Special report: MEED Top 100 - Region's biggest listed companies
- Published: 07 March 2008 12:08 GMT
- Author: Richard Thompson
- More by this Author
- Last Updated: 12 March 2008 06:44
MEED's analysis of the Middle East's top 100 publicly quoted companies by capitalisation shows that the 18-month-long correction in the Gulf's capital markets, which began in February 2006, has created some good opportunities for investors, if the authorities can restore confidence in the bourses.
This will be the year that regulators start to relax restrictions on foreign participation in the Gulf markets. And with price-to-earnings ratios in the exchanges remaining at relatively low levels, many listings on the Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar exchanges represent good opportunities as the region's markets build momentum.
But the optimism must be tempered with the knowledge that the authorities still have to implement many of the lessons from the 2006 crash. Regulators must ensure higher levels of transparency and corporate governance from the region's quoted companies, to help them raise capital on local exchanges.
If this is done, one of the biggest beneficiaries will be the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX). Despite the listing of the $15.1bn-capitalised DP World in November 2007, the DIFX continues to suffer from a lack of liquidity. But its recent deal with the US' Nasdaq exchange, combined with growing interest in the region, will act as a catalyst for activity on the market.
