Banks in MENA have emerged stronger from the pandemic crisis, with the top 30 listed players in the region seeing their combined assets grow in value by 13% to hit $2.5 trillion by the end of 2021, compared to $2.3 trillion in 2020, while profits climbed by 37% to over $34 billion. The aggregate market cap of the 30 banks rose to nearly $587 billion as of June 28, 2022, an increase of 23% compared to $478.7 billion a year earlier. They have combined revenues of over $107 billion.
Gulf banks dominate the 2022 list, with 25 out of the 30 based in the GCC. Qatar’s QNB Group tops the list with $300.3 billion in total assets, followed by the U.A.E.’s FAB, and Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi National Bank. Saudi and U.A.E. are the most represented countries in the list, with 10 and seven banks, respectively. Qatar follows with four banks, while Morocco has three.
The region’s banks are poised for further growth in 2022, fueled by higher oil prices. According to a recent report by Fitch, high oil prices, strong economic activity, and rising interest rates are expected to help banks in the U.A.E. bring their profitability back to pre-pandemic levels in FY 2022. S&P Global Ratings expects rated banks across the Middle East and Africa to suffer little direct fallout from the Russia-Ukraine conflict due to their limited dealings with Russian and Ukrainian counterparties.
We collected data from Middle East banks listed on stock exchanges in the Arab world based on their reported market value, revenues, assets, and profits for 2021. Each metric was given equal weight, and banks with the same final scores were given the same rank.
We excluded banks that hadn’t disclosed their 2021 audited financial statements as of June 28, 2022. Currency exchange rates and market cap calculations were taken as of June 28, 2022.
