The Point for CEEMEA

Research evidence excerpt

The Point for CEEMEA

Point |

Thursday, 30 July 2026

MENA | South Africa | Emerging Europe | Sector | Key Rating and Target Price Changes

MENA

Must Read

Americana Restaurants (6015.SE) - Model update post strong 2Q26 and

upgraded margin outlook; Buy Emerging Markets Economic Outlook

Updating estimates post 2Q26, which marked AMR's third consecutive earnings & Strategy - Artificial Intelligence and

the EM Growth Dividebeat. While sales growth moderated by 2pp QoQ to +11% YoY, profitability again

surprised positively. Management highlighted improving July trading trends in

both the UAE and KSA, while reiterating FY26 guidance for 120-130 net store

openings and MSD LFL growth. Margin guidance was upgraded, with AMR now

expecting FY26 net profit margin expansion of 100-150bps YoY, while on the call

mgmt. sounded increasingly confident that recent margin gains are driven by

structural improvements rather than temporary factors. We raise our 2026-27E

EBITDA/EPS estimates by c.2%/7%, respectively, and lift our target price to

SAR2.68 from SAR2.45 (implying c.21x 2026E P/E). Management also indicated

that normalization in consumer and tourism activity, particularly in the UAE, would

represent upside to current expectations. Reiterate Buy.

Maxim Nekrasov

Saudi Telecom Company (7010.SE) - 2Q26 results – Small beat; better

Enterprise offset by slowdown in Consumer

STC delivered a modest beat in 2Q, with revenue and EBITDA coming in 1.6% and

0.9% above VA consensus, respectively. Group revenue growth came in broadly

similar to last quarter, as better trends across the key business segments were

largely offset by higher eliminations. Within STC KSA segment, 2Q witnessed a

strong reversal in Enterprise trends but partly offset by a slowdown in Consumer.