Saudi Firms Make Up 30% of Fortune 500 Arabia List

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s energy firm Aramco has taken the top position in a list of 500 firms across the Arab world ranked by their annual revenue. 

Pulling in SR2.3 trillion ($603.8 billion) in 2022, the oil giant is one of 152 companies from the Kingdom to make the ranking, assembled by Fortune Arabia, a global platform for corporate, business and economic policy news. 

After Saudi Arabia, the UAE ranked second with 17 percent of the list’s companies, followed by Egypt, Kuwait, and Qatar, respectively. 

While Saudi companies accounted for the highest percentage of revenues and profits among the groups listed, the UAE accounted for the greatest percentage of the most profitable corporations. 

Driven by rising electricity production from its plants during the year, Saudi Electricity Co. came ninth on the Fortune 500 list and reported a 3.87 percent annual growth in its revenue for 2022, while Saudi Telecom Co. ranked eleventh, directly behind Qatar National Bank.

“Being part of the Fortune 500 list is significant, as it carries specific criteria that hold great importance for shareholders, investors and analysts, and offers substantial opportunities for the companies included in this classification,” noted the magazine’s Editor-In-Chief Hamoud Al-Mahmoud. 

The list enclosed government and private enterprises not included in the financial markets and disclosed their income through official channels or communications with the Fortune Arabia team. 

The approach to creating the inaugural ranking of the most prominent Arab corporations was exclusively based on reported and verified revenues. 

Over $1.6 trillion was made by the firms included in Fortune 500 Arabia in total revenue this year, and $343 billion was made in net profits. 

The banking and insurance sectors topped the list with a 28 percent share, followed by the real estate and construction division and oil and gas with a 7 percent share. 

Private companies not traded on the stock market made up 9 percent of Fortune 500 Arabia, while publicly traded companies made up 91 percent, the magazine stated. 

Fortune 500 Arabia aims to incentivize significant organizations not listed on the financial markets to achieve a higher degree of data openness to be rated on the list. This is achieved by including private companies within the ranking. 

Prominent business leaders from various industries have joined as launch partners in the Fortune 500 Arabia release, including Transtek Systems, BAE Systems, Saudi Logistics Services Co., and Eyad Reda Law Firm.