Emirates Telecommunications Group Company (EAND) CMD 2026 summary

Strategic reset and growth engines

• Horizon shifts the vision from a leading global technology group to the world’s leading AI-powered and AI-enabling telecom group, refocusing on telco and AI-led transformation.

• Four business lines anchor the strategy: Telco, InfraCo, AI & Business Solutions, and Fintech; far-from-core adjacencies are being de-emphasized.

• Priorities include strengthening core connectivity, building AI corridors and data-center capacity, bundling AI with connectivity, and restructuring operations.

• The operating model targets approximate EBITDA margins of 45–55% for Telco, 50–60% for InfraCo, 40–45% for AI & Business Solutions, and 20–30% for Fintech.

AI and infrastructure build-out

• The ambition is to move beyond connectivity into sovereign AI orchestration, combining 5G and fiber, in-country data residency, multi-hyperscaler environments, and proprietary routing and control.

• Planned by 2031: 200MW of data-center capacity across the UAE, Eastern Europe, and North Africa, plus 500Tbps of international connectivity across owned and partner cables.

• AI offerings span compute and GPU-as-a-service, sovereign inference and token-as-a-service, and an AI exchange for capacity, tokens, and models; partner neoclouds and hyperscalers extend reach beyond the footprint.

• Live AI use cases include conversational customer service, procurement agents, and AI-assisted software development; UAE 2031 ambitions include 75% of calls deflected and 30–50% lower average handling time.

Financial ambition and capital allocation

• 2031 targets: revenue above AED100bn, EBITDA margin of 44–46%, net profit margin above 16%, OFCF margin above 30%, and net debt/EBITDA below 1.5x.

• OFCF is targeted to grow at a double-digit CAGR over 2027–31, with AED130bn cumulative OFCF; data-center capacity is targeted at 7x 2026 and international connectivity at 25x.

• The 2027–31 plan targets high-single-digit revenue CAGR, while sustaining EBITDA margins close to core levels and average capex intensity of ~18%.

• Capital allocation prioritizes organic investment and shareholder returns, with 93% of planned capital sources from EBITDA; strategic expansion remains selective and subject to leverage and return criteria.

• FY25 DPS was 90 fils, up 8.4% YoY, with a 4.8% dividend yield; a new dividend policy was scheduled for Q1 2027 disclosure.