RAK Ceramics Third-Quarter Profit Rises 15.5% as UAE Sales Jump by a Third

Revenue for the three months to September 30 rose 4.4 per cent to Dh861.5 million, from Dh824.9 million in the same quarter of 2025, the company said. Profit before tax increased 13.4 per cent to Dh98.3 million and EBITDA grew 4.7 per cent to Dh175.7 million. Gross margin was 40.3 per cent, little changed from 40.5 per cent a year before, despite higher material and energy costs.

The quarter was the strongest part of an otherwise flat year. Over nine months, revenue was up 0.7 per cent at Dh2,445.1 million and net profit after tax rose 1 per cent to Dh184.5 million, while EBITDA slipped 0.8 per cent to Dh460.5 million. The result shows how much the Ras Al Khaimah manufacturer now depends on the UAE building cycle, which carried the quarter while several overseas markets shrank.

In the UAE, revenue from tiles and sanitaryware climbed 32.5 per cent to Dh313.8 million, helped by project sales and demand for large-format slabs. The company said disruption to imports allowed it to take market share. Sales in the rest of the Middle East, excluding the UAE and Saudi Arabia, rose 38 per cent to Dh41.6 million, and India grew 12 per cent to Dh92.8 million as RAK Ceramics added dealers.

Tiles, the largest business, lifted revenue 8.4 per cent to Dh519.9 million. Sanitaryware fell 7.3 per cent to Dh114.8 million, with growth in Gulf markets only partly offsetting declines elsewhere.

The weak spots were outside the Gulf core. Revenue in Saudi Arabia dropped 17.2 per cent to Dh43 million, which the company put mainly down to delays in SABER product-conformity approvals that held up deliveries. European sales fell 19.9 per cent to Dh68.2 million on higher logistics costs, competition and shipment delays, and Bangladesh was down 11.7 per cent to Dh54.7 million because of gas shortages.

"We delivered a strong performance in Q3 2026, with revenue growth and double-digit profit growth despite continued geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain disruptions and elevated logistics costs," chief executive Abdallah Massaad said.

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Massaad said the company had chosen not to raise prices while rivals' supply was disrupted. "We said we do not want to benefit from the situation and increase our prices, which we could have done," he told the paper. He said technical teams had developed alternative formulations using locally sourced raw materials, though some imported inputs are still required, and that the company used alternative shipping routes and inventory buffers to keep supplying customers.

Net debt stood at Dh1.59 billion at the end of September, 4.7 per cent higher than at the end of June but 3.1 per cent lower than a year earlier. The ratio of net debt to EBITDA rose to 2.56 times from 2.48 times at June 30.

Capital spending over nine months fell 24.6 per cent to Dh162.5 million. Massaad told Khaleej Times that some planned investment had been pushed back in response to market conditions. "The whole plan has not changed, but it gets adjusted and adapted," he said.

The company's greenfield tile plant in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, remains on schedule for completion in the second quarter of 2027, giving it local production in the market where approval delays hurt sales this quarter. Massaad said it is also upgrading its UAE factories, including the sanitaryware plant, with more energy-efficient equipment.