In continuation of the GCC awareness campaign organized by the GCC securities commissions the Capital Market Authority organized a virtual workshop on reading the financial statements with the participation of citizens and residents in the GCC states. The object of the workshop is to introduce to the participants the tools that help in reading the financial statements emphasizing on the key elements in the financial statements.

The workshop was organized due to the importance of the financial statements in displaying the financial performance of the companies listed in the stock exchange whereas knowing reading the statements is key to investment awareness as sound method for making investment decision in any of the listed companies, and the workshop was part of a package of specialized awareness programs in reading financial statements in October.

The workshop was presented by Ghadeer Mohammed Ridha Hassan, Portfolios Manager, United Securities. The workshop talked a number of topics on the concept of financial statements and their importance besides acquainting the participants with the four pillars of financial statement namely the income statement, financial position, cash flow statement and statement on change in equity.  Each of the statements was explained and their key components to analyze to find out the position of the company and how to benefit based on the investment strategy of each investor.

It is worth to note that the GCC awareness program conducted by the CMA in the past two months focused on two main topics, the role of the capital market in the national economy and how to read the financial statements during the period from beginning of September to end of October. Awareness material were distributed to acquaint the community with the importance of the capital market as a source of financing for huge development and investment projects and the financing features of the capital markets whether to the issuers of securities or the investor.