Over half of Southeast Europe’s (SEE) top 100 businesses by revenue recorded in 2018 were Romanian, with Automobile-Dacia – a unit of France’s Renault – maintaining its leading position in SEE, according to regional business intelligence provider SeeNews’ annual TOP 100 SEE ranking, published today. Romanian companies within the ranking totalled 54, of which four made it into the top 10.
Automobile Dacia was the biggest company in SEE for a fifth year in a row, followed by Slovenian energy company Petrol and three other Romanian companies, all from the oil and natural gas sector, consecutively ranked third to fifth: OMV Petrom, OMV Petrom Marketing and Rompetrol Rafinare.
Romania by far dominated t TOP 100 SEE company ranking with its 54 entrants – its runner-ups were Serbia with 13 companies, and Slovenia with 12. Bulgaria and Croatia were represented with 10 and 9, respectively, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Macedonia had an entrant each. This year, no Albanian and Moldovan companies made it into the ranking.
The same companies as last year occupied the top 10 positions in the ranking, accounting for 27% of the SEE top 100 companies’ combined revenue. The countries represented within these top 10 spots were Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.
Romanian companies also dominated the top 10 profitability ranking for the region with five entrants – Hidroelectrica, Romgaz, OMV Petrom and Continental Automotive Products taking third through to sixth place, respectively, and Dedeman at ninth place. Serbia’s Aerodrom Nikola Tesla and Serbia Zijin Bor Copper topped the ranking, respectively emerging as the first and second most profitable companies in SEE. Serbia had two entrants in the profitability ranking, and Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia – one each.
The region’s top 100 companies marked double-digit growth in both profit and revenue in 2018, with profit growth outpacing revenue growth for a second year in a row. The 11% revenue hike brought in a record-high 126.3 billion euro, whereas profit amounted to 5.7 billion euro, up by 17%. Both profits and revenues, however, grew at a slower pace than a year earlier, when they recorded increases of 13% and 22%, respectively.
SeeNews’ sector analysis shows that petroleum and natural gas, wholesale and retail, electricity, automotive, metals production and telecommunications were the leading industries in SEE.
The automotive sector recorded yet another successful year, with total revenues rising 13% to 18.4 billion euro. This is fully in line with the industry’s performance over the past decade, which positioned it as a regional frontrunner in terms of contribution to the GDP, production capacity increases, investment volume and job creation.
Agriculture emerged as the sector with the second biggest revenue increase – at 29%, and thanks to four Romanian companies which made it into the ranking. Yet, despite its potential, the sector remained underrepresented in TOP 100 SEE.
TOP 100 BANKS in SEE
Romania’s Banca Transilvania topped the TOP 100 BANKSranking by total assets, followed by Croatia’s Zagrebacka Banka and the Romanian Banca Comerciala Romana. Romania was best represented in the top 100 banks ranking with 19 banks, followed by Bulgaria with 16 and Serbia with 15. There were five new entrants this year – three from Kosovo, and one each from Albania and Moldova.
The combined net profit of the top 100 SEE banks in 2018 reached a record-high 4.467 billion euro, well above the 3.524 billion euro in profit of the top 100 lenders in 2017.
TOP 100 INSURERS in SEE
Slovenia’s Zavarovalnica Triglav led TOP 100 INSURERS ranking, followed by another Slovenian insurer – Zavarovalnica Sava, and Croatia’s Osiguranje. Romania’s City Insurance came fourth in the ranking, up two places compared to a year ago. Three more Romanian insurers made it within the top 10 in the region: Allianz – Tiriac Asigurariat at seventh place, Omniasig Vienna Insurance Group at eighth, and Omniasig Vienna Insurance Group at 10th.
Bulgaria topped the ranking with 19 companies, demonstrating the strong competition on the local market. Romania featured with 18 insurers, followed by Croatia and Slovenia with 14 each.
Steady, consumption-led economic growth and increasing wages brought record-high sales to the top companies in Southeast Europe in 2018, giving them room to continue expanding their operations, SeeNews’ analysis showed. An abundant flow of foreign direct investment complemented by EU funds, easily available low-rate bank funding, and the solid economic performance of Western Europe – the SEE region’s main trading partner – further contributed to growth.
The volume of M&A deals in the region also surged to an all-time high and consolidation continued at a brisk pace, while the biggest companies in the region invested heavily in capacity, green technologies and innovation, and continued to seek ways for economies of scale. Chinese investments continued to pour into the region, as Serbia absorbed the bulk, the 2019 edition of TOP 100 SEE reports
In addition to rankings and industry analyses, TOP 100 SEE’s current edition features interviews with business leaders and leading investors in the region, including, among others, Christophe Dridi, Managing Director of Automobile Dacia and Groupe Renault Romania, Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, Igor Stebernak, member of the management board of Slovenia’s Petrol, Elisabeth Stadler, CEO of Vienna Insurance Group, Tim Kurth, CEO of Aurubis Bulgaria, and Charlotte Ruhe, Managing Director for Central and Southeast Europe at EBRD.
For more information and the full 2019 rankings visit TOP 100 SEE.
About TOP 100 SEE
Now in its 12th annual edition, TOP 100 SEE ranks the 100 largest companies in terms of total
revenue, the top banks by total assets, and the largest insurers by gross premiums operating in
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro and Croatia, based on data from national trade registers, stock exchanges, government and corporate websites, sectoral regulatory bodies, local business information providers, as well as companies.
The publication also features additional rankings, including comparisons to the previous year, the
top 10 most profitable and dynamic companies, the biggest losses, the most successful industries, and the companies with the highest earnings per capita, as well as industry analyses and interviews with leading companies.
TOP 100 SEE is published by business intelligence provider for Southeast Europe SeeNews.
For more information, please visit www.top100.seenews.com.
About SeeNews
SeeNews is Southeast Europe’s premier independent business intelligence provider, delivering a
360-degree perspective on the region to help businesses make informed decisions.
With more than 15 years on the market, it is a one-stop shop for all business intelligence needs.
SeeNews’ coverage spans an unrivalled 123 industries and sectors, 11 countries, and 800,000+
companies, offering breaking news, insightful commentary and in-depth market research and
analysis via an integrated online platform. As a strategic partner to businesses, it tailors its offering to clients’ individual needs via premium research-on-demand reports and a bespoke newsletter service.
SeeNews is also the publisher of TOP 100 SEE – Southeast Europe’s first and only annual business ranking of the biggest companies in the region, which marks its twelfth edition in 2019.
For more information, please visit www.seenews.com.
