Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s shareholders have approved a cash dividend of AED3.1 billion for the second half of 2025, reinforcing the utility’s appeal to income-focused investors after a year in which it posted record revenue, operating profit and profit after tax. The payment, equal to 6.2 fils a share, was approved at the annual general assembly held on 2 April, with the record date set for 13 April.
The approval means DEWA will distribute a total of AED6.2 billion for 2025, split evenly between first-half and second-half payments under its semi-annual policy. That keeps the company aligned with the dividend framework presented to investors at listing, under which it expected to pay a minimum annual dividend of AED6.2 billion during the first five years starting in October 2022. DEWA said profit after tax for 2025 covered the full-year dividend by roughly 1.46 to 1.5 times, a ratio that points to a payout still supported by earnings rather than financed through balance-sheet strain.
The headline number also translates into about $844 million at the dirham’s peg to the US dollar, underlining the scale of the distribution for one of Dubai’s biggest listed companies. Shareholders representing 91.53 per cent of the company attended the meeting, which was chaired by Majid Hamad Rahma Al Shamsi, DEWA’s chairman, alongside managing director and chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer and other board members. The assembly took place at Kempinski The Boulevard Hotel in Dubai and was also held virtually.
The dividend decision rests on a notably stronger financial base than a year earlier. DEWA reported 2025 revenue of AED32.84 billion, up 6.02 per cent, EBITDA of AED17.37 billion, operating profit of AED10.99 billion and profit after tax of AED9.09 billion, its best annual performance on record. Reuters and DEWA’s own filings both showed the utility’s earnings rose sharply from 2024, when profit after tax stood at AED7.24 billion, indicating that the latest dividend is being declared against a backdrop of broader operating growth rather than flat earnings.
That growth was supported by rising electricity, water and cooling demand across Dubai. DEWA generated 62.21 terawatt-hours of power in 2025, while annual peak power demand climbed 5.83 per cent to 11.39 gigawatts. Desalinated water demand reached 161.505 billion imperial gallons, with daily peak demand rising to 487 million imperial gallons. The utility also added 56,897 customer accounts during the year, taking the total to 1.327 million. Those figures matter because DEWA’s investment case has long depended on the combination of regulated utility-style cash generation and Dubai’s expanding population, construction activity and commercial base.
Management has sought to pair that dependable cash flow story with a longer-term energy transition narrative. Saeed Al Tayer said clean energy capacity accounted for 21.5 per cent of installed generation capacity by the end of 2025, while the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is now targeting 8,000 megawatts by 2030, up from its original 5,000-megawatt plan. DEWA’s February disclosures also showed 3,860 megawatts of clean energy capacity already installed out of a total system capacity of 17,979 megawatts. For investors, that gives the company a dual identity: a mature dividend payer on one hand and a state-backed transition vehicle on the other.
Still, the strength of the payout does not remove the questions that typically surround high-dividend utilities. Capital expenditure remains heavy, with DEWA saying it invested AED11.72 billion across the group in 2025, mainly on renewable energy, desalination and transmission and distribution networks. Such spending is central to Dubai’s growth plans and the emirate’s net-zero ambitions, but it also means investors will keep watching whether future earnings growth, financing costs and tariff dynamics remain supportive enough to preserve the current dividend rhythm without constraining expansion.
The approval means DEWA will distribute a total of AED6.2 billion for 2025, split evenly between first-half and second-half payments under its semi-annual policy. That keeps the company aligned with the dividend framework presented to investors at listing, under which it expected to pay a minimum annual dividend of AED6.2 billion during the first five years starting in October 2022. DEWA said profit after tax for 2025 covered the full-year dividend by roughly 1.46 to 1.5 times, a ratio that points to a payout still supported by earnings rather than financed through balance-sheet strain.
The headline number also translates into about $844 million at the dirham’s peg to the US dollar, underlining the scale of the distribution for one of Dubai’s biggest listed companies. Shareholders representing 91.53 per cent of the company attended the meeting, which was chaired by Majid Hamad Rahma Al Shamsi, DEWA’s chairman, alongside managing director and chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer and other board members. The assembly took place at Kempinski The Boulevard Hotel in Dubai and was also held virtually.
The dividend decision rests on a notably stronger financial base than a year earlier. DEWA reported 2025 revenue of AED32.84 billion, up 6.02 per cent, EBITDA of AED17.37 billion, operating profit of AED10.99 billion and profit after tax of AED9.09 billion, its best annual performance on record. Reuters and DEWA’s own filings both showed the utility’s earnings rose sharply from 2024, when profit after tax stood at AED7.24 billion, indicating that the latest dividend is being declared against a backdrop of broader operating growth rather than flat earnings.
That growth was supported by rising electricity, water and cooling demand across Dubai. DEWA generated 62.21 terawatt-hours of power in 2025, while annual peak power demand climbed 5.83 per cent to 11.39 gigawatts. Desalinated water demand reached 161.505 billion imperial gallons, with daily peak demand rising to 487 million imperial gallons. The utility also added 56,897 customer accounts during the year, taking the total to 1.327 million. Those figures matter because DEWA’s investment case has long depended on the combination of regulated utility-style cash generation and Dubai’s expanding population, construction activity and commercial base.
Management has sought to pair that dependable cash flow story with a longer-term energy transition narrative. Saeed Al Tayer said clean energy capacity accounted for 21.5 per cent of installed generation capacity by the end of 2025, while the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is now targeting 8,000 megawatts by 2030, up from its original 5,000-megawatt plan. DEWA’s February disclosures also showed 3,860 megawatts of clean energy capacity already installed out of a total system capacity of 17,979 megawatts. For investors, that gives the company a dual identity: a mature dividend payer on one hand and a state-backed transition vehicle on the other.
Still, the strength of the payout does not remove the questions that typically surround high-dividend utilities. Capital expenditure remains heavy, with DEWA saying it invested AED11.72 billion across the group in 2025, mainly on renewable energy, desalination and transmission and distribution networks. Such spending is central to Dubai’s growth plans and the emirate’s net-zero ambitions, but it also means investors will keep watching whether future earnings growth, financing costs and tariff dynamics remain supportive enough to preserve the current dividend rhythm without constraining expansion.
Topics
UAE