ABU DHABI, 19 September 2006 — Etisalat has been ranked by Forbes Arabia magazine as the 6th “Best Arab company” in the region. The rankings are based on the financial performance of the companies surveyed, and it identified 50 Best Arab companies in the region. The results of this study were announced by Forbes Arabia magazine in September 2006.
Forbes Arabia surveyed more than 1,060 companies working in various sectors such as banking, industry, telecommunications, construction, electricity and others. The report shows excellent performance by 11 UAE companies, which have made it into the list of the Top 50 Arab companies.
The report evaluated companies based on financial performance, operating competence, successful market performance, and also looked at the market value, sales, revenue, revenue on shares and shareholder dividends, and assets during the period 2004-05.
The report also assigned ranks to the companies after taking into consideration their projected growth in the coming years.
Etisalat was ranked 6th by Forbes Arabia after Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Saudi Telecom Co., Al-Rajhi Group, Emaar and Kuwaiti National Industries Group.
Etisalat was also ranked 1st in the UAE and 5th among the top 150 listed corporations in the GCC published by Shua’a Capital and Gulf Business magazine. The report indicated that the market value of Etisalat has reached $21.74 billion (AED79.79 billion) at the end of July 2006.
The Shua’a Capital report listed the top 150 listed companies in the GCC in terms of market value, and 37 UAE companies have been included in the list, with Etisalat leading the list.
Etisalat’s success has been attributed to its expansion strategy, which has recently seen the corporation entering the promising markets of Egypt and Afghanistan. Etisalat also enjoys a reputation of being an innovative and reliable operator, with its telecommunications and Internet services covering all of the UAE.
According to an earlier ranking list published by the Financial Times, Etisalat was ranked among the Top 500 Global Corporations based on capital. In a regional survey report published by the London-based “The Middle East” magazine, Etisalat was ranked 6th “Largest Corporation in the Middle East” also based on capital.
