Abu Dhabi Ship Building

A shipbuilder whose economics follow long projects

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-06-30

Abu Dhabi Ship Building PJSC, listed on ADX as ADSB, builds, repairs and supports naval and commercial vessels. Its operating base is Abu Dhabi, with domestic and export programmes. The company was established on 12 July 1995; the listed issuer and its consolidated subsidiaries are the subject of this profile, not the entire EDGE group.

ADSB's central economic feature is the gap between contract award, construction progress, revenue recognition and cash collection. A large order book can support years of work, but does not itself establish the margin or cash return on that work. The first half of 2026 illustrates this distinction: a major new programme coincided with a reported loss following a contract-accounting adjustment.

Business lines and revenue geography

As of: 2025-12-31

The statutory segments are New Build and Engineering, Small Boats, Military Repairs and Maintenance, Commercial Repairs and Maintenance, and Mission Systems. New construction is the largest activity; maintenance and systems work extend the relationship with a vessel customer beyond delivery.

In 2025, New Build and Engineering generated AED 1,035.770 million of revenue and Military Repairs and Maintenance AED 274.240 million. Total revenue was almost evenly split geographically: AED 703.777 million inside the UAE and AED 703.733 million outside it. These are reported sales locations, not the location of every asset or subcontractor. Services and new-build projects have different cost, delivery and collection patterns, so a single group growth rate can conceal important changes in mix.

Subsidiaries and group perimeter

As of: 2025-12-31

The 2025 consolidated statements list wholly owned UAE subsidiaries Abu Dhabi Systems Integration LLC, Gulf Logistics and Naval Support LLC, Safwa Marine LLC, ADSB Investments Limited and High Speed Craft Company LLC. Their disclosed roles cover electronic-system integration, naval support, vessel trading, investment holding and marine-equipment maintenance.

Frontiers Industrial Investment LLC is 99% owned and specialises in system integration and technology development and implementation. Subsidiary activity should not be confused with separate exchange listings. Nor should every EDGE contract be counted as ADSB revenue: only the issuer's contractual scope belongs in this profile.

Ownership and management

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-06-30

At 31 December 2025, EDGE Defence Platforms & Systems held 49.96%, while Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Qasimi held 8.81%. The dated governance table and financial note are used here; no assumption is made that the remaining shares constitute readily tradable free float.

The August 2026 accumulated-loss disclosure names Khaled Ahmed Ali Mohamed Al Zaabi as Chairman and David Massey as Chief Executive Officer. The EDGE relationship matters commercially and in governance, particularly where EDGE is a counterparty. Minority investors must distinguish group-level strategic objectives from the pricing, obligations and returns that accrue specifically to ADSB.

Shipyard assets and capability

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-08-31

ADSB's Mussafah base combines vessel construction, repair, refit, conversion, engineering and support services. Specialised fabrication, systems integration and technical personnel are central assets, alongside the physical yard. The company describes a strategy of developing owned designs and working with partners on designs up to 100 metres in length.

Design capability is not annual throughput. The sources used here do not establish a current annual vessel-production capacity, berth-utilisation rate or labour productivity series. Programme progress is therefore more informative than an invented capacity number. Modernisation, digital design and manufacturing initiatives should be assessed by actual delivery performance rather than treated as guaranteed cost savings.

Major programmes and delivery stages

As of: 2026-06-30

The February 2026 contract with EDGE for eight missile boats for Kuwait was valued at AED 7 billion. Management subsequently reported a backlog above AED 11 billion. This is a reported order-book figure, not annual revenue or profit. It should not be added to individual project values to create a second, inflated backlog total.

Other major programmes include Falaj 3 for the UAE Navy and the Angolan programme covering three corvettes, patrol boats and support. The first Angolan corvette was launched in March 2026, with two still in production at the reporting update. The first Kuwait vessel was launched in July, after the half-year reporting date. Launch, commissioning and final customer acceptance are separate milestones; a launched vessel is not automatically a fully delivered contract.

Audited annual results

As of: 2025-12-31

Amounts are AED million and cover full financial years. Grant Thornton's 2025 opinion was unmodified. Revenue recognition was a key audit matter because progress and cost-to-complete estimates have a significant effect on reported results. The opinion is not a guarantee of project profitability.

Annual revenue and gross profit declined, while administrative expenses and finance costs increased. Profit after tax fell to AED 30.288 million. The negative operating cash flow shows why accounting profit and funding capacity need separate analysis. Latest half-year developments are set out below and are not silently mixed into the annual columns.

