MANAMA: The combined value of the Top 150 Listed Companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) went up by $213 billion in the past year to $916 billion and is inching toward the $1 trillion mark, according to a survey conducted by a Dubai-based Shuaa Capital.
Saudi firms continue to dominate the rankings as there are 50 Saudi companies, or one third, in the list.
Saudi Arabia is followed by the UAE with 35 companies. Oman had the lowest number of companies making it to the list with only five listed companies.
The top 150 listed companies survey carried by Gulf Business magazine, is based on market capitalization as of Aug. 5, 2008.
According to the listing, honors for the region’s most valuable listed company remained firmly in the grasp of Saudi Arabia’s SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.), eclipsing any other contender with a market capitalization of $99 billion, almost three times compared with that of second ranking Saudi Telecom Company (STC), which managed to retain its position for the fourth consecutive year.
The biggest gainer in this year’s rankings was Dubai-based construction and engineering company Arabtec, which scaled 54 positions to secure the 82nd spot in this year’s top 150 rankings as opposed to last year’s 136th place. “The company seemed to benefit from a bulging backlog of projects, and a doubling in achieved profitability,” said Walid Shihabi, director — head of research at Shuaa Capital, and author of the report.
The UAE market, as a whole, made some notable gains this year, with the 35 listed companies that qualified representing around 23 percent of the aggregate, compared to 21 percent last year.
