Romanian companies gain bigger slice in Deloitte's Top 500 CEE

More Romanian companies have made it into this year's Central Europe Top 500 created by Deloitte than in last year's. As many as 38 Romanian companies have been included in the top, with combined revenues of EUR 37.5 billion at the end of last year. Romania now has an 8 percent share of the top 500 companies and ranks 5th among the region's countries, after Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Ukraine. Moreover, three Romanian companies have made it to the top 50. Petrom ranks 14th, Rompetrol, 24th, and Automobile Dacia, 42nd. Three Romanian companies have moved up the ladder, with Rompetrol jumping from the 70th position to the 24th this year, and Automobile Dacia went up eight spots, to the 42nd place. Several new Romanian companies have made into the top: Electrica, on the 134th position, Enel, on 195th, Renault Industrie Roumanie, on the 343th spot, Grup Servicii Petroliere, ranking 365th, Cosmote, on the 426th position, JTI productie – 475th, Cargill Agricultura - 481st and Continental Automotive, on the 491st spot. “This year findings reflect a business community focused on increasing revenues,” said George Mucibabici, Chairman of Deloitte Romania. “Financial performance has been affected by the crisis of 2008 and 2009, two years when companies focused on cutting corporate fat, to create more streamlined and efficient organisations. As a result, almost 80 percent of Central Europe’s 500 largest companies earned higher revenues in 2010 than the year before, when just 16 percent did so,” he added. The top of the largest companies in Romania is still dominated by the Energy & Resources industry, with 14 companies, followed by Consumer Business and Transportation (12), Manufacturing (5), Technology, Media and Telecommunication (6) and Life Sciences and Healthcare (1). In two separate rankings of the largest 50 banks and insurance firms respectively, Romania is being represented by two banks (compared to four, last year) and five insurance companies (similar to 2010, but with two new entries). “Over the past years, Romanian banks have been rather prudent on initiating massive enforcement of their collaterals, largely due to the lack of perspective to recover their investments in this manner at a satisfactory level,” said Andrei Burz-Pînzaru, Legal Partner with Deloitte Romania and Financial Services Industry Leader. “This was also good in a way for the business environment, by giving companies more time and avoiding destruction of economic value. However, it remains to be seen for how long this will keep on going as the new phase of the crisis unfolds,” he went on. Deloitte Central Europe Top 500, now in its fifth edition, is carried out in 18 countries every year and ranks companies by revenues from sales reported for the previous year. The combined revenues volume of all companies in the top, EUR 612 billion, has still to reach the pre-crisis level of EUR 665.7 billion.