H&H Webranking Gulf Cooperations Council

Thursday, October 08, 2009

The real estate giant EMAAR of UAE takes the top position in the first ever H&H Webranking GCC. Second place goes to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company and ZAIN rounding up the top three best performers. Bahrain as a country has the highest average score in the region, closely followed by United Arab Emirates.

For the first time ever, H&H Webranking has included the Gulf region in its yearly survey of corporate website performance. The 85 largest companies in 5 countries, measured by market capitalization, are included in the ranking.

“As the number of listed companies in the Gulf region has increased substantially during the last years and the region is gaining more international attention, we have chosen to include GCC to the H&H Webranking. Any company that want to compete on an equal footing for international investor attention needs to address good online communication. We are curious to see the development of GCC corporate websites over time”, says Staffan Lindgren, Executive Partner of H&H.

“EMAAR wins the 2009 H&H Webranking in the Gulf region as their corporate website best fulfils the requirements of the target groups for corporate websites. EMAAR’s website has a well developed Investor Relations section which offers information that is highly requested by the capital market, such as presentations, financial figures and a lot of share-related information” says Staffan Lindgren, Executive Partner of H&H.

GCC outlook

The rankings show that some of the Gulf region companies use the online medium well for financial disclosure. The spread of the results within the region range from 0 to 34.25 points, which shows that the level of website performance differs a lot among the companies.

Throughout the years of the H&H Webranking survey, we have added new regions and countries. We have found that these regions often improve quite rapidly after the first year. Our belief is that Gulf companies will start to adapt the international norms and standards of corporate communication and we hope that H&H Webranking can contribute to this development in a positive way.

Country by country

Bahrain is the highest average scoring country in the Gulf region, although, there is no significant difference between the countries.
Comparing the different sections in the survey, it is within General Company Information, Technology and Front page, that the Gulf companies show strong result. Examples of areas with room for improvements are Financial Information, Corporate Governance and Website Calendar.

Bahrain

The best Bahrain corporate website belongs to Gulf Finance House, with a score of 26.5 points. On the second place we find Al Baraka Banking Group with 26 points and Arab Banking Corporation with 25.5 takes the bronze together with Invest Corp Bank. Bahrain has the highest average score in the Gulf region. The 10 largest companies in Bahrain, measured by market capitalization, are included in the ranking. H&H Webranking Bahrain - results

United Arab Emirates

EMAAR with the score of 34.25 takes the top position in United Arab Emirates. Second place goes to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (33.75), and Sorouh Real Estate (33) takes the bronze. United Arab Emirates as a country has the second highest score in the Gulf survey. The 33 largest companies in United Arab Emirates, measured by market capitalization, are included in the ranking. H&H Webranking United Arab Emirates - Results

Kuwait

ZAIN with a score of 33.5 takes top position in the H&H Webranking 2009 Kuwait. Second place goes to National Bank of Kuwiat (27) and The Public Warehousing Company (23.75) rounding up the top three best performers. The 10 largest companies in Kuwait, measured by market capitalization, are included in the ranking. H&H Webranking Kuwait - Results

Qatar

Al Khalij Commercial Bank grabs first place in Qatar with a score of 28.75, while second and third place goes to Qatar Telecom (28) and Commercial Bank (23) respectively. The 12 largest companies in Qatar, measured by market capitalization, are included in the ranking. H&H Webranking Qatar - Results

Saudi Arabia

SABIC wins the H&H Webranking 2009 Saudi Arabia with a score of 30.5, followed by Dar Al Arkan and SABB with both a score of 24. The bronze goes to ZAIN KSA and STC with a score of 22.25. The 20 largest companies in Saudi Arabia, measured by market capitalization, are included in the ranking. H&H Webranking Saudi Arabia - Results

Sector outlook

Gulf Finance House (26.5) has the highest score in the General Financial sector. Second place goes to Al Baraka Banking Group (26) and Arab Banking Corporation (25.5) takes the bronze.

Al Khalij Commercial Bank (Al Khaliji) with a score of 28.75 receives the highest score in the Bank sector. On second place we find Emirates NBD (25.75) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi 24.75 on the third.

ZAIN with a score of 33.5 takes the top position in the Telecommunication sector, while second place goes to Qatar Telecom (28) and third place to Du (22.75).

More information;

Read the article in Business Intelligence Middle East

Press release in PDF