By Nicoleta Banila
Romanian state-owned hydropower producer Hidroelectrica claimed the top spot in the ranking of the most profitable companies among the SEE TOP 100 entrants for 2020 for a second year in a row. Hidroelectrica’s return on revenue rose to 36.9% from 32.27% a year earlier. In 2020, the company sold 14.58 Twh of its own electricity production, 1.3% less than in 2019, while total electricity sales edged up 0.7%, to 15.96 Twh. In 2020, a two-year ban on the sale of state-held stakes in companies enforced by the government delayed the planned initial public offering (IPO) of Hidroelectrica. The IPO of a 10-15% stake in the company is expected to be the biggest in Romania’s history, seen fetching up to 1 billion euro. The company has in its portfolio 209 hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 6,482 MW.
The second place in the ranking was taken by another Romanian company – natural gas producer Romgaz – which increased its return on revenue to 30.43% in 2020 from 19.75% in the prior year. In 2020, Romgaz produced 4.519 billion cu m of natural gas, down 14% on the year, whereas electricity production almost doubled on the year, reaching 937 GWh.
Bulgarian nuclear power plant operator AETs Kozloduy fell to third place in 2020 from second place in 2019. The company’s return on revenue decreased to 21.62% in 2020 from 24.32% in the prior year. In 2020, the plant has achieved a record-high annual output of 16,625,765 МWh.
Unlike in 2019, when the biggest money-makers ranking was dominated by Romanian companies, 2020 ranking features three Romanian companies, three Croatian ones, two from Slovenia, one from Bulgaria, and one from Serbia.
Bulgarian crude oil refinery Lukoil Neftochim Burgas led the money-losing chart, as its poor performance was in line with its regional peers. The second most prominent money loser was Slovenia’s top power producer Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE), which turned to a 226.9 million euro loss in 2020 due to impairments of assets. Without impairment of assets, HSE would have achieved a net profit of 60.7 million euro. In 2020, HSE invested 43 million euro to ensure the reliability and safety of its production units. Rompetrol Rafinare is the third money loser in SEE for a second year in a row after its net loss widened to 132.6 million euro. The company attributed its negative financial result to an unprecedented volatility in the oil market and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on demand for petroleum products.
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Most profitable companies is a ranking of the top 10 companies with the highest return on revenue in SEE TOP 100. Return on revenue is calculated as net profit divided by total revenue, both in euro terms. To allow comparison, all local currencies have been converted into euro, using the central banks’ official exchange rates on the last working day of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Money losers is a ranking of 10 companies with the most significant losses in SEE TOP 100. To allow comparison, all local currencies have been converted into euro, using the central banks’ official exchange rates on the last working day of 2020 and 2019, respectively.