by Emilia Atanassova
One year down the line and the picture looked quite different. All top three companies in 2010 were telcos and the sector had nine representatives in the league table. In 2011, only one remained among the biggest three – former leader Hrvatski Telekom – and the sector was down to five names.
Transportation, on the other hand, had no representatives in the 2010 rankings and not only did it place two in the 2011 edition but saw them snatch the top two positions. The most profitable SEE company last year was Croatian shipbuilder Brodosplit – Brodogradiliste, which achieved a veritable feat by reversing a 28.04% negative return on revenue in 2010 to 44.57%. The company’s revenues in 2011 surged by 130.90% to 466.5 million euro, while gross losses of 57.8 million euro made way for gross profit of 207.9 million euro. Serbian railway company Zeleznice Srbije AD (formerly JP Zeleznice Srbije) had a similarly auspicious year, delivering return on revenue of 23.78% compared to a negative 64.18% a year earlier. Its total revenue jumped by 96.19% to 511.1 million euro and the company exited 2011 with a net profit of 121.5 million euro against a net loss of 165.3 million euro in the preceding year.
The 2010 leader managed a very modest improvement in return on revenue, which stood at 23.13% versus 22.39% in 2010. Hrvatski Telekom wrapped up 2011 with total revenues of 1.04 billion euro, or 5.85% lower, and its net profit slipped from 252.4 million euro to 240.8 million euro. Telekom Srbija AD, Orange Romania SA, Vodafone Romania SA and Bulgaria’s Mobiltel EAD were the remaining representatives of the telecommunications sector, ranking respectively 4th, 7th, 11th and 20th.
The petroleum and natural gas sector held steady with three representatives, which were the same as in the 2010 rankings. Among them is the biggest SEE enterprise by revenue – OMV Petrom SA. The Romanian company finished at number six in terms of profitability, one place below another Romanian sector player – Romgaz SA. Naftna Industrija Srbije AD rounded off the trio of petroleum and natural gas companies on the list.
Other sectors that retained their level of representation were electricity (with Bulgaria’s AETs Kozloduy EAD, Croatia’s HEP-Operator Distribucijskog Sustava and Serbia’s Termoelektrane Nikola Tesla DOO ranked 10th, 16th and 19th respectively), pharmaceuticals (Slovenia’s Krka and Lek at numbers nine and 12 respectively), rubber/rubber products (Romanian Continental Automotive Products SRL in the 15th position) and wholesale/retail (Dedeman SRL of Romania at number 13).
Three new sector secured representation in the 2011 league table and they all had Romanian companies to thank for that. Construction entered the chart courtesy of Compania Nationala de Autostrazi si Drumuri Nationale din Romania SA, which landed at number 14. Metals joined the club through Alro SA (17th) and automobiles staged an appearance due to Autoliv Romania SRL (18th).
Most profitable companies
