• Forbes Middle East Reveals the Region’s Top 100 Listed Companies
  • Meet The Middle East’s 100 Biggest Public Firms
  • The market value of Egypt’s 50 biggest listed companies stands at $30.4 billion, up 6.7%.
  • Banking and financial services firms dominate the list with 16 entries.
  • Commercial International Bank (CIB) tops the ranking with a market value of $5.2 billion.
  • The total market value of the region’s biggest 100 listed companies stands at $3.8 trillion.
  • Saudi Arabia has 33 companies on the list, followed by the U.A.E. with 28 and Qatar with 16.

Dubai: Forbes Middle East has revealed its annual ranking of Egypt’s Top 50 Listed Companies for 2023, highlighting the Country’s biggest public companies. To develop the ranking, Forbes Middle East gathered data from the Egyptian Exchange and ranked companies based on their reported sales, assets, and profits for 2022 and market value as of April 30, 2023. Companies that hadn’t disclosed their 2022 full-year audited financial statements as of April 25, 2023, were excluded. Currency exchange rates were taken as of April 30, 2023.

Commercial International Bank (CIB)—Egypt’s largest listed bank—tops the ranking for the second consecutive year, with a market value of $5.2 billion and total assets of $20.6 billion. In January 2023, CIB acquired the remaining 49% stake of Mayfair CIB in Kenya for a total transaction value of $40 million. QNB ALAHLI and Telecom Egypt make up the top three.

Banking and financial services is the most represented sector with 16 listees, followed by real estate and construction with eight and industrials with seven. Combined, the market capitalization of the top 50 firms has surged by 6.7% over the last year to hit $30.4 billion, with the main index (EGX30) jumping by 20% during the first five months of 2023. The value of aggregate sales for the 50 companies (in USD) fell by 16.3% to $32.7 billion in 2022. Profits also witnessed an 8.9% decrease to $4.9 billion, while the value of their total assets tumbled from $142 billion in 2021 to $109.2 billion in 2022, a 23% drop.

Green energy investments prevailed as a top priority for several companies on the list. In March 2023, QNB ALAHLI launched its first green retail-financing program in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Union, and the Green Climate Fund. Whereas in February 2023, Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO), ECHEM, and Norwegian company Scatex signed an agreement to produce green ammonia from green hydrogen.

On the innovation front, Egyptian Satellites Company (Nilesat) launched its fourth satellite on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in June 2022, which will deliver broadband services to Egypt and neighboring countries in MENA. And in May 2022, Orascom Construction, in a consortium with Siemens Mobility and The Arab Contractors, signed the second phase of Egypt’s first high-speed rail system to expand the network to 2,000 kilometers, with a share of $1.2 billion. Ranked 10th, Orascom Construction also generated the most sales in 2022 at $4.2 billion.

Top 5 Listed Companies in Egypt 2023

1 | Commercial International Bank (CIB)

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

CEO and Managing Director: Hussein Abaza

2 | QNB ALAHLI

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

CEO: Mohamed Mahmoud Bedeir

3 | Telecom Egypt

Sector: Telecommunications

Managing Director and CEO: Mohamed Nasr Eldin

4 | Elsewedy Electric

Sector: Industrials

Group President and CEO: Ahmed Elsewedy

5 | Egypt Kuwait Holding (EKH)

Sector: Investments 

CEO: Sherif El-Zayat

Click here for the complete ranking of the Top 50 Listed Companies in Egypt 2023.

On another hand, Forbes Middle East has revealed its flagship ranking of the Middle East’s Top 100 Listed Companies for 2023, highlighting the region’s biggest public companies.

To construct the list, Forbes Middle East compiled data from listed stock exchanges in the Arab world and ranked companies based on their reported sales, assets, and profits in 2022 and market value as of April 30, 2023. Companies that hadn’t disclosed their 2022 full-year audited financial statements as of April 25, 2023, were excluded. Currency exchange rates were taken as of April 30, 2023.

Aramco, SABIC, Qatar’s QNB Group, and Saudi National Bank make up the top four—all maintaining their ranks from 2022. The U.A.E.’s International Holding Company (IHC) jumped from #12 place in 2022 to the fifth spot in 2023. In January 2023, it announced that it was investing $400 million into Adani Enterprises’ Further Public Offering through its subsidiary Green Transmission Investment Holding RSC Limited.

GCC nations dominate 91% of the list, with Saudi Arabia being the most represented with 33 entries, followed by the U.A.E. with 28 and Qatar with 16. For the fourth consecutive year, these three countries comprise over 70% of the ranking.

Despite the fallout from the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, the banking and financial services sector still reigns, with 42 entries holding a total of $3 trillion in assets and generating $45.4 billion in net income. However, the energy sector—led by Aramco—generated the bulk of the profits, hitting $162.4 billion in 2022.

The 2023 ranking includes six new entities: Dukhan Bank, Multiply Group, Americana Restaurants, Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company (Luberef), Marafiq, and Emirates Steel Arkan Group. Whereas four companies returned to the list: National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), The Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya), Kuwait Projects Company (Holding)-KIPCO, and Dar Al Arkan. 

In 2023, the aggregate market value of the 100 listees decreased marginally by 5%, from $4 trillion in 2022 to $3.8 trillion. However, the aggregate sales value for these 100 companies has jumped 38.5% to $1.1 trillion, with profits surging by 37.7% to hit $277.7 billion. The value of their aggregate assets has also risen by 9.5% to $4.6 trillion as of 2022 end.

2023 Country Breakdown

Saudi Arabia

33

Kuwait

9

Bahrain 

3

U.A.E.

28

Morocco

4

Oman

2

Qatar 

16

Jordan

3

Egypt

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Listed Companies in the Middle East 2023

1 | Aramco 

Country: Saudi Arabia

Sector: Energy

President and CEO: Amin H. Nasser

2 | SABIC

Country: Saudi Arabia

Sector: Industrials

CEO: Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh

3 | QNB Group

Country: Qatar

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

Group CEO: Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa

4 | Saudi National Bank (SNB)

Country: Saudi Arabia

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

Acting CEO: Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji

5 | International Holding Company (IHC)

Country: U.A.E.

Sector: Investments 

CEO and MD: Syed Basar Shueb

6 | Al Rajhi Bank

Country: Saudi Arabia

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

CEO and MD: Waleed Abdullah Al-Mogbel

7 | Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Country: Saudi Arabia

Sector: Utilities

CEO: Khaled bin Hamad Al-Gnoon

8 | First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Country: U.A.E.

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

Group CEO: Hana Al Rostamani

9 | Emirates NBD

Country: U.A.E.

Sector: Banks & Financial Services

Group CEO: Shayne Nelson

10 | TAQA Group

Country: U.A.E.

Sector: Energy 

Group CEO and MD: Jasim Husain Thabet

Click here for the complete ranking of the Top 100 Listed Companies in the Middle East 2023.

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About Forbes Middle East

Forbes Middle East is a licensed edition of Forbes for the Arab world, championing inspiring business journalism and entrepreneurial capitalism. Its online and social platforms break news covering billionaires, business, investment, technology, economy, entrepreneurship, leadership, and luxury lifestyles. The monthly magazine, featuring in-depth interviews with the Middle East’s most influential and innovative leaders, is published in print in English and Arabic, with digital versions available to both regional and global audiences online. Forbes Middle East extends the Forbes brand of journalism across the Arab world, conducting its own comprehensive research to publish original lists that adhere to strict methodologies. Its content attracts business leaders, investors, active and potential entrepreneurs, and a wide audience of ambitious and influential executives.

Media contact: Basma Aly Sadek – basma@forbesmiddleeast.com