Revealed: Gulf's most admired companies

1. Kingdom Holding Company (KSA)
Various
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz's private holding company - the largest company in Saudi Arabia - continues to go from strength to strength. A diversified investment company, Kingdom's interests include banking, real estate, telecommunications, broadcasting and media, entertainment, hospitality, computers and electronics, agriculture, restaurants, upscale fashion, retailing, supermarkets, tourism, travel and automotive manufacturing.

The business's most high profile arm, however, is perhaps, Kingdom Hotels Investments (KHI), which is listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange as well as the London stock exchange, and recently reported stunning preliminary financial results for 2006 - with revenues up 68% to US$99m, and gross profits climbing by 24% to US$14.3m.

KHI also boosted its portfolio of properties by 50% last year, and now holds 33 properties. The business also signed agreements to acquire and/or develop 11 hotels in nine territories in 2006.

Not content with simply sowing up the Saudi and Middle East markets, however, Prince Alwaleed has also proved himself a particularly canny operator on the international stage. His investments have included, among others, Amazon, AOL/Time Warner, Apple Computer, Boeing, Canary Wharf (London), Citigroup, Coca Cola, Compaq, Disneyland Paris, eBay, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Ford, Hotel George V (Paris), Gillette, McDonald's, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, News Corporation, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney, LBCI (Lebanese Broadcasting Company International), Danagas, and Samba Saudi American Bank.

2. Emirates Airline (UAE)
Aviation
From Auckland to Amsterdam, everyone knows Emirates. The Dubai-based airline is one of the great success stories in aviation industry, not just in the Middle East, but also across the world. Indeed, despite only being established in 1985, the airline has over 300 awards under its belt, from all across the globe. And this year has been no exception. Emirates was the clear winner of the Best scheduled airline to the Middle East/Far East category at the prestigious Travel Weekly Globe Awards 2007, widely considered to be one of the UK's most important travel awards ceremonies.

Meanwhile, executives and business professionals in Germany honoured Emirates as the best airline to the Middle East and Africa for the fifth time in a row. In picking up the Business Traveller award, Emirates scored top marks in in-flight catering, cabin crew, ground and handling services, and security - in short, every important facet held dear by discerning passengers.

2007 has already seen Emirates reap four awards in the US - best airline for first class at Global Traveller's GT Tested awards for 2006; best first class in the world and best business class to the Middle East from Business Traveller's readers; and best airline for flights to the Middle East in Executive Travel's 2006 Leading Edge awards readers' survey. Add to this Emirates' high-profile sponsorship agreements with top-level football, rugby, cricket and the F1 circuit - among others - and the airline is perhaps the Middle East's most recognised brand.

Finally, and as if to emphasise Emirates' rise, the airline will shortly take a prime piece of advertising space - reportedly worth close to US$3m a year - at London's Heathrow airport. A model Airbus A380 aircraft flying the carrier's colours will replace a model British Airways Concorde jet which has stood at the gateway to the airport for the past 16 years. The future, it seems, is red and white.

3. Gulf Finance House (Bahrain)
Banking & finance
Gulf Finance House (GFH) is strictly dedicated to the international Islamic banking industry. The company was established on October 16, 1999 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as an Islamic investment bank, and has a paid-up capital of US$65m, as well as an authorised capital of US$150m. Last week, GFH outlined a new five-year growth strategy for the region - a plan that will surely build on GFH's outstanding progress over the last 12 months. Net profit for 2006 was up 51% to US$212m, and the bank's assets stood at US$1.5bn at the close of the year. The bank's average return on equity was 41%, while return on paid-up capital was almost 100%, and the board of directors was able to approve a dividend payout of US$159.5m - 75% of the stated value of the paid-up capital.

4. Emaar Properties (UAE)
Property
In the Middle East's ever-changing skyline, there is one constant - the presence of one of the world's largest real estate companies, Emaar Properties. Listed on the Dubai Financial Market and part of the Dow Jones Arabia Titans Index, Emaar has several major real estate projects under various stages of development around the Middle East and beyond.

Its crown jewel is undoubtedly the under-construction US$20bn Burj Dubai Downtown development, which includes the Burj Dubai - which will be the tallest tower in the world when completed in 2008, and already has more floors than any other building on earth.

Further afield, the company has joint ventures and projects across the region covering India, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. International projects include the Eighth Gate in Damascus - the city's first master planned community - and the creation of the US$26.6bn King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia. The project is a mixed use development covering 55 million square metres of greenfield land, with a 35 km shoreline close to the port city of Jeddah.

Last year the developer announced plans to expand into the retail sector with investments of over US$4bn to develop approximately 150 malls in the larger emerging markets of the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and the Indian subcontinent. It has also diversified into other areas. It owns and manages Emrill, a joint venture with the UK-based Carillion, which provides property and facilities management services, holds 30% equity in Dubai Bank, and is the majority shareholder in Amlak Finance, one of the UAE's leading Islamic home financing companies.

Emaar has also made rapid strides internationally with the acquisition of America's ‘best builder', John Laing Homes, for US$1bn. The strategic move has firmly placed Emaar in the international spotlight, as has the company's agreement with Giorgio Armani to build and manage 10 Armani hotels and resorts across the world.

5. RAK Bank (UAE)
Banking & finance
The institution formerly known as the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah has taken great strides since its inception in the late 1970s. Just seven years ago, the bank numbered 60 staff, and had a total asset value of US$136m. Fast-forward to 2007 and RAK Bank boasts 1500 employees, 250,000 customers UAE-wide, and total assets of US$2.5bn.

The credit card sector has proved particularly lucrative - RAK Bank's Titanium card has snatched 23% of the UAE card market in just 10 months. The astonishing results have been achieved through a combination of providing customer focused assets and liabilities products, while at the same time maintaining very high service quality standards within the bank. In recognition of this effort, RAK Bank was declared one of the best retail banks for service quality in 2006.

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