Arab News, Thursday, Nov 24, 2022 | Rabi Al Thani 29, 1444
Saudi listed firms’ net profit soars 32% as energy, banking sectors shine
Saudi Arabia:
Energy firms and banks helped fuel a 32 percent
year-on-year rise in aggregate profits for listed companies in Saudi Arabia in
the third quarter of 2022, according to a report released by Kamco Invest.
The analysis noted that net profits hit $51.9
billion in the three months to the end of September — up from $39.3 billion in
the same period of 2021.
The report, however, noted that the aggregate
profit of Saudi Arabian firms in the third quarter reported a decline of $7.4
billion compared to the previous quarter this year, where the total net profit
stood at $59.3 billion.
Across the Gulf Cooperation Council region, listed
firms witnessed a quarter-on-quarter decline of 8 percent at $76.9 billion, due
to the fall in the earnings for energy and material companies.
“In terms of regions, only UAE-listed companies
showed higher profits during the quarter, whereas aggregates for the rest of the
GCC countries showed a quarter-on-quarter decline during the third quarter of
2022,” wrote Kamco in the report.
Companies operating in the Kingdom’s energy sector
witnessed the maximum profit during the third quarter at $41.2 billion, driven
by crude oil prices and volumes sold.
The report further noted that the profit of the
banking institutions in Saudi Arabia increased to $4.4 billion during the third
quarter, up from $3.5 billion during the same period in 2021.
In the banking sector, Al Rajhi Bank recorded a
profit of $1.2 billion in the third quarter, supported by higher net financing
and investment income, fees from banking services, and exchange income.
Saudi National Bank reported a 24.6 percent
increase in the net profit to $1.3 billion, driven by a 16.1 percent drop in
operating expenses due to a lower net impairment charge for credit losses.
Net profit of telecom companies in the Kingdom
also grew by 22.2 percent year-on-year to $1.1 billion in the third quarter,
while profits for the food and staples retailing sector almost tripled
year-on-year to reach $281.6 million.
According to the Kamco report, Saudi Arabian firms
operating in the materials, utilities, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and life
sciences, and consumer durables and apparel sectors witnessed a decline in
profit during the third quarter.
In terms of year-on-year performance by GCC
companies, net profits continued to show growth in the third quarter of 2022 and
were up by almost a quarter to reach $70.7 billion as compared to $57.2 billion
during the same period in the previous year.
“Abu Dhabi-listed companies showed the biggest
y-o-y profitability improvement during the third quarter of 2022 with net
profits almost doubling to $9.1 billion, reflecting both new listings as well as
higher profits for the bulk of the listed companies on the Abu Dhabi exchange,”
the report added.
Country breakdown
Aggregate net profits for Kuwait-listed firms
witnessed a year-on-year decline of 74.0 percent in the third quarter to reach
$1.5 billion compared to $5.8 billion in the same period of 2021.
According to the report, the decline in the profit
of Kuwait-listed firms was mainly led by lower year-on-year profits reported by
Agility, which had booked an extraordinary gain of around $3.1 billion in the
third quarter of 2021 post the sale of its integrated logistics business to DSV
Panalpina.
Net profits for Dubai-listed companies increased
by 32.8 percent in the third quarter to reach $4.1 billion, the report added.
Total earnings for Qatari-listed companies
increased by 1.7 percent over the same period to reach $3.32 billion as compared
to $3.27 billion in the corresponding three months of the previous year.
Net profit of Bahrain-listed companies decreased
by 44 percent year-on-year to $405.5 million after six of its 13 sectors —
including its two largest sectors by market cap — posted a decrease in net
profits during the quarter.
Total net profits for listed companies in Oman
increased by 14 percent year-on-year to $457.6 million in the third quarter as
compared to $401.4 million in the corresponding quarter in 2021.