By Celine Aswad

DUBAI, May 10 (Reuters) - First quarter results from major companies drove trading on Saudi Arabia's stock exchange on Wednesday, with the Riyadh index .TASI edging 0.2 percent higher, while Qatar's bourse outperformed as investors bought shares on recent price dips.

Majority state-owned Saudi Electricity 5110.SE (SEC) rose 2.2 percent in trading that exceeded its one-month average daily volume after the company swung to a net profit of 4.94 billion riyals in the first quarter.

The company attributed the jump to the cancellation of accounts payable for municipality fees, as a result of a royal decree issued this year exempting the company from paying them.

Shares of Saudi Cement 3030.SE , whose net income fell by almost a third in the first quarter from the year ago period, rose 1.0 percent. The results are broadly in line with analysts' estimates, but is trading at a slight discount to its peers, offering investors some value to hold onto the share.

Shares of construction firm Al Khodari 1330.SE , however, fell 1.7 percent to 11.30 riyals after it swung to a net loss of 17.8 million riyals compared to a net profit of 2.2 million riyals in same period last year. Analysts at EFG Hermes had forecast a net loss of 38.0 million riyals during the period.

Al Khodari, which has ongoing projects with the government, attributed the poor results to a 50 percent decline in revenue, slow progress on ongoing projects, a decline in new project awards and liquidity challenges in the industry as a whole.

The firm said some changes to its financial statements had been made as a result of its adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from Jan. 1.

This was the first quarter companies reported in accordance with IFRS and the impact on the bottom line has been variable.

"Asset-heavy companies were impacted negatively, including cement and petrochemicals," said a Riyadh based equity analyst.

IFRS requires assets to be priced at current market value and that any impairment charges to be reflected in the income statement, which becomes burdensome on companies which have very old assets.

Saudi International Petrochemical 2310.SE (Sipchem) lost 2.0 percent after reporting broadly in-line first quarter results, with net income almost doubling from the year ago period and almost tripling from the previous quarter.

"We believe better than expected sales were offset by higher than expected non-operating expenses," said a note by Riyadh based NCB Capital.

Elsewhere, Dubai's index .DFMGI lost 0.4 percent, with amusement park operator DXB Entertainments DXBE.DU dropping 5.0 percent after it said net losses widened to 287.4 million dirhams in the first quarter.

DXBE's chief executive said the loss, in only its second quarter of results, reflected the "normal trajectory of a business in its early phase of development".

The company said it expected a dip in footfalls in the coming two quarters.

Abu Dhabi's main index .ADI barely moved as real estate related shares diverged -- Aldar Properties ADLR.AD rose 0.9 percent while RAK Properties RPRO.AD fell 1.6 percent.



QATAR, EGYPT

In Qatar, the index .QSI rebounded 1.3 percent, pulling further away from a five-month low hit earlier this week. Telecommunication operators were some of the top movers, with Ooredoo ORDS.QA climbing 2.6 percent.

Egypt's index .EGX30 added 0.5 percent to 12,993 points, climbing back towards an all-time peak hit in mid-January. Foreign funds were net buyers on Wednesday, while local traders were net sellers, bourse data showed.

Orascom Telecom OTMT.CA , the most heavily traded share on the exchange, rose 1.4 percent. Shares in the company have now risen in four consecutive sessions as investors react positively to the company swinging to profitability in 2016.



HIGHLIGHTS



SAUDI ARABIA



* The index .TASI added 0.2 percent to 6,930 points.



DUBAI



* The index .DFMGI fell 0.4 percent to 3,395 points.



ABU DHABI



* The index .ADI edged down 0.06 percent to 4,582 points.



QATAR



* The index .QSI rose 1.3 percent to 9,992 points.



EGYPT



* The index .EGX30 added 0.5 percent to 12,993 points.



KUWAIT



* The index .KWSE rose 0.9 percent to 6,656 points.



BAHRAIN



* The index .BAX fell 0.6 percent to 1,308 points.

OMAN



* The index .MSI edged up 0.1 percent to 5,430 points.

($1 = 3.7502 riyals)



(Editing by Catherine Evans) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6224 7653)(Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))