Kuwait - Mubasher: The persisting lower oil prices, liquidity squeeze and sedate global growth led to the decline in GCC corporate earnings during the first half of 2016, according to a recent report by Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz".

Corporate earnings in H1-16 in the GCC fell by 8% year-on-year to $32.8 billion, with the exception of Oman, which registered a 7% growth, all other countries recorded negative results.

Only the telecom and financial services sectors posted positive earnings growth, as contribution from international markets and favorable exchange movements supported their bottom line, the report showed.

Earnings in the banking sector remained flat while earnings in commodities, real estate and construction related sectors contracted as the fall in oil prices is increasingly felt across non-oil sectors, it added.

For the full year of 2016, Markaz estimates total corporate earnings in the GCC to fall by 4%.

KSA

Saudi Arabia witnessed a 7% year-on-year decrease in net earnings in H1-16, as earnings declined for all sectors except financial services, with the highest decline in earnings witnessed in the real estate and conglomerate sectors, by 50% and 36% respectively.

UAE

Earnings for UAE companies witnessed an 8% decrease in H1-16, as the real estate sector declined 4%, Markaz expects UAE corporate earnings to fall by 3% in 2016.

Kuwait

Similarly Kuwait witnessed a decline of 6% in net earnings in H1 2016, with commodities, real estate and financial services declining by 11%, 23% and 53% respectively. Banking and telecom sectors were the only exceptions in Kuwait as their earnings bucked the declining trend.