Hello, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Mesaieed's Conference Call. Please note that this call is being recorded. As a reminder to the participants, the company will not be taking any questions for today. I will now turn the call over to Dana Al Sowaidi from QNB Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Hello, everyone. This is Dana Al Sowaidi from QNB Financial Services. I would like to welcome everyone to Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company's third quarter 2026 financial results conference call. On this call from QatarEnergy's Privatized Companies Affairs, we have Saoud Ahmed Saifaldeen, Senior Management Reporting Analyst, Saoud Abdulaziz Alabdulghani, Head of Investor Relations and Communications, and Sami Mathlouthi, Assistant Manager, Financial Operations. I will now turn the call over to Saoud Alabdulghani to discuss the company results. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before we turn to the business and performance update, I would like to take note that this call is intended solely for MPHC investor, and no media representative should be attending this call. Please also note that this call is subject to MPHC disclaimer as set out in slide two on t he IR presentation.
Moving into the call, on Monday, 26th October 2026, MPHC published its financial results for the nine-month period ended 30 September 2026. During today's call, we will walk you through these results and discuss the key financial and operational highlights. Today on this call, we have Sami Mathlouthi, Assistant Manager, Financial Operations, myself, Saoud Alabdulghani, Head of Investor Relations and Communication, and Saoud Ahmed Saifaldeen, Senior Management Reporting Analyst.
The call will be structured as follows. First, I will provide a brief overview of MPHC ownership structure, competitive strength, and overall governance structure. Secondly, Sami will provide an overview of MPHC group-level financial and operational performance. Finally, Saoud will provide an update on the performance of each operating segment.
To begin, as outlined in the IR presentation, MPHC's ownership structure comprise QatarEnergy, which holds 57.9% of the company shares, while the remaining 42.1% represent the free float in the Qatar Stock Exchange, held by a range of domestic and international institutions, corporates, and individuals. QatarEnergy, being the main shareholder of MPHC, provide most of the head office function to the group through a service-level agreement. The operation of MPHC joint venture are managed independently by their respective board of director and senior management teams.
In terms of competitive advantages, as outlined in the IR presentation, MPHC group companies benefit from competitively priced and assured feedstock supply under long-term arrangement, a solid liquidity position supported by strong cash flow generation, and partnership with highly reputable JV partner. In addition, the company partnership with QatarEnergy Marketing supports the distribution of its end products to global markets. Further details on MPHC governance structure, including its code of corporate governance, are available in the IR presentation. I will now hand over to Sami.
Thank you, Saoud, and good afternoon, everyone. During the period, the group continued to implement production adjustments in response to the regional conflict. These conditions weighed on MPHC operating performance, resulting in lower production volumes across both the petrochemicals and the chlor-alkali segment.
Turning to financial performance, MPHC reported a net loss of QAR 428 million for the nine-month period ended 30th of September 2026, compared with a net profit in the same period of last year. The decline was mainly driven by a 65% reduction in sales volumes, as logistics disruptions continued to constrain operation, resulting in a corresponding 65% decrease in revenue. EBITDA declined by 109% compared to nine months 2025, turning negative on the back of weaker revenue, while the EBITDA margin contracted to -10% from 42% in the same period of last year.
Although operating costs decreased in line with lower production and sales volumes, the group continued to incur the fixed costs required to maintain safe, reliable, and efficient operations. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, MPHC reported a wider net loss in Q3 2026 compared with Q2 2026. This was primarily due to margin compression in the petrochemical segment, where variable costs increased while revenue remained stable, together with lower selling prices in the chlor-alkali segment. As a result, group revenue decreased by 16%, while EBITDA declined by 80% quarter-on-quarter.
Despite the challenging operating environment, MPHC maintained a strong balance sheet and liquidity position. As of 30th of September 2026, cash and bank balances stood at QAR 3.1 billion, providing the group with substantial financial flexibility to navigate ongoing market and operational uncertainty. I will now hand over to Saoud for the segmental review.
Thank you, Sami, and good afternoon, everyone. Turning to segmented performance, I will begin with the petrochemical segment. The petrochemical segment reported a net loss of QAR 342 million for the nine-month period ended 30th September 2026, compared to a net profit of QAR 477 million in the same period last year. The decline was primarily driven by weaker operating conditions, with sales volume down by 68% and revenue down by 69%. In addition, petrochemical market conditions remain challenging, with prices under continued pressure from global oversupply, subdued demand across key end-
Key end markets and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. Together, these factors weighed on profitability and margins during the period. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the segment recorded a net loss of QAR 204 million in the third quarter of 2026, compared to a net loss of QAR 150 million in Q2 2026. Revenue remained relatively stable, declining by only QAR 3 million or 5%, as a 10% decrease in average selling prices was largely offset by a 6% increase in sales volume. With revenue broadly stable, the wider loss was mainly attributed to a higher operating cost and resulting margin compression.
Moving now to the chlor-alkali segment. The chlor-alkali segment reported a net loss of QAR 144 million for the nine months of 2026, compared with a net loss of QAR 14 million in the nine-month period of 2025. Performance was primarily affected by lower production and sales volume resulting from the regional conflict and related logistic disruptions. While higher average realized selling prices provided some support to earnings, this was insufficient to offset the impact of lower operating rates and weaker sales volumes.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the chlor-alkali segment reported a net loss of QAR 59 million in the third quarter of 2026, compared with a net loss of QAR 52 million in the second quarter of 2026. The wider loss was mainly driven by a 27% decline in average selling prices, following a period of pricing volatility in the second quarter. With sales volume broadly stable, revenue decreased by 28%, resulting in weaker profitability compared with the previous quarter. With that, I will now hand the call back to Saoud for closing remarks.
Thank you, Saoud. With that, we conclude our call. We would like to thank our investors for their continued trust and support, and we look forward to speaking with you again during the next earning call.
Thank you, everyone. That concludes our call for today. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.