By Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom operator just posted one of its strongest first halves in years, and it is leaning harder into 5G and fiber to keep the growth going. stc Group’s revenue climbed to SAR40.1 billion in the first half of 2026, up on the prior year, as the company added subscribers and expanded its network footprint across the Kingdom.
- stc Group’s H1 2026 revenue reached SAR40.1 billion, with EBITDA up 5.5 percent to SAR12.97 billion and margin improving to 32.3 percent.
- Mobile subscribers grew 4.8 percent to 30.3 million, and the 5G network now covers more than 12,000 towers.
- The board declared a Q2 dividend of SAR0.55 per share, a payout of roughly SAR2.7 billion, taking the half-year total to about SAR5.5 billion.
Growth Across the Board
stc’s EBITDA rose 5.5 percent year on year to SAR12.97 billion in the first half, with the margin improving to 32.3 percent from 31.8 percent a year earlier, according to figures reported by Telecom Review Middle East. On a headline basis, net profit came in at SAR7.319 billion, slightly below the SAR7.472 billion booked a year earlier, a gap the company traces to one-off items in the 2025 base. Stripping those non-recurring items out, underlying profit actually grew 6.3 percent, a detail confirmed by AGBI‘s reporting on the dividend announcement.
The results build on an already strong start to the year. In the first quarter, stc reported 12 percent net profit growth excluding non-recurring items, with revenue of SAR19.9 billion, according to the Saudi Gazette. Put the two quarters together and 2026 is shaping up as one of the company’s steadier growth years despite a challenging regional backdrop.
Subscribers and Network Expansion
The subscriber numbers explain a good part of the revenue growth. Mobile subscribers climbed 4.8 percent year on year to 30.3 million, while fixed-line customers grew 3 percent to 6.1 million. On the infrastructure side, stc expanded its 5G network to more than 12,000 towers and grew fiber-connected households by 5.2 percent to 3.87 million, according to TechAfrica News‘s coverage of the results.
That combination, more customers on more advanced networks, is exactly the formula Saudi operators have been chasing as data consumption keeps climbing across the Kingdom.
Why It Matters for Saudi Arabia’s Digital Push
stc is not just a telecom operator anymore. It has positioned itself as Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom and digital company, a role that matters more this year with Riyadh having declared 2026 the Year of Artificial Intelligence, according to a Saudi government announcement carried by Zawya. Fiber and 5G buildouts like stc’s are the physical backbone that Vision 2030’s digital economy ambitions depend on, and steady earnings growth gives the company room to keep investing in that infrastructure.
The dividend tells its own story. A Q2 payout of SAR0.55 per share, worth roughly SAR2.7 billion, brings the half-year total to close to SAR5.5 billion, a sign that stc is comfortable rewarding shareholders even while it keeps spending on network expansion.
The Bottom Line
The stc Group 2026 results underline a broader pattern. As Saudi Arabia leans into its Vision 2030 digital economy targets, the Kingdom’s dominant telecom operator is turning network investment into steady earnings growth, and rewarding shareholders along the way. With EBITDA margins improving and subscriber growth still running above 4 percent, stc looks well placed to keep that pattern going through the second half of the year.
Read next: how digital infrastructure investment is reshaping the UAE’s own capital markets.
Sources: Telecom Review Middle East, TechAfrica News, AGBI, Saudi Gazette, Zawya.