Listed companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) saw their 2020 earnings fall to their lowest level in five years.
A report from Kuwaiti fund manager, Kamco Invest, stated that net profit for GCC-listed companies in 2020 reached US$91.3 billion, a 39.3% decrease from the $150.5 billion recorded in 2019.
A large portion of the losses came from oil company, Saudi Armaco, which saw its profits decline by $38.9 billion.
Excluding the Saudi Aramco earnings, the banking, real estate and materials sectors accounted for 85% of the fall in profits.
Among the region’s stock exchanges, the smallest reduction in profits were in Abu Dhabi (7.4%), followed by Oman (18.6%) and Qatar (20.5%).
The report studied 21 sectors and found that 12 of these suffered year on year declines in profits, while just three sectors – utilities, food and beverage, and tobacco – enjoyed any significant growth.
©2021 funds global mena