Key Points
- stc reported third-quarter net profit of 3.599 billion riyals, down 12.4% year-on-year.
- Nine-month profit reached 10.918 billion riyals, 5.7% below the same period of 2025.
- The decline marks a second consecutive drop at the kingdom's largest listed telecom operator.
The latest:
Net profit at stc Group fell 12.4% in the third quarter of 2026 to 3.599 billion riyals, down from 4.107 billion riyals a year earlier, according to the company’s disclosure to the Saudi exchange. For the first nine months, profit came in at 10.918 billion riyals against 11.579 billion riyals in the same stretch of 2025. The group separately approved a cash dividend of 5.5% for the quarter.
Details:
- The quarter: Third-quarter net profit stood at 3.599 billion riyals, compared with 4.107 billion riyals in the third quarter of 2025, a decline of 12.4%, according to the disclosure filed on Tadawul. The quarterly drop is steeper than the nine-month decline, meaning the pressure on earnings intensified in the latest three-month period.
- Nine-month picture: Cumulative profit for the first nine months of 2026 reached 10.918 billion riyals, against 11.579 billion riyals in the corresponding period of 2025. That is a year-on-year decrease of 5.7%, or roughly 661 million riyals in absolute terms, based on the figures in the filing.
- The dividend: Alongside the results, stc announced a cash distribution of 5.5% for the third quarter of 2026. The disclosure did not pair the payout with a revised full-year distribution policy, leaving the dividend as the single shareholder-facing decision accompanying the earnings release.
- The disclosure: The results were published through the Saudi exchange’s mandatory disclosure channel and carried by Argaam on 28 October 2026. Listed Saudi companies are required to file quarterly results with Tadawul, which makes the filing the primary document investors price the stock against.
- What is absent: The filing as reported did not break out revenue, operating profit, or segment performance, and did not attribute the earnings decline to any specific cost, impairment, or one-off item. No management commentary explaining the quarterly contraction accompanied the figures.
- The company: stc Group, formerly Saudi Telecom Company, is the largest listed telecom operator in Saudi Arabia by market value and a heavyweight constituent of the Tadawul All Share Index, which means its quarterly earnings move the benchmark’s telecom component and feature in index-tracking portfolios.
- Second straight drop: The nine-month figure follows a pattern of declining year-on-year profit at the group, with the third quarter registering the second consecutive quarterly decrease against the equivalent 2025 period. The widening gap between the quarterly and cumulative decline rates points to a trend that accelerated rather than stabilized.
Background:
Saudi listed firms file quarterly results with Tadawul under the exchange’s disclosure rules. stc’s earnings are watched closely because of the group’s index weight and its record as one of the market’s consistent dividend payers.
Between the lines:
The 12.4% quarterly fall against a 5.7% nine-month decline implies the first half held up better than the latest quarter, so the pressure is recent rather than carried over from the start of the year. Maintaining a 5.5% quarterly distribution while profit contracts signals the group is protecting its payout profile, a point investors will test against the full-year result.
What’s next
Watch the full-year 2026 results and any board statement on the annual dividend, plus stc’s share performance on Tadawul in the sessions following the disclosure.
