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Corporates in the GCC are well prepared to navigate headwinds such as the ongoing geopolitical tensions, fluctuating oil prices and high interest rates, Iridium Advisors CEO Oliver Schutzmann told Zawya.
The region’s outlook for the year is one of “continued optimism”, with analytical data indicating “strong confidence” and “resilience” in the months ahead, based on the findings of Iridium’s latest GCC Sentiment Index.
“Companies are increasingly focused on diversifying their strategies, managing risks, and optimising operations, which should help to mitigate some of the potential negative impacts,” Schutzmann said.
“However, these factors could temper expectations in 2025 if instability persists. Nevertheless, the overall outlook remains cautiously optimistic, with the region’s ability to adapt and respond to challenges being a key strength,” he added.
According to the GCC Sentiment Index, the region soared by 63% above its historical average of 26.0 points due to positive sentiment across all the region’s economies, particularly Saudi Arabia, which saw a 23% increase over the previous quarter at 44.1 points, and the UAE, which experienced an 8% increase at 49.1 points.
Other GCC economies also showed marked improvements in Q2, with Kuwait achieving 45.6 points on the Sentiment Index, with all Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar also reporting hights of 52.7 points, 36.7 points and 35.3 points, respectively.
Going forward, corporates are prioritising both organic and inorganic growth strategies to capture market opportunities, with a focus on expanding production capacities, launching new products, and enhancing service offerings.
Further boosting this was a strengthened balance sheet presented in Q2 that saw companies report significant revenue growth, healthy EBITDA margins, and robust net profits to reinvest in expansion strategies.
The report, which used the Dubai-based company’s Iridium Quant Lens NLP algorithms to extract findings from 2,100 plus earnings calls of listed firms across eight stock exchanges in the GCC, tracks with June’s forecast by the International Monetary Fund that predicted a significant increase in economic growth for the GCC region, from 0.5% in 2023 to 2.5% in 2024.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
