Industries Qatar, QNB, Qatar Electricity and Water Company, Qatar Insurance, Woqod and Ooredoo are among the top Arab companies in different categories that figured in the ‘Forbes Global 2000’ list.

For the second year, Industries Qatar took the top position in the ‘Industrials’ category with a market value of $31.3bn. In all, 107 Middle East companies figure in this list.

In the ‘Banking’ category, QNB sits in the top spot after leading the pack in terms of revenues ($5.4bn), assets ($121.8bn), profits ($2.6bn) and market value ($37.1bn).

QNB’s homeland, Qatar, registered nine entries out of a total of 101 banks included in the ranking.

In the ‘Services’ category, Qatar Electricity and Water Company topped the list.

Qatar Insurance and Qatar General Insurance are in second and third places respectively in the ‘Insurance’ category. As many as 31 companies from the region’s insurance sector have been featured this year.

In the ‘Retail’ category, Woqod, which boasted revenues of $3.5bn and market value of $4.4bn last year, topped the list.

Ooredoo has made the cut in the ranking of top telecom companies from the region.

Featuring only publicly-listed companies, the top 500 companies in the Arab World builds on Forbes’ pioneering Global 2000 and was based on disclosed financial statements for 2013, collated from stock markets across the region. Criteria considered when producing the list include total revenue, net profits, total assets, and market capitalisation.

A total of 11 countries are represented in the list, and with financial performance as of December 2013 as the reference point, their combined revenues stand at $383.67bn and net profits, $71.68bn. These figures equate to year-on- year increases of 12% and 16.2%, respectively, while aggregated total assets grew 19% to reach a sizable $2.64tn.

Unsurprisingly, GCC companies dominate the lineup, with the top 10 including four entries from Saudi Arabia, three from the UAE, two from Qatar and one from Kuwait.

Once again, topping the list is Saudi Arabia’s SABIC with $50bn in revenues and an asset base of $90.4bn. In terms of number of entries, Saudi Arabia dominates not just the top 10, but the overall ranking.

At a magnificent award ceremony held in Dubai, Forbes Middle East celebrated the region’s corporate success and revealed the publication’s highly-anticipated ranking of the Top 500 Companies in the Arab World 2014.

Source: Gulftimes