Quarterly net profits reported by companies listed on GCC exchanges continued to decline, reaching  a three-quarter low level during Q4-2024, according to a Kamco Invest report. 

 

Aggregate profits during the quarter declined by 5% q-o-q to reach $57.3 billion after a broad-based

decline in profits across most exchanges more than offset a growth in profits reported by

companies listed on Dubai and Abu Dhabi. 

 

In terms of y-o-y trend, however, aggregate profits during the quarter witnessed a marginal growth of 2% after healthy growth in profits for most exchanges was partially offset by a decline in aggregate profits for companies listed on the Abu Dhabi exchange.

 

At the country level, profits growth was highest for companies listed on the Oman

exchange, registering a y-o-y increase of 83.4% during Q4-2024 followed by Bahrain and

Kuwait with profit growth of 43.2% and 37.1%, respectively. Saudi-listed companies posted

a marginal y-o-y profit growth of 3.1%, while the growth registered by corporates in Dubai

and Qatari were around 20%.

 

In terms of sector performance, the biggest y-o-y decline was reported by companies in

the energy sector with aggregate profits down by 16.6% or $5.1 billion to reach $25.7 billion in Q4-2024. The Utilities sector also affected aggregate profit at the GCC level with an aggregate net loss of $1.3 billionn for the sector during Q4-2024 as compared to a profit of $338.9 million during Q4-2023. The loss mainly reflected a bigger net loss reported by Saudi Electricity Co during Q4-2024 at $2 billion. 

 

The GCC F&B sector recorded the third-biggest y-o-y drop in net profits by 12% or $0.6 billion during Q4-2024 reaching $4.2 billion as compared to $4.7 billion during Q4-2023.

 

On the other hand, the GCC Telecom sector recorded the biggest absolute y-o-y profit growth

during Q4-2024 with an increase of 171% or $3.4 billion to reach $5.3 billion mainly reflecting

the extraordinary profits recorded by Saudi Telecom Company. 

 

Banks also showed higher y-o-y profits during Q4-2024 registering an increase of 16.2% or $2 billion to reach $14.4 billion, the report said. -TradeArabia News Service