JEDDAH, 25 December 2005 — Fifteen Saudi companies made it into the top 100 ranking for 2005 for businesses from the 57 member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). US-based business strategy e-magazine Dinar Standard listed the companies in the second annual ranking released on Friday.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil producer, continues to lead the DS100 as the largest business enterprise of the Muslim world with an estimated 36 percent rise in its revenues from the previous year.
Kingdom Holding Co. has moved up to No. 8 from No. 11 in 2004. The ranking of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) slipped from No. 9 to No. 10, Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) was on No. 17 as against 13 last year. Saudi Binladin Group was on No. 26 this year.
Dallah Albaraka Group was holding 28th position this year, Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) 29th, Abdul Latif Jameel Group 42nd and Saudi Oger Company 45th. Saad Group of Companies was on 48th place this year. Consolidated Contractors International Company was on No. 63 this year, National Commercial Bank (NCB) 80, Savola 85, Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. 91 and Samba Financial Group 97.
Most of the Saudi companies that have notched top positions in DS100 also featured in the Arab News list of Top 100 Saudi Companies for 2005 published earlier this month. Those which did not feature in the Arab News ranking such as Abdul Latif Jameel Group and Saudi Binladin Group willingly opted out though they remain among the biggest companies in the region.
“Not only does the ranking benchmark show the significant role of the Saudi government, private and public enterprises in the Muslim world economies, its relevance has further increased by the Kingdom’s acceptance to be a WTO member,” Rafi-uddin Shikoh, editor of Dinar Standard, told Arab News. “With impending WTO-related competitive pressures, specifically the services sectors would be able to benchmark and learn from other players within the Muslim world,” he added.
Iran’s National Iranian Oil Co. and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) maintained 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively, for the second year. Iraq National Oil Company recovered its position from No. 8 in 2004 to No. 5 this year.
There were six companies from the United Arab Emirates in the DS100. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s ranking slipped to 11 this year from No. 7 in 2004. The Emirates Group’s ranking recovered from No. 27 in 2004 to No. 24 this year. However, Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (Etisalat) position dropped from No. 43 to No. 51 this year. ETA-Ascon Group and Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. were ranked 60 and 67, respectively, for this year. Emaar Properties was on 83 position this year compared to 94 in 2004.
Kuwait Petroleum Corp. and M.A. Kharafi & Sons Holding of Kuwait were on No. 4 and No. 36 positions, respectively.
Qatar Petroleum was on 15th and Industries Qatar was on 87th position this years.
The ranking shows a healthy 28.7 percent growth in aggregate revenue of its listed companies over the previous year — indicating a strengthening of economies in the Muslim world.
According to Shikoh, the purpose of the ranking is to portray “as close a picture as possible of the corporate environment in OIC member countries.” It continues to include public and private enterprises, for which data were verified through public sources, to reflect the disproportionately significant role that public enterprises play in the Muslim world economies.
At the same time, more than half of the list comprises publicly listed companies (57 of the 100) representing the growing public markets of the Muslim world.
“This year’s ranking continues to recognize the rich diversity of corporate activity in the Muslim world,” Shikoh said. “With the tremendous global media interest in the first DS100 ranking, we are confident that the ranking is playing its part in raising the spirit of competitiveness in the Muslim world, as well as serving as a means of motivation and pride to the ever-important work force and corporate leaders alike.”
Overall, the energy sector dominates the top of the list with eight of the top 10 being state-owned integrated oil and gas companies. However, it is the diversified conglomerates that have the highest representation on the list (22 of the 100), with Turkish family-owned conglomerates Koc Holding, Sabanci Holding and Dogus Holding having the highest revenues.
The largest growth companies this year are part of the Orascom Group of Egypt with its publicly listed companies Orascom Telekom recording 113 percent growth and Orascom Construction recording 98 percent revenue growth compared to previous year.
Turkish companies continue to lead the list with 25 represented enterprises, followed by 18 from Malaysia, 15 from Saudi Arabia, and 11 from Indonesia. Other countries represented include the UAE, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Bahrain and Algeria.
“There is tremendous commonality between major conglomerates from various Muslim countries in terms of the business challenges they are facing such as family business strategies, expanding into services markets, competing against global multinationals, and breaking into the global markets themselves. Turkish conglomerates would serve as great case studies for their Saudi conglomerates,” Shikoh said.
