Tamara’s Saudi Q2 revenue more than doubles as new lending book closes in on BNPL

Tamara Finance Company more than doubled revenue year on year in the second quarter, but profit fell by nearly a third from the previous three months as the Saudi BNPL lender continued to expand its loan book and absorbed higher credit and funding costs.

Revenue reached SAR 707 million ($188 million) in the three months to 30 June, up 152% from SAR 280 million a year earlier and 5.5% from the first quarter. Net profit came in at SAR 84 million ($22 million), more than double the year-earlier figure but down 32% sequentially from SAR 123 million.

Underneath that slowdown is a significant shift in what Tamara’s business now looks like.

Tamara’s newer consumer-financing business is rapidly catching up with the short-term BNPL product on which the company was built. Licensed by SAMA in early 2025, the Sharia-compliant financing product generated SAR 228 million of revenue in Q2 and accounted for SAR 3.14 billion of receivables at the end of June, compared with SAR 3.36 billion for traditional pay-in-instalments.

The associated receivables have grown even faster. Islamic financing reached SAR 3.14 billion at the end of June, or 48% of Tamara’s SAR 6.50 billion gross consumer loan book, up from 34% at the end of last year. Pay-in-instalments receivables, the product Tamara was originally built around, stood at SAR 3.36 billion.

The overall loan book grew 16% during the quarter, from SAR 5.59 billion at the end of March. That remains rapid expansion, but is roughly half the 33% growth recorded in the first quarter.

Financing that growth is becoming more visible on Tamara’s balance sheet.

Its securitisation facility, backed by Goldman Sachs, Citi and Apollo, was fully utilised at the end of June. Tamara had SAR 703 million of unused commitments at year-end, but no remaining headroom three months later, with total commitments reaching SAR 5.79 billion. The company drew SAR 2.15 billion of new loans during the first half of 2026 against SAR 133 million of repayments.

The cost of supporting that expansion is also climbing.

Net expected credit losses reached SAR 191 million ($51 million) in Q2, up 14% from the first quarter and more than six times the SAR 29 million charge recorded a year earlier. Credit charges absorbed 27% of quarterly revenue, while write-offs rose 74% from Q1 to roughly SAR 180 million.

The deterioration has not yet shown up in Tamara’s headline asset-quality measure. Stage 3 receivables fell to 1.49% of the gross loan book from 1.71% at the end of March, although the absolute balance edged slightly higher as the overall portfolio expanded. Stage 3 receivables remain above the 1.03% recorded at year-end.

Costs elsewhere also rose faster than revenue. Total expenses increased 31% from the first quarter to SAR 163 million, while funding costs climbed 19% to SAR 104 million. Service charges related to affiliate Tamara FZE reached SAR 38 million during the quarter, up 40% sequentially.

Tamara also repeated a disclosure first included in its Q1 accounts concerning the regional security environment. The company said conditions in the Middle East had deteriorated significantly since 28 February and disrupted business and economic activity in several countries, including Saudi Arabia.

It nevertheless said it remained too early for any potential deterioration to be reflected through its credit staging criteria, macroeconomic assumptions or portfolio overlays.

The gap with Tabby also widened during the quarter. Tabby Financing Company CJSC, the Saudi subsidiary of Tamara’s closest regional rival, reported Q2 revenue of SAR 389 million and net profit of SAR 11.6 million. On those figures, Tamara’s Saudi finance business generated 82% more revenue and more than seven times the profit, while Tamara’s loan book expanded 16% as Tabby’s contracted 11%.

Tamara ended June with SAR 175 million in retained earnings, having turned the balance positive during the first quarter after years of accumulated losses. Shareholder equity stood at SAR 777 million, up from SAR 556 million at the end of 2025.

The interim financial information was authorised for issue by Tamara’s management on 28 July 2026.

The interim financial information was authorised for issue by Tamara's management on 28 July 2026.

Figures converted at SAR 3.75 = $1. Based on Tamara Finance Company's reviewed condensed consolidated interim financial information for the three-month and six-month periods ended 30 June 2026, with first-quarter comparatives derived from FWDstart's reporting on the Q1 filing.