Rusal H1 2026: EBITDA surges 74% as margins recover despite revenue dip

Rusal reported H1 2026 revenue of RUB 638,766mn, down 2.8% y/y, while EBITDA jumped 74.3% y/y to RUB 88,177mn and net profit swung to RUB 32,099mn from a RUB 7,599mn loss a year earlier. Revenue growth accelerated from -15.6% in H2 2025 to -2.8% in H1 2026, while EBITDA growth turned sharply positive after -38.1% in H2 2025.

H1 2026 vs H1 2025: headline YoY growth

What drove the result

The EBITDA surge came on a modest revenue decline, pointing to a sharp margin expansion: EBITDA margin rose to 13.8% in H1 2026 from 7.7% in H1 2025. The bottom line swung to a RUB 32,099mn profit from a RUB 7,599mn loss, a RUB 39,698mn improvement, as the prior-year period carried a loss despite positive EBITDA. Sequentially, H1 2026 EBITDA of RUB 88,177mn more than doubled from H2 2025's RUB 14,484mn, confirming a strong margin recovery after a weak second half.

Key figures

Outlook

The H1 2026 print marks a clear inflection from the loss-making FY 2025, when net profit was RUB -36,501mn and EBITDA RUB 65,059mn. The key question is whether the margin recovery is sustainable: revenue remains slightly negative y/y, so the earnings rebound rests on cost and pricing dynamics rather than volume growth. Watch the second-half EBITDA run-rate against the RUB 88,177mn first-half base and whether the revenue trend continues to recover from the -15.6% trough in H2 2025.