The second largest sector on the Top 100 after financial services, the 14 telecoms firms in the list range in size from Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat in 5^th position with a market capitalisation of almost $22bn to Saudi Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain Saudi Arabia) in 89^th place with a value of $2.4bn.

In between come firms from seven other markets across the region, including Dubai, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco and Qatar. Overall, operators from the countries surrounding the Gulf dominate the listings, accounting for 11 of the 14 stocks. The largest operator from outside the Gulf is Maroc Telecom, which has a market capitalisation of $11.2bn, making it the 16^th largest listed firm in the region.

Overall, six of the companies have managed to improve their position in the Top 100 this year while seven have fallen down the list. The best performer was the UAE’s second mobile network operator, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (Du), which climbed 16 places to reach 38.

At the other end of the performance scale was Zain Saudi Arabia, which dropped from 51^st last year all the way down to 89^th this year. The company continued to lose money in 2012, posting a net loss of SR1.7bn for the year on sales of SR6.4bn. In July it completed a $1.6bn rights issue, one of the largest ever such deals by a Saudi company, as part of a wider capital restructuring exercise to provide it with some financial stability.

There is just one new entrant among the 14 telecoms stocks, Iraq’s Asiacell, which can also claim to be the highest new entrant on the list this year in 42^nd place. The Iraqi market is one of the most promising in the region for mobile telecoms companies given the strong growth expected in the economy in the coming years. Indeed at least one more Iraqi operator is likely to enter the Top 100 next year, with Zain Iraq due to press ahead with listing its shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange later this year. The country’s third operator, Korek Telecom, is also expected to make its stock market debut in 2013, but may prove too small to gain entry into next year’s Top 100.

Among the companies relegated from the Top 100 list this year was Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (Mobinil) which was ranked at 75^th place last year. This year it is only the 109^th largest publically listed company in the region.