Forbes Middle East Reveals The Region’s Top 100 Listed Companies

Forbes Middle East has revealed its flagship ranking of the Middle East’s Top 100 Listed Companies for 2023, highlighting the region’s biggest public companies.

To construct the list, Forbes Middle East compiled data from listed stock exchanges in the Arab world and ranked companies based on their reported sales, assets, and profits in 2022 and market value as of April 30, 2023. Companies that hadn’t disclosed their 2022 full-year audited financial statements as of April 25, 2023, were excluded. Currency exchange rates were taken as of April 30, 2023.

Aramco, SABIC, Qatar’s QNB Group, and Saudi National Bank make up the top four—all maintaining their ranks from 2022. The U.A.E.’s International Holding Company (IHC) jumped from #12 place in 2022 to the fifth spot in 2023. In January 2023, it announced that it was investing $400 million into Adani Enterprises’ Further Public Offering through its subsidiary Green Transmission Investment Holding RSC Limited.

GCC nations dominate 91% of the list, with Saudi Arabia being the most represented with 33 entries, followed by the U.A.E. with 28 and Qatar with 16. For the fourth consecutive year, these three countries comprise over 70% of the ranking.

Despite the fallout from the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, the banking and financial services sector still reigns, with 42 entries holding a total of $3 trillion in assets and generating $45.4 billion in net income. However, the energy sector—led by Aramco—generated the bulk of the profits, hitting $162.4 billion in 2022.

The 2023 ranking includes six new entities: Dukhan Bank, Multiply Group, Americana Restaurants, Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company (Luberef), Marafiq, and Emirates Steel Arkan Group. Whereas four companies returned to the list: National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), The Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya), Kuwait Projects Company (Holding)-KIPCO, and Dar Al Arkan.

In 2023, the aggregate market value of the 100 listees decreased marginally by 5%, from $4 trillion in 2022 to $3.8 trillion. However, the aggregate sales value for these 100 companies has jumped 38.5% to $1.1 trillion, with profits surging by 37.7% to hit $277.7 billion. The value of their aggregate assets has also risen by 9.5% to $4.6 trillion as of 2022 end.