One-offs weigh on Tasheel revenue growth; new products planned: MD

United International Holding Co. (Tasheel) Managing Director Mohamed Galal

United International Holding Co. (Tasheel) cited three one-off factors for slowed revenue growth in Q2 2026, according to Managing Director Mohamed Galal.

Speaking to CNBC Arabia, Galal said topline was weighed down by a week-long disruption to the company's services on Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage, a cut in loan administrative fees from 1% to 0.5%, and the removal of the promissory note requirement for credit card issuance to mitigate credit risk.

Galal said total revenue recorded a less-than-expeced rise of 6.5% in Q2 2026, while gross profit increased 7%. The financing portfolio expanded 13% year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 3.2 billion from SAR 2.8 billion, while the customer base grew 21%.

Tasheel offers three core products: Tawarruq cash financing, Baseeta, which combines the buy now, pay later (BNPL) model with installment financing, and credit card services.

The MD pointed out that the 24% increase in operating expenses (OpEx) was planned as part of its strategy to drive future growth, adding that it chose to keep investing in talent acquisition, technology infrastructure, and marketing rather than cut costs to boost short-term profits.

The cost of risk (COR) declined to 5.1% from 5.2% a year earlier, as the financing portfolio is reviewed annually by an independent party to ensure provisions are in line with industry standards, he stated.

Tasheel’s financial position supports its expansion plans, with total borrowings of about SAR 1.7 billion against a financing portfolio of SAR 3.2 billion.

The company is focused on strengthening shareholders' equity to boost its future lending capacity.

Galal outlined that Tasheel aims to launch new retail financing products over the next 18 months. He noted that entering the SME financing market would require a license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), which the company does not currently hold, keeping its focus on the retail financing segment.

He expects artificial intelligence to help restructure operating expenses and improve operational efficiency over time, affirming that the company seeks to absorb fluctuations in interest rates rather than pass the full increase in funding costs on to customers to preserve its competitive pricing and market share.

According to Argaam data, Tasheel's net profit declined 5% YoY to SAR 112.6 million in H1 2026 from SAR 118.3 million in H1 2025. Q2 profit fell 20% to SAR 48.2 million.