For anyone interested in knowing the nature of the impact of a monopoly structure on profitability, one need only look at the financial statements of El Al and Bezeq. These two giant companies ended the second quarter of 2026 in profit and beat analysts' forecasts, all in the shadow of the war with Iran.
Precisely when regulators from the Transportation Ministry and the Competition Authority should intervene, they refrain from doing so. Despite rising fuel prices and a negative impact due to the weakening dollar, El Al's revenue grew by 27% to $986m. Net profit doubled compared to the corresponding quarter last year and totaled $132m, despite a loss of $55m resulting from the effects of the war.
El Al: Soaring Revenue and Record-Breaking Demand
Despite expensive airfares, El Al recorded a record $1.4b order backlog, and company officials expect it to increase seat capacity in the third quarter of the year by 6% to 10%. It also emerged that the number of Frequent Flyer Club members grew by 270,000 to 3.7m cards. The number of FlyCard credit cards grew by 33,000 to 514,000 cards.
El Al CEO Levy Halevy said: "Due to the war, we experienced increased demand for flights, as seen in the record sales volumes and order backlog. We estimate that we will continue to present strong performance in the second half of the year as well."
Bezeq: Strong Core Growth and Substantial Dividend Payouts
Telecommunications giant Bezeq also beat forecasts, with a 38% jump in comparative net profit to NIS 315m. Revenue grew by 1.4% to NIS 2.17b. The company will distribute NIS 515m to shareholders, of which NIS 415m will be a cash dividend and an additional NIS 100m in share buybacks.
A noticeable improvement was also recorded in the profitability of subsidiary companies. Pelephone, under CEO Ilan Sigal, reported growth in revenue and net profit. Some 60% of customers have upgraded to 5G cellular. Some 60% of customers have moved to 5G cellular. yes presented a second consecutive quarter of growth in net profit and quarterly revenue. Bezeq is continuing attempts to locate new growth engines, particularly in the field of underwater communications traffic.
Bezeq Chairman Tomer Raved said: "The strong results of the second quarter demonstrate the momentum of activity in the group, which is reflected in consistent growth in all financial metrics, alongside growth in our customer base across all activity arms, starting from joining Bezeq's fiber optics, through growth in 5G subscribers at Pelephone, to an increase in subscribers and profitability at yes."
Bezeq CEO Nir David added that "the current quarter demonstrates Bezeq's strength and our ability to continue presenting consistent growth across all core metrics, based on the strategic plans."