Slovenian companies continue to dominate the SEE TOP 100 per capita ranking but their lead is dwindling, with Croatia and Serbia slowly closing the gap. Almost half the entrants in the ranking are energy companies.
For a seventh consecutive year Slovenian energy company Petrol led the TOP 100 SEE companies per capita ranking, its revenue per capita rising to 1 646 euro in 2013, from 1 634 euro the previous year. Another proof that the company is strengthening its position is the fact that it moved one spot up, to the fourth position, in the SEE TOP 100 ranking in terms of total revenue in 2013.
Another Slovenian company, power conglomerate Holding Slovenske Elektrarne, followed with 828.8 euro revenue per capita, down from 979.4 euro it recorded in 2012. Slovenian retailer Mercator ranked third with 750.2 euro revenue per capita, an increase from 724.9 euro the previous year. In 2013 Croatian privately-held concern Agrokor signed a deal to take over 53.1% of Mercator in what was probably the biggest sale deal in the region that year. Prior to the arrangement, Mercator was struggling to get back to profitability, being forced to exit the Bulgarian and Albanian market and lay off a number of employees.
It comes as little surprise that companies from Slovenia, a country of around two million, continued to dominate the ranking. What seems to be more interesting is that their lead is shrinking. The number of Slovenian entrants in the ranking fell by eight within a year, to 32. The runner up – Croatia, a country with double Slovenia’s population – had 19 entrants in the ranking, up from 18 a year earlier.
Croatian oil and gas company INA ranked fourth with 725.2 euro in revenue per capita versus 805.2 euro in 2012. INA fell one spot in the ranking after a very difficult year, marked by a dispute between the Croatian government and Hungary’s MOL, its biggest shareholders, over the terms for the company’s management.
Energy utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda was Croatia’s second-best performer, ranking ninth with 400.8 euro in revenue per capita, down from 406.4 in the previous year. The company jumped three positions from the twelfth spot in the 2012 ranking.
With nine companies on the list each, Serbia and Bulgaria were tied for the third place. At number 17, oil and gas company NIS was the best Serbian performer in the ranking, with 317.7 euro revenue per capita, up from 296.9 euro. The company was ninth in terms of total revenue in the SEE TOP 100 companies ranking.
Car maker FIAT Automobili Srbija, perhaps the most notable newcomer in the ranking, was the second-best performer among Serbian companies, ranking 25th in terms of revenue per capita. Its revenue per capita jumped to 217.6 euro in 2013 from 64.8 euro in 2012. The company, a joint venture between the Italian car maker and the Serbian state, was Serbia’s top exporter in 2013 with 1.53 billion euro worth of exports.
Lukoil Neftochim Burgas remained the best performer among the Bulgarian companies, ending seventh on the per capita ranking.
Romania’s top performer, oil and gas group OMV Petrom, which is also the leader in the SEE TOP 100 companies ranking, ended 29th in terms of revenue per capita. Car maker Automobile-Dacia followed, making it to the 32rd spot.
Macedonia had seven representatives in the ranking, while Bosnia had six. Montenegro followed with five companies.
Oil refiner and trader Optima Grupa was the highest-ranked Bosnian company on the list. The Macedonian unit of UK-based specialty chemicals company Johnson Matthey was the top Macedonian performer with 302.4 euro in revenue per capita in 2013, up from 235.7 euro from the previous year.
Montenegrin state-owned energy utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore made it to the eighth spot in the ranking with 449.9 euro in revenue per capita, up from 426.6 euro in 2012.
Albania had four representatives in the ranking, of which Bankers Petroleum Albania, at the 40th spot, was the top performer. Its revenue per capita stood at 160.4 euro, up from the previous year’s 125.1 euro.
Gas utility Moldovagaz, the sole Moldovan company to make the cut, placed 86th with 77.5 euro in revenue per capita versus 97.5 euro in 2012.
In a breakdown by sectors, energy companies dominate the TOP 100 per capita ranking in 2013, mirroring the situation in the SEE TOP 100 companies ranking. Wholesale and retail companies ranked second, followed by telecoms.