First-half 2026: reported loss and accounting change

As of: 2026-06-30

The official management discussion reports rounded first-half revenue of AED 666 million versus AED 518 million in the prior-year period. The accumulated-loss disclosure gives an exact net loss after tax of AED 96.671 million and accumulated losses of AED 53.854 million, equal to 25.40% of share capital. Rounded management figures are not presented as exact audited totals.

Two vessels were reassigned from the existing UAE contract to the Kuwait arrangement. The official explanation says the change lowered cumulative revenue recognised under the revised completion assessment, while incurred costs remained. It reports a net profit reversal of AED 119.743 million. This is not an ordinary cash operating expense, but it is part of the reported loss and cannot simply be discarded.

Recovery expectations are not realised earnings

As of: 2026-06-30

Management describes the adjustment as deferral rather than permanent loss of profit. However, the official explanations are not aligned on timing: the management discussion refers to recognition from 2027 onwards, while the detailed accumulated-loss analysis refers to progressive recognition from the third quarter onwards as the contracts advance.

The profile therefore does not assign a firm recovery quarter or amount to a future reporting period. Any recovery depends on progress, updated contract estimates and fulfilment of performance obligations. Investors should follow subsequent disclosures rather than treat the management expectation as a receivable or guaranteed profit.

Cash, debt and project funding

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-06-30

At year-end 2025, bank balances were AED 410.962 million and overdrafts AED 124.377 million, producing cash and cash equivalents of AED 286.585 million. Bank cash and net cash are therefore not interchangeable. Customer advances of AED 711.498 million represented obligations to execute projects, not unrestricted earnings.

For June 2026, management reported rounded net cash of AED 867 million after receiving a Kuwait programme advance of AED 1.45 billion including VAT and making subcontractor and supplier payments. The advance should not be called revenue or surplus distributable cash. A strong cash balance can coexist with future construction commitments, guarantees and significant working-capital needs.

Execution, customer and financial risks

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-06-30

Cost-to-complete estimates, milestone acceptance and contract changes directly affect margins. Long procurement cycles, dependence on specialist suppliers and staff availability can delay progress. In the latest update management reported higher materials and freight costs, delivery delays, limited original-equipment-manufacturer support and recruitment and retention difficulties. These are operating pressures separate from the accounting adjustment.

Concentration in large government and export customers also makes collection timing important. Government credit quality does not remove dispute, documentation or payment-delay risk. Performance guarantees create contingent exposures; contract assets are not the same as billed receivables. Revenue growth should be tested against project margin, aged balances, supplier commitments and cash collection rather than used alone as evidence of better economics.

Strategy and capital allocation

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-08-31 / 2026-06-30

ADSB aims to expand owned designs, export reach and lifecycle support, using partnerships and its EDGE relationships. Repair and sustainment can extend the value of the installed fleet, while new-build programmes require disciplined resourcing of the yard and supply chain. The potential order pipeline is distinct from signed backlog.

The annual statements record AED 40.278 million of dividends paid in 2025. That historical distribution is not a commitment to repeat it, and this profile does not infer future payouts from customer advances. The relevant strategic test is whether the expanding workload earns acceptable margins and cash returns without overstretching execution capacity.

Official corporate contacts

As of: 2026-08-31 / 2026-06-30

Website: https://adsb.ae/ . Investor relations: https://adsb.ae/investor-relations . Head office: Mussafah Industrial Area, P.O. Box 8922, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The August 2026 disclosure gives the corporate telephone +97125028000. These are public business channels. No personal mobile numbers or employee email addresses are included, and no general email address is guessed.

Dates and limits of the profile

As of: 2025-12-31 / 2026-06-30 / 2026-08-31

The annual financial table uses the official 2025 audited statements within the combined annual package. Latest interim figures and developments here are drawn from the official first-half management discussion and the accumulated-loss disclosure dated 12 August 2026. They do not constitute a reproduction or complete analysis of the interim financial statements. Ownership is dated year-end 2025; project updates distinguish events after June from half-year activity.

Physical PDF pages are used for source references. This original business profile is not a valuation, investment recommendation or independent financial audit. Unresolved differences in management's recovery timetable remain explicit rather than converted into a forecast.

Sources

1. A · Source A · 2025-12-31
2. M · Source M · 2026-06-30; disclosed 2026-08-12
3. L · Source L · 2026-06-30; disclosed 2026-08-12
4. C · Source C · 2026-08-31