Forbes Middle East Unveils The Top Listed Companies In The Middle East

Meet The Region's 100 Most Valuable Listed Firms

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Forbes Middle East has revealed its annual ranking of the Top 100 Listed Companies for 2021, recognizing the region's largest, most valuable, and most profitable companies. To compile the list, Forbes Middle East gathered data from listed stock exchanges in the Arab world and evaluated companies based on sales, profits, assets, and market value. Listed subsidiaries of other listed companies and companies that hadn't disclose their 2020 audited financial statements as of May 3, 2021, were excluded.

Saudi Arabia has the most companies on the list, with 37 led by Saudi Aramco at #1, followed by the U.A.E. with 20 companies led by the First Abu Dhabi Bank at #4. In third place is Qatar, with 17 entries led by QNB at #2. For the second consecutive year, these three countries together comprise nearly 75% of the list.

The banking and financial services sector is still the most represented in the list with 42 entries, down from 46 in 2020. Five of the top 10 companies are banks. The real estate and construction sector and industrials sector are joint second with 10 entries each. Telecommunications is third with nine entries.

With the impact of the pandemic, most firms are not as valuable or profitable as they were a year ago. The aggregate sales of the 100 companies in 2021 stand at $550 billion, while aggregate net income reached $91 billion—a drop of 17.9% and 38.5%, respectively, compared to the 2020 list.

Combined, the market value of the 100 companies stands at $3 trillion, a surge of 30.4% compared to 2020—although Saudi Aramco's valuation of $1.9 trillion makes up over 60% of this total. Total value of assets climbed 2.9% to reach $3.6 trillion. Overall, 93% of the companies indicated an increase in their market value compared to 2020, and 62% of the firms were able to increase the value of their assets. Despite last year being a tough one for businesses worldwide, eight newcomers debuted on the list.

Of the 100, 37 companies feature on Forbes' annual Global 2000 list this year, with Aramco at fifth place, retaining its title as the world's largest oil company and the Middle East's most valuable firm.

Top 10 Listed Companies in the Middle East 2021

1 |Saudi Aramco

Country: Saudi Arabia

Established: 1933

Sector: Energy

2 QNB Group

Country: Qatar

Established: 1964