RIYADH: Saudi Arabia\u2019s stc Group has emerged as the largest listed telecom operator in the Middle East and North Africa, with a market capitalization of $57.7 billion as of Jan. 28, according to a Forbes analysis. The ranking places stc ahead of UAE\u2019s e&, the Kingdom\u2019s Etihad Etisalat, also known as Mobily, Qatar\u2019s Ooredoo Group, and UAE\u2019s Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., which round out the top five telecom firms in the region by market value. The combined capitalization of these five companies stood at $132 billion, representing 84.7 percent of the total market value of the 16 publicly listed telecom operators in the region. stc\u2019s share price rose 2 percent year on year to SR43.3 ($11.6) as of Jan. 28. On Feb. 2, the stock gained 0.34 percent to trade at SR43.65 as of 12:30 p.m. Saudi time.
\nThe company posted a net profit of SR11.23 billion in the first nine months of 2024, marking a 2 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to Saudi Exchange data.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s financial arm, STC Bank, recently secured a non-objection certificate from the Saudi Central Bank to commence operations, becoming the first licensed digital financial institution in Saudi Arabia. The approval aligns with the regulator\u2019s push for digital transformation and enhanced competition in the banking sector while ensuring financial stability.<\/p>\n
Forbes said that stc\u2019s Saudi mobile subscriber base grew 7.9 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2024, reaching 27.6 million, while fixed-line subscribers rose 2.3 percent to 5.7 million. In contrast, stc Kuwait saw its mobile subscriber base decline 4.2 percent to 2.3 million by the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia\u2019s stc Group has emerged as the largest listed telecom operator in the Middle East and North Africa, with a market capitalization of $57.7 billion as of Jan. 28, according to a Forbes analysis. The ranking places stc ahead of UAE\u2019s e&, the Kingdom\u2019s Etihad Etisalat, also known as Mobily, Qatar\u2019s Ooredoo Group, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-459217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n