Markets

Population burst bolsters Dubai’s listed companies

April 21, 2025, 11:06 AM

Dubai's growing population is aiding the growth of the emirate's banking, real estate and telecom sectors

Most profitable exchange in Gulf
Net profit up 16% in 2024
Abu Dhabi and Saudi both down

Listed companies in Dubai were on average the most profitable last year among the Gulf exchanges as the emirate’s banking, real estate and telecom sectors benefited from its expanding population.

Net profit at Dubai’s listed companies totalled $25.4 billion, up 16 percent compared with the year before, according to a report by Kuwaiti asset manager Kamco Investment.

The earnings helped the Dubai Financial Market index jump 27 percent last year, rallying further in 2025 to hit a 17-year high in February.

A subsequent sell-off, however – in part linked to a global sell-off of stocks due to world trade tensions – means that the index is down almost 2 percent in the year to date.

Earnings were gloomier elsewhere in the Gulf last year, Kamco data showed.

Abu Dhabi listed companies’ annual profits fell almost 7 percent to $36.2 billion and in neighbouring Saudi Arabia 3.2 percent to $160 billion.

The two, led by Saudi Arabia, are the biggest Arab exchanges by market capitalisation.

Oman and Bahrain also reported lower profits, while Qatar’s rose almost 9 percent and Kuwait’s 7.1 percent, according to AGBI calculations, based on the Kamco data.

In Dubai, annual earnings in the banking and real estate sector totalled $12.6 billion and $6.3 billion respectively, dwarfing those of other industries.

Telecom operator du was another standout, reporting a near 50-percent jump in annual profit.

The telecommunications, banking and real estate industries have all benefitted from Dubai’s expanding population, which is now close to 4 million, making it the most populous emirate in the seven member UAE federation.

Last year its population expanded by almost 6 percent and has almost doubled over the last 20 years, according to the Dubai government.

The slump in Saudi corporate earnings was largely due to the national oil producer Saudi Aramco. Lower oil prices and reduced production caused the state-run oil company to report a 13 percent drop in annual profit.

This year, international oil prices are down roughly 10 percent in the year to date on projections that global trade tensions will lead to lower economic growth and lower growth in demand for oil.

In contrast to Saudi Aramco, Saudi banks and telecom operators thrived last year.

Banks’ combined annual profits rose almost 14 percent to $21.2 billion, while those of the telecom industry jumped nearly 70 percent to $7.6 billion thanks largely to Saudi Telecom (STC) making a $3.4 billion gain from its sale of assets to the Public Investment Fund.

PIF, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund with assets close to $1 trillion, owns 62 percent of STC.