Top 20 MEA banks by market cap, Q3'21

Saudi Arabia's Riyad Bank dropped three notches to ninth place in the list of 20 biggest banks by market capitalization in the Middle East and Africa as of Sept. 30, despite seeing a 1.89% quarter-over-quarter increase in the value of its outstanding shares to $21.59 billion, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The top five consisted of the same banks as in the previous quarter, with Saudi Arabia-based Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. retaining the top spot with a market cap of $81.71 billion following a 10.45% rise over the period. The Saudi National Bank — the resulting entity from the tie-up between National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group — and United Arab Emirates-based First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC also retained their rankings at second and third place, respectively, with market caps of $72.61 billion and $52.81 billion.

Qatar National Bank (QPSC) and Emirates NBD Bank PJSC completed the top five with market caps of $48.59 billion and $24.42 billion, respectively.

FirstRand Ltd. moved up two notches to place sixth, seeing a 20.38% increase in its market cap over the period to $24.12 billion. The South African bank rebounded in fiscal year 2021, posting a 38% yearly increase in normalized earnings attributable to ordinary equity holders of 19.03 billion rand.

National Bank of Kuwait SAKP, having a market cap of $22.73 billion, went up to eighth from ninth place, while South Africa-based Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. entered the list at No. 13 with a market cap of $14.02 billion.

Qatar Islamic Bank QPSC fell to 17th place from 14th despite a 5.55% rise in market cap on a quarterly basis to $11.85 billion. Meanwhile, Banque Saudi Fransi, Israel's Bank Hapoalim BM, Morocco's Attijariwafa bank SA and the UAE's Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC each slipped down a notch to place 14th, 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

As of Oct. 1, US$1 was equivalent to 14.89 South African rand.