RIYADH: Companies listed on Saudi Arabia"s stock market reported 73 percent growth in their first quarter — the fifth straight quarter of positive results, driven by solid performance across most sectors. The Tadawul-listed companies profits rose to SR184.71 billion ($49 billion) in the first quarter, from SR106.83 billion in the year-ago period, according to data by argaam. Oil giant Saudi Aramco led the list of companies that reported a profit, followed by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, SABIC and Kingdom Holding. The growth was driven largely by improved performance in the energy, materials, and banks sectors, which increased by 80 percent, 52 percent, and 22 percent, respectively, compared to last year. The quarter saw 135 companies report profits, of which 13 turned profitable, 70 recorded profit growth, while 52 reported profit declines when compared with the first quarter of last year. Meanwhile, 50 companies experienced losses in the first quarter, of which 16 incurred losses, 21 deepened losses, and 13 trimmed their losses compared to quarter one of 2021.