Dubai earnings climb in 4Q as Abu Dhabi slips: Dubai-listed companies have fared well compared to their Gulf peers in 4Q 2024, reporting a 20.1% y-o-y growth in net income to USD 6.7 bn, according to Kamco Invest’s GCC Corporate Earnings report (pdf). Meanwhile, ADX-listed firms brought in USD 9.4 bn during the quarter — down 21.6% y-o-y and marking one of the sharper declines across the region.

Dubai’s growth was driven by banking, real estate, and utilities, which together contributed over 86.4% of the quarter’s aggregate earnings. Banking sector income rose 12.2% y-o-y to USD 2.9 bn, with Emirates NBD reporting FY 2024 earnings of USD 6.3 bn (+6.9%), followed by our friends at Mashreq at USD 2.4 bn (+3.3%) and Dubai Islamic Bank at USD 2.2 bn (+16.7%).

Real estate earnings climbed 19.7% y-o-y in 4Q to USD 2.4 bn, with Emaar leading the charge. The developer closed the year with USD 3.7 bn in net income, up 16.2% y-o-y on the back of strong operational performance.

Abu Dhabi’s 4Q drop was largely due to a 34.2% y-o-y fall in energy sector earnings, despite Adnoc Drilling posting a 26.2% y-o-y bottom line increase and Adnoc Gas ending the year with USD 5.0 bn in net income. Food and beverage firms also saw weaker results. On the flip side, banking helped cushion the blow, with 4Q income rising 10.9% y-o-y to USD 2.4 bn, supported by First Abu Dhabi Bank’s FY 2024 earnings of USD 4.6 bn (+4%).

Full-year snapshot: Dubai closed FY 2024 with USD 25.4 bn in net income, up 16.0% y-o-y. In Abu Dhabi, net income for 2024 came in at USD 36.2 bn, down 7.1% y-o-y.

THE REGIONAL PICTURE-

Aggregate net income for GCC-listed companies hit USD 57.3 bn in 4Q 2024, up 2.0% y-o-y but down 5.0% q-o-q — marking a three-quarter low. The energy sector was the biggest drag, with earnings falling 16.6% y-o-y to USD 25.7 bn, while the utilities sector swung to a USD 1.3 bn net loss, driven by deeper losses at Saudi Electricity Co.

Oman led the region in 4Q earnings growth, up 83.4% y-o-y, followed by Bahrain (+43.2%) and Kuwait (+37.1%). Dubai’s 20.1% gain outpaced both Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which saw more modest increases.

For the full year, GCC-listed companies recorded USD 241.1 bn in net income, down 1.4% from 2023. The steepest declines came from the energy, utilities, and food and beverage sectors. Banking was the region’s strongest performer, with earnings for the year rising 10.3% to a record USD 60.1 bn. Telecoms followed, with a 171% y-o-y surge in 4Q earnings, driven by one-off gains at Saudi Telecom Co.

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