DUBAI, 1 September — Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and six other Saudi firms have topped the list of 150 major Gulf companies. The list was prepared by Shoua’a Capital Company, based in Dubai.
The 150 Gulf companies have a total market value of $152.4 billion (about SR572 billion) now. Their profits increased by 23 percent during the past 12 months to reach $8.53 billion (SR32 billion).
Saudi companies also dominated the list of top 10 Gulf companies. The Kingdom’s petrochemical giant, SABIC, won the first position accounting for 8.6 percent of the market value, followed by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) with a market value of $10.2 billion.
SEC is appearing for the first time on the list as the company strengthened its position in the market after merger of 11 regional electricity firms. Q-Tel of Qatar also won a position among the top 10 for the first time. Other Saudi firms which figured in the list were Saudi American Bank, which was fourth after Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates and followed by Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. and Riyad Bank.
Saudi-French Bank was placed eighth behind Kuwait National Bank while Saudi-British Bank was placed ninth just above Q-Tel.
Walid Al-Shehabi, financial analyst and head of research at Shoua’a Capital Company, said the performance of the Gulf companies reflected the market strength.
According to the new list, Saudi-American Bank, which had held third position last year descended to fourth while Al-Rajhi fell from second to fifth. Saudi-British Bank made a big leap from 11th to ninth, Saudi-French Bank maintained its previous position of eighth but Riyad Bank dropped from fifth to sixth. The Gulf companies had received a tremendous boost as a result of increase in oil prices.
