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Etisalat among top five Arab World firms

The UAE telecommunications company etisalat maintained its position as one of the largest five companies in the Arab World last year after its market capitalisation surged by more than 34 per cent.

Etisalat came only after the S audi petrochemicals giant (Sabic) , Al Rajhi Banking Group of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) in the list of the largest 500 firms trading their shares on the Arab bourses.

Etisalat , owned 40 per cent by the UAE Federal Government, was the fifth largest company in the Arab region in 2008, before seizing the fourth position in 2009.

The list, published in the Lebanese Aliqtisad Walamal monthly Arabic language magazine, showed Sabic retained its position as the largest listed company in terms of market capitalisation, which stood at $66 billion (Dh242.41bn) at the end of 2009.

Al Rajhi 's was capitalised at around $28.5bn while the market capitalisation of STC stood at $23.5bn and that of etisalat at $21.5bn.

The report showed Qatar Industries ranked fifth while the Kuwaiti Zain telecommunications company was the sixth largest Arab firm. Morocco's telecommunications company, Maroc Telecom , ranked seventh while the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) , Qatar National Bank ( QNB ) and the Saudi Banking Group (Samba) were in the eighth, ninth and 10th position.

The report showed Zain recorded the highest growth of around 296.1 per cent among the 10 largest firms last year, followed by Sabic , whose market capitalisation jumped by around 60.2 per cent at the end of 2009.

The UAE's etisalat soared by 34.8 per cent while there was a growth of 27.2 per cent at Al Rajhi and 21.6 per cent at SEC . STC and Samba recorded a decline.

Other major companies listed in the region's stock exchanges include the National Bank of Kuwait (11th), the Saudi Riyadh Bank (12th), Egypt's Orascom Telecom Group (13th), the Jordan-based Arab Bank (14th) and the Kuwaiti Finance House (15th) and the Saudi British Bank (16th).

"The market capitalisation of the largest 500 Arab companies accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the total Arab market capitalisation at the end of 2009.

"The GCC countries accounted for the highest level," the report said.

"The new list for 2009 showed Sabic maintained its top position while STC and Al Rajhi swaped their position... Zain recorded a big leap last year."

Sector-wise, banks and other financial firms emerged as the top firms, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the largest 500 companies and nearly 38.4 per cent of their total market capitalisation, the report showed.

It put the capitalisation of banking institutions at around $265.4bn at the end of 2009, while that of telecommunications firms at $122.9bn. The capitalisation stood at $115.4bn in the petrochemicals sector, around $66.4bn in industry, $55.6bn in real estate, $48.1bn in building materials companies, and $33.3bn in investment firms.

The other sectors included trade and other services, transport, insurance, farming, oil and gas, financial services, and tourism.

Etisalat reaches Silicon Oasis
Etisalat yesterday announced a strategic alliance with Dubai Silicon Oasis to offer dedicated, priority-based services to its free zone customers. The pact will benefit more than 270 firms currently operating at the free zone employing more than 2,500 people.

Dr Juma Al Matrooshi, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Excellence & Support, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, said: "Our newly established partnership with etisalat will add significant value to the technology oasis."

By Nadim Kawach

© Emirates Business 24/7 2010