Saudi oil giant Aramco tops Forbes ME's 100 Listed Companies 2023

Saudi oil giant Aramco tops Forbes ME's 100 Listed Companies 2023

Mubasher: Saudi Arabia has dominated Forbes Middle East’s Top 100 Listed Companies with 33 entries, followed by the UAE with 28, Qatar with 16, and Kuwait with nine.

Stock markets have been under pressure amid high inflation and global unrest, as the MENA region is not immune to the trajectory.

The aggregate market value of the Middle East’s Top 100 Listed Companies dropped marginally by 5% year-on-year (YoY) to $3.80 trillion in 2023 from $4 trillion.

However, the value of the aggregate sales for these 100 firms jumped by 38.50% to $1.10 trillion, with profits increasing by 37.70% to $277.70 billion. In addition, the value of their aggregate assets soared by 9.50% to $4.60 trillion as of end-2022.

The 2023 list welcomed a number of newly-listed entities, including Qatar’s Dukhan Bank, UAE-based Multiply Group, and Americana Restaurants which is dually listed on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) as well, along with Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company (Luberef) and Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq).

Meanwhile, Egypt entered the list with Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Qatar National Bank Al Ahli (QNB Al Ahli), securing the 49th and 83rd positions, respectively.

GCC countries dominated 91% of the list, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE