Aggregate net profits reported by companies listed on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) exchanges rose 15.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 to a record quarterly high of $67.9 billion, up from $58.8 billion a year earlier, according to an industry expert.
The increase was also supported by higher profits at listed banks and companies in the food and beverage (F&B) and capital goods sectors. However, declines in earnings among telecommunications and transportation companies partially offset the overall growth, said Kamco Invest, a regional non-banking financial powerhouse with one of the largest AUMs in the region.
On a sequential basis, aggregate profits jumped more than 40% from the fourth quarter of 2025, supported by stronger earnings in the energy, materials and banking sectors. The quarter-on-quarter increase was partly tempered by weaker profits in the real estate and F&B sectors.
At the country level, listed companies in Qatar and Kuwait reported year-on-year declines in net profits of 3.3% and 48.9%, respectively, during the quarter. The declines were more than offset by stronger earnings across the rest of the GCC, said Kamco Invest, .
Saudi-listed companies recorded the largest increase in profitability, with net profits rising by $8.1 billion, or 22.2%, year-on-year to reach $44.4 billion. Companies listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai followed, posting annual profit increases of $1.5 billion and $0.8 billion, respectively.
On a quarterly basis, listed companies in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait reported lower profits, while Saudi Arabia recorded an almost two-fold increase in earnings. Qatar and Bahrain also posted double-digit quarter-on-quarter profit growth, stated Kamco Invest in its report.
Revenue growth remained broadly positive across the region. Aggregate revenues of GCC-listed companies increased 7.7% year-on-year to $353.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
Sequential revenue growth was more modest at 2.7%, reflecting a broad-based slowdown across most GCC markets amid the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, said the report.
Despite the strong quarterly earnings performance, the energy sector continued to weigh on overall profitability trends compared with historical levels, although stronger oil-related earnings in the quarter helped lift aggregate GCC profits to a new record high, it added.
