2026-08-12
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the emirate's exclusive electricity and water utility listed on the Dubai Financial Market, reported the strongest first half in its history on August 12, 2026: revenue of AED 14.86 billion, EBITDA of AED 7.32 billion, operating profit of AED 4.07 billion and net profit of AED 3.33 billion, up 15.02% year on year. Shareholders will not wait long to feel it: the company expects to pay AED 3.1 billion in dividends by late October 2026. Behind the record sits a simple driver, and it is the most interesting part of the story for anyone doing business here: Dubai keeps growing, and DEWA added 72,718 new customer accounts in the 12 months to June 30, 2026.
DEWA's record H1 2026 in numbers
All headline metrics reached their highest first-half levels since the company listed:
| Metric | H1 2026 result |
|---|---|
| Revenue | AED 14.86 billion, record |
| EBITDA | AED 7.32 billion |
| Operating profit | AED 4.07 billion |
| Net profit | AED 3.33 billion, up 15.02% |
| New customer accounts, 12 months | 72,718, growth of 5.63% |
| Expected dividend | AED 3.1 billion by late October 2026 |
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, said the company "delivered record results in the first half of 2026, achieving its highest-ever first-half revenue, EBITDA, operating profit and net profit". The growth is organic: more customers, more consumption, higher operational efficiency, not one-off gains.
AED 3.1 billion to shareholders, exactly on schedule
DEWA listed on the Dubai Financial Market in April 2022 with a clear promise: a minimum of AED 6.2 billion in dividends per year for the first five years, paid in two semi-annual instalments. The company has kept that promise mechanically. The previous tranche of AED 3.1 billion was paid on April 20, 2026, and the next AED 3.1 billion is expected by the end of October 2026, subject to the usual approvals.
For investors watching the UAE market, this is what a Dubai blue chip looks like: a monopoly utility in a growing city, government-majority ownership, and a dividend calendar that has run like clockwork for four years. DEWA is not the only one returning cash to shareholders this season. District cooling operator Tabreed, another DFM-listed utility, has just approved its own interim payout, which we covered in detail in our review of Tabreed's interim dividend for H1 2026.
72,718 new accounts: Dubai's growth meter
Every villa handover, every new office, every shop and every warehouse in Dubai becomes a DEWA account. That makes the utility's customer statistics one of the most honest indicators of the emirate's real growth, harder to embellish than any marketing report. In the second quarter of 2026 alone DEWA added 18,220 accounts, and over the trailing 12 months the customer base expanded by 72,718 accounts, or 5.63%.
That pace matches what the rest of Dubai's data shows: record real estate handovers, a rising population and a steady inflow of new companies. For entrepreneurs the signal is practical. Demand infrastructure, from power and water to cooling and grid capacity, is being built ahead of need, and the customer base that any consumer-facing business will sell to keeps widening every quarter.
Powering the growth: capacity, clean energy and the 2030 plan
Operationally, DEWA generated 15.78 terawatt-hours of electricity in the second quarter, of which 3.14 TWh, or 19.9%, came from clean sources. Installed generation capacity stands at 17,979 MW, including 3,860 MW of clean energy capacity, 21.5% of the total. Desalination plants produced 40.25 billion imperial gallons of water in the quarter, and a further 60 million imperial gallons per day of capacity was added at the Hassyan plant.
The build-out continues. By 2030 DEWA plans to exceed 23 GW of total generation capacity, with 8.3 GW, or 36.1%, coming from renewables, and to lift desalination capacity to 735 million imperial gallons per day, of which 308 MIGD will be reverse-osmosis plants powered by renewable energy. For companies with ESG mandates or energy-intensive operations, Dubai's grid is getting greener on a published, funded schedule.
What DEWA's results mean for business in the UAE
A utility's earnings report rarely makes exciting reading, but this one carries several practical messages for founders and investors:
- Dubai's growth is real and measurable: 72,718 new utility accounts in 12 months is physical demand, not a forecast.
- The DFM offers genuine dividend blue chips: DEWA alone distributes AED 6.2 billion a year under its published policy.
- Infrastructure risk for new businesses is low: capacity is added ahead of demand, and outages are among the rarest in the world.
- The grid is decarbonising on schedule, which matters for companies with supply-chain ESG reporting.
- Every new company in Dubai becomes a DEWA customer, so connection, deposits and utility billing are a standard step of the setup process worth planning for.
How Atlant Capital can help
Reading a strong earnings season is one thing; positioning your own business to benefit from Dubai's growth is another. Atlant Capital handles the practical side of market entry: we structure and register companies in the UAE mainland and free zones through our company setup service, obtain residence visas for founders and staff, and take clients through corporate bank account opening with UAE banks, including the compliance preparation that decides how fast an account gets approved. If your plan is to serve Dubai's expanding customer base, or to hold UAE dividend stocks through a properly structured local entity, we can set up the foundation correctly the first time.
The bottom line
DEWA's first half of 2026: record revenue of AED 14.86 billion, net profit of AED 3.33 billion, up 15.02%, EBITDA of AED 7.32 billion and AED 3.1 billion heading to shareholders by late October. The company added 72,718 customer accounts in a year and keeps investing in capacity through 2030. It is a report about one utility, but in practice it is a report about Dubai: the city is growing, the infrastructure is funded ahead of that growth, and the companies plugged into it are collecting the dividends, literally.
FAQ
What were DEWA's H1 2026 financial results?
In the first half of 2026 DEWA reported record revenue of AED 14.86 billion, EBITDA of AED 7.32 billion, operating profit of AED 4.07 billion and net profit of AED 3.33 billion, an increase of 15.02% year on year. It is the strongest first half in the company's history.
When will DEWA pay its next dividend?
DEWA expects to pay AED 3.1 billion in dividends by the end of October 2026, subject to approvals. The company's policy since its April 2022 listing guarantees a minimum of AED 6.2 billion in dividends annually for the first five years, paid semi-annually; the previous AED 3.1 billion tranche was paid on April 20, 2026.
How fast is DEWA's customer base growing?
DEWA added 18,220 customer accounts in Q2 2026 and 72,718 accounts over the 12 months to June 30, 2026, a growth rate of 5.63%. Since every new home and business in Dubai requires a DEWA connection, this figure is widely used as a direct indicator of the emirate's physical growth.
What do DEWA's results mean for businesses setting up in Dubai?
The results confirm that Dubai's customer base and infrastructure are expanding: 72,718 new accounts in a year, 17,979 MW of installed capacity and a funded plan to exceed 23 GW by 2030. For a new company this means reliable power and water from day one, a growing addressable market, and access to DFM-listed dividend payers such as DEWA for investors.
