Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, Chief Executive Officer at ADNOC Logistics & Services, joins Rachel Pether on Capital Markets: Wall Street to MENA at the Abu Dhabi Security Exchange. They discussed record second quarter results with EBITDA up 176% to a record $1.1 billion and net profit up 303% to $951 million, along with the company’s $2.3 billion fleet expansion programme, the drivers behind their updated full-year guidance, and how AI is already cutting document processing times from three hours to less than one minute across its smart port operations.
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Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi on How ADNOC L&S Keeps Outperforming the Market
ADNOC Logistics and Services delivered a strong set of results for Q2, surpassing market expectations with EBITDA increasing 176% to a record $1.1 billion and net profit up 303% to $951 million. Joining us to discuss these results is Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Logistics and Services. Abdul Karim, welcome to Wall Street to Mena.
Thank you very much for hosting me today.
These are record results. What were the biggest drivers of performance for Q2 across your various business lines?
By far these are the best results ever recorded in our history. We are very delighted. The shipping side has demonstrated agility and resilience despite all the geopolitical challenges we have seen in this region and globally. We managed to operate a very large fleet through commercial pooling and commercial chartering. More importantly, we have always provided strong resilience to ADNOC Group companies — ensuring business continuity while getting the best out of this market through our global portfolio and global positioning. Shipping is the main pillar, supported by other service segments within integrated logistics and our international offices globally.
You recently updated your full year 2026 guidance for the third time. What gave you the confidence to do that and what are the biggest risks in achieving it?
The market is very dynamic, which is exactly why we stay very close with our shareholders and investor base. Shipping will remain our top contributor and the market fundamentals are driving toward increased guidance. But more importantly it is the disciplined approach we are taking. From the start of the year until today we have injected approximately $2.3 billion in new vessel acquisitions — including $1.3 billion invested just in the last two weeks in DLCs. We are continuing to grow our fleet while remaining very well positioned because of the diversification within our platform.
You are expanding with total vessel acquisitions and new balance commitments totalling approximately $2.3 billion this year. How do you balance that growth with your dividend commitments?
We have always said from the day we listed that we are a growth stock — and I think we have demonstrated that year on year through the acquisitions of Navigate and Zephyr Marine, and through our fleet expansion over the last three to four years. Today we are operating above 35% EBITDA margins, reaching up to 40% this quarter. Operating cash flow surpassed $1.1 billion in the first half. We increased our dividend by 20% in September 2025 and will continue that momentum with 5% annual growth while staying focused on expanding and growing the business.
How are regional geopolitics and trade flows affecting your route planning, utilisation, and customer demand?
This crisis has proven one thing — energy business is no longer just about production or capacity. It is about the ability to deliver energy reliably, efficiently, and cost effectively. Our global customers have not been impacted because of the global solutions we have in place. With 19 offices globally, operating around the clock, and diversification across shipping, pooling, bunkering, integrated logistics, and offshore logistics — the platform is very resilient. We are very proud of what we have built over the last few years.
Technology and AI are clearly part of the growth story. Can you give tangible examples of where AI is already making a difference?
AI and technology are a must for us. We have embedded AI in our Integrated Logistics Maritime platform — route planning, deck space planning. All of which is just an amazing tool if you do it rightly. And we have done it in our smart port as well, where processing time for some documents has gone from three hours to less than one minute. These are things we have already implemented today and we are seeing the results.
But the journey with AI does not stop here. We cannot even cope with the pace of AI inventions. It is something needed in our industry. To preserve these margins, it comes down to operational efficiency and how optimised we can make the entire company. That is something we are watching all the time.
Thank you so much, Abdul Karim. Congratulations once again on your results and we look forward to the next six months.
Thank you very much. Thanks for hosting us.