ֳ

Outlook Report

Gulf Cooperation Council Corporates Outlook 2023

Mon 09 Jan, 2023 - 4:00 AM ET

ֳ’s Sector Outlook: Neutral The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) corporates sector outlook is neutral despite looming challenges surrounding Gulf economies such as potential global demand slowdown and inflationary pressures. ֳ expects GCC corporates to weather challenges in 2023. In addition, we expect oil price assumptions to benefit fiscal budgets and contribute to economic activities. Major GCC economies are focusing on investments in non-hydrocarbon sectors to limit budget volatilities to oil prices. Government-related entities (GREs) are set to be primary beneficiaries of this spending, as key contributors to economic growth and private sector job creation. We expect the oil and gas (O&G) sector to sustain stable performance in 2023 supported by scalability, strong cash flow generation and low costs. Investments in infrastructure and urban development projects will enable healthy activity in sub-sectors such as engineering and construction. The real estate sector is exposed to inflationary pressures and high costs of funding. Most ֳ-rated property real estate companies have low-yielding prime assets and long-dated maturities, enabling them to partially offset pressures on margins and valuations. Demand for housing will remain supportive of homebuilders’ business models. Homebuilders will be exposed to further working-capital swings and deteriorating margins in 2023.