Al Ansari Financial Services' Q3 Profit Falls 12.3% as Spending on Growth Rises

Operating income for the three months to September was AED 326 million, 0.6% lower than a year earlier, the company said in its results statement. For the first nine months of the year it was AED 960.7 million, down 0.5%.

The quarter was less weak than the first half. EBITDA fell 5.7% to AED 128.1 million and net profit dropped 12.3%, compared with first-half declines of 15% in EBITDA and 28.7% in net profit. The third-quarter EBITDA margin was 39.3%, against 41.5% in the same quarter of 2025.

The company's two main income lines moved in opposite directions. Net gains on currency exchange rose 0.5% to AED 181.6 million, while net commission income, which comes largely from money transfers, slipped 1.8% to AED 144 million.

Al Ansari attributed the pressure on profit to spending it described as investment in long-term growth, including people, its branch network and technology systems. Salaries and benefits rose 1.1% in the quarter and other operating expenses rose 8.8%.

For the nine months, EBITDA fell 12.3% to AED 370.9 million and the margin narrowed to 38.6% from 43.8% a year earlier. The company said the decline reflected the slight drop in operating income combined with higher costs. Nine-month net profit after tax was AED 231.1 million, down 23.8%.

The results show a business whose revenue has held steady through a difficult year for Gulf economies, but whose cost base is growing faster than income. The narrowing rate of decline in the third quarter will be the figure investors watch in the fourth-quarter results, which will show whether the company's spending on branches and systems is starting to lift transfer and exchange volumes.