'll get into the analysis. We'll go to Slide 4 of the deck. Nebras Energy Group's operational performance has remained strong throughout the first half of 2026. And this is a testament to our robust, resilient business model. Our plant operations continued during this period without interruption. The company continues to monitor the regional situation closely and is ready to take any measures necessary to maintain seamless operations. Nebras Energy's revenue for the first 6 months of 2026 is QAR 1,548 million. This is 7% increase from the same period last year. The group posted an EBITDA of QAR 892 million and net profit of QAR 580 million. Due to delay in senior debt financial close for Facility E project, the company and the rest of the sponsors for the project continued to fund the construction, which is on track as of June 30, 2026. The management and the Board decided not to declare interim dividend at this time as the company funds the construction of this strategic and critical... So okay, I'll continue. Nebras Energy Group's gross installed operational power capacity is 20 gigawatts, out of which 4.2 gigawatt is renewables capacity. Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies. I don't know what's going on with the operator, but we'll continue. So gross water capacity is 541 MIGD, while gross capacity under construction is 110 MIGD. Currently, there are 6 CCGT projects under construction in the group portfolio. We are moving on to the next slide. Here, this slide lists our investment highlights. It is important to note that the fundamentals of the business remain strong. Market share in power and water remains high within Qatar. Internationally, we have a well-diversified portfolio of renewable and thermal assets across multiple regions, where demand growth stays strong. Gas plays an important role as transition fuel and renewables are playing their part in replacing old thermal technology. We have long-term offtake contracts for our projects and corresponding long-term fuel supply agreements are in place. Cost of fuel is recovered through pass-through mechanism built within our long-term power and water purchase agreements. With the AI and data center boom, electricity demand internationally is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Nebras Energy is well placed to embrace these opportunities working together with our international partners. I'll move to Slide #6, please. So our power and water dispatch has been higher compared to first half of 2026 (sic) [ 2025 ]. Also, our power and water availability is also higher in 2026 compared to the same period last year. Slide #7, it's the key highlights. On the first -- during the first half of 2026, the group posted the revenue of QAR 1,548 million. This is 7% higher than same period last year. EBITDA for the period is QAR 893 million. This is 8% lower than the corresponding period last year. Net income attributable to equity holders for the period is QAR 580 million compared to QAR 662 million last year. The main driver of lower EBITDA and net income is a one-time fair value adjustment for which Dan will provide more details shortly. With this, I'll hand over to Dan to go through the variance analysis. Dan, over to you.

Thank you, Shahzad, and good afternoon, everyone. On Slide 8, revenue increased by 7% year-on-year, largely driven by higher sent out power and water, better availability and higher capacity charge rates under the PWPA. Gross profit increased to QAR 469 million in 2026 compared with QAR 452 million for the same period last year, mainly reflecting higher revenue, partially offset by a higher fuel cost. EBITDA amounted to QAR 893 million in 2026 compared with QAR 972 million for the first 6 months of 2025. The decrease was mainly driven by a lower share of profit from equity-accounted investees, which will be discussed on the next slide. Turning to Slide 9. Share of profit from our JVs and associates was QAR 266 million in 2026 compared with QAR 363 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily driven by higher capacity charge rate at Ras Girtas Power Company, partially offset by higher maintenance costs at Qatar Power Company. For international assets, lower earnings from U.K. Wind were mainly due to a one-time fair value adjustment related to changes in subsidy indexation, while lower construction revenue from the Surkhandarya project in Uzbekistan reflected a prior period catch-up recognized in 2025. Other income decreased from QAR 185 million to QAR 181 million for the first 6 months of 2026. The decrease is mainly explained by lower interest income from lower cash balances. Net profit was QAR 580 million compared with QAR 662 million reported last year. The decrease was mainly attributable to the one-time fair value adjustment discussed earlier, while the group's underlying operational performance remained solid during the period. Key financial highlights for the second quarter are available on Slide 10. Quarterly results in more details will be covered in the next 2 slides. Turning to Slide 11. Higher revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was mainly driven by increased sent out power and higher capacity charge under the PWPA. The increase in gross profit was primarily from higher revenue, partially offset by higher fuel costs. EBITDA amounted to QAR 442 million versus QAR 530 million reported in Q2 2025. The decrease was largely due to a lower share of profit from equity-accounted investees, which we will discuss on the next slide. Now moving to Slide 12. Decrease in share of profit from joint ventures and associates mainly driven by higher capacity charge rate and better availability at Ras Girtas Power Company, offset by lower earnings from Umm Al Houl plant. For international assets, the decrease reflected the same drivers mentioned earlier, which are lower profit from the U.K. Wind business and the Surkhandarya project in Uzbekistan. Lower other income is mainly attributable to lower interest income on deposits and timing of dividends from available-for-sale investments between the quarters. Net profit for Q2 was QAR 284 million as compared to QAR 375 million last year, decrease largely driven by a one-time fair value adjustment in U.K. Wind as explained earlier. Now turning to financial position on Slide 13. Total assets of the group stands at QAR 24.8 billion, with 4% increase comparing to previous year, which was mainly due to capital expenditures on Facility E and RAF Peaker Unit projects. Cash remained broadly at the same level. Cash generated from operations and debt drawdown was offset by capital expenditures on 2 projects in Qatar. Decrease in value of available-for-sale investments is driven by the change in market price of shares. Moving to Slide 14. Total equity of the group increased by QAR 90 million and amounted to QAR 15.9 billion, increase largely driven by the profit for the period and positive cash flow hedge reserve movements recognized in OCI. Increases in total debt and net debt versus end of 2025 are mostly due to additional drawdowns to support ongoing strategic investments. With that, we'll open up for questions. Over to you, Bobby.

Okay. Yes. Operator, we can open up the call for questions, please.

[Operator Instructions] We will take our first question from the line of [ Wei Chao ] from Al Rayan Investment.

This is Zohaib from Al Rayan Investment. Just one question. Could you tell us the quantum of this one-off fair value adjustment? How much was it in QAR terms, please?

Yes, it's QAR 78 million.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of [ Wei Chao ] from Al Rayan Investments.