Coface CEE Top 500: Romania’s major companies saw progress in both turnover and profit in 2013

The most important players in the local market included in Coface’s annual study on the Top 500 companies in Central and Eastern Europe have recorded an average growth by 6.3 percent in terms of turnover and by 3.3 percent as regards profit, according to the credit insurance company.

In spite of fewer companies listed in the CEE Top 500 compared with the 2012 edition which encompassed 54 players, Romania recorded a positive evolution considering the improvement in turnover, profit, as well as in recruiting. The domestic business environment supported better financial performance among companies in the market given Romania’s economic progress which led to a 3.5 percent increase in the GDP.

“It is encouraging for the Romanian economy that most of its biggest players had a positive evolution in terms of performance, with the results posted for 2013 showing 6.3 percent average growth in turnover and a net profit rate of 3.3 percent. Ranked by both turnover and number of companies, the oil and gas sector leads the classification for the whole region and for the Romanian companies, with energy supply, automotive and retail sectors completing the podium of the best performing fields of activity”, says Constantin Coman, Country Manager, Coface Romania.

Overall, 2013 was quite challenging for the major players in the region due to declining exports and limited access to financing, nevertheless, the listed companies managed to stabilize their turnover, reporting a marginal increase by 0.2 percent to 644 billion euro, yet 5 percent higher over the results related to last year’s study.

Poland, Ukraine and Hungary are the best-ranked countries considering the number of companies included in the study conducted by Coface. Of the companies listed in this top, the main part of them operates in the oil and gas industry – 77 enterprises with cumulated turnover of 162 million euro. Thus, the number one of the Top 500 ranking remains PKN ORLEN from Poland, despite negative results in net profit and turnover. Energy suppliers come next, based on a turnover of 90 million euro, while the retail sector, though accounting for most of the employees (some 20 percent), was affected by subdued demand and declining household spending.

On the other hand, the construction sector was a flop, remaining a constraint in the region, feeding insolvency statistics in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The telecommunication sector and the mining industry are also among the negative performers, explains a Coface release.

The Coface CEE Top 500 ranks the 500 biggest businesses in the region by their turnover and additionally analyses further facts such as number of employees, the framework of the companies, sectors and markets.