The banking Titans
Al Rajhi Bank, valued at $75bn, named largest ME bank
RIYADH, April 9, 2023
Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank with a market cap of $75 billion is the largest bank in the Middle East, as the top 50 banks representing 10 markets have an aggregate market value of $548.1 billion, Forbes Middle East has revealed.
Saudi National Bank and Qatar’s QNB Group round up the top three, with $56.4 billion and $42.8 billion in market cap, respectively. Collectively, these three companies have a valuation of $174.2 billion, accounting for nearly 32% of the total list.
Forbes ranking of the region’s Top 50 Most Valuable Banks 2023 was constructed from data gathered from listed stock exchanges in the Arab world and ranked companies based on their reported market value as of February 28, 2023.
GCC banks dominate
The ranking features entities from 10 markets, although GCC banks dominate with 41 entries, representing 82% of the list. Overall, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are home to the most banks on the list, with 10 entries each, constituting 40% of the ranking.
Saudi Arabia’s 10 most valuable banks have an aggregate market value of $223.5 billion. The UAE’s 10 entries are worth $121.2 billion, Qatar’s eight banks have a market value of $81.3 billion, and Kuwait’s seven entries are worth $76.2 billion.
Increasingly, banks in the region are backing sustainable finance investments and securing deals to boost energy-efficient customer offerings.
Under the National Bank of Kuwait’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, it installed 12 electric vehicle charging stations at different levels of the multi-storey car park attached to its green headquarters in 2022.
Masraf Al Rayan
The bank also joined the United Nations Global Compact in February 2023. In April 2022, Qatar’s Masraf Al Rayan announced the launch of its sustainable financing framework to offer ESG-linked funding opportunities to investors.
The Commercial Bank of Dubai partnered with Sharaf DG in September 2022 to enable customers to adopt clean energy by installing Solar PV Systems for their homes from Sharaf DG Energy via a sustainable and digital financing option from CBD.
Top 50 Most Valuable Banks in The Middle East 2023: Country Breakdown: Saudi Arabia-10, UAE-10, Qatar-8, Kuwait-7, Oman-4, Morocco-4, Jordan-3, Bahrain-2, Tunisia-1, Egypt-1.
Top 5 Most Valuable Banks in The Middle East 2023
Al Rajhi Bank, Country: Saudi Arabia, Market value: $75 billion, CEO and Managing Director: Waleed Abdullah Al-Mogbel
Saudi National Bank (SNB), Country: Saudi Arabia Market value: $56.4 billion, Acting CEO: Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji.
QNB Group, Country: Qatar, Market value: $42.8 billion Group CEO: Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa.
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Country: UAE, Market value: $42.4 billion, Group CEO: Hana Al Rostamani.
Kuwait Finance House, Country: Kuwait, Market value: $37.5 billion, Acting Group CEO and Group Chief Treasury and Financial Institutions Officer: Abdulwahab Iesa Alrushood.-- TradeArabia News Service
