With 42 companies totaling 43 billion Euro compared to 39 billion Euro in 2013, Romania brings a positive touch to the region’s gloomy outlook marked by uncertainty, according to the 8th edition of the Deloitte CE Top 500 report ranking the largest companies in 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Ukraine by revenues reported for the previous year and the most important banks and insurance companies by assets and by gross written premiums. The ranking comprises 500 Top companies, 50 Top banks and 50 Top insurance companies.
Romania has maintained its fifth place in the Deloitte CE Top 500 ranking and had more companies included than the year before. Also the country has 16 companies which improved their rankings in this year’s edition and nine new entries while 29 local companies reported increased revenues as compared to 14 in 2012. The biggest rise up (258 positions) was recorded by Ford Romania which jumped to 170th place.
‟The latest Deloitte CE Top 500 report confirms the economic growth Romania has registered but with the increasingly uncertain geopolitical situation that leaves little room for optimism, companies will have to continue to reinvent themselves through innovation in order to continue on their path to growth,” said Ahmed Hassan, Managing Partner Deloitte Romania. “Many companies will have to focus more on product/services efficiency and talent development to attract the investment they need and develop alternatives to their traditional goods and services. As revealed by the Deloitte CE Corporate R&D Report launched his summer, Romania has the lowest proportion in R&D spending of its GDP in the region and that will have to change for the country to improve competitiveness.”
“Against the CE quite austere landscape, Romania has recorded some positive moves, i.e. more companies growing than declining (29 out of 42) when compared to CE’s flat average, largest growth in absolute terms from 35 to 42 companies included in the ranking and the biggest jump in the ranking by 258 positions recorded by Ford Romania. “They are all encouraging signs and proof of the continuous growing capacity of Romania, whose economic performance has not yet matched its potential in size and population,” added George Mucibabici, Chairman&Public Sector Leader Deloitte.
Just like the previous year, Energy&Resources has remained the industry which contributed most to the country’s ranking with total revenues of 19.1 billion Euro followed by Consumer Business and Transportation with 12.1 billion Euro, Manufacturing with 8.1 billion Euro and Technology, Media and Telecommunication with 2.3 billion Euro.
"Energy remains an exciting but challenging sector for most CE economies including Romania", said Farrukh Khan, Audit Partner and Leader of CE Energy & Resources Industry Group in Deloitte. "While it is challenging in the medium term, the long-term outlook points towards increased but focused investment activity in the Energy sector. The role of policy makers is essential, particularly in ensuring a balance between the need to attract investment to the sector, address decarbonisation requirements, meet efficiency targets and ensure affordability."
Some changes in the ranking of the Top 10 Romanian companies have occurred though. While OMV Petrom secured its first place, Automobile Dacia has replaced Rompetrol Rafinare on the second. Kaufland came fourth while Renault which last year ranked 8th has left Top 500. Ford Romania occupies 9th place among Top 10 Romanian companies and was the company with the most spectacular rise up. New entrants came mostly from retail and automotive industry.
The ranking of the largest banks and insurance firms shows the same number as the year before: six banks and four insurance companies. With assets totaling 51.1 billion Euro, the sector registered a slight decrease from a 52.1 billion Euro the year before. Raiffeisen Bank and Banca Transilvania registered the biggest growth but Banca Comerciala Romana secured its first place.
“In the post-crisis phase of the current economic environment, banks face the challenge of developing and fine-tuning their value proposition by introducing new ideas including innovation through digital banking solutions. Banks are also adapting and paying attention to the changing needs of the consumers, therefore focusing on retention of profitable customer, furthermore exploring demand in the untapped segments of the market,” said Haris Hanif, Deloitte’s Senior Lead Advisor for Banking services. “During the growth phase banks have benefited from low hanging fruits, however, to extract maximum long-term value the focus is rightly shifting towards customer relationship, transparency, and new products/service offerings, but currently bringing limited organic growth. We do expect that M&A and Portfolio sales will also bring in-organic growth opportunities for banks that have the resources and capabilities to buy and successfully merge the acquired targets/portfolios.”
Highlights Deloitte Central Europe Top 500, 2014:
• Combined revenues of all the companies in the Top 500 Ranking amounted to 712 billion Euro, down by 0.4 % compared to 2012
• Flat average revenue increase of 0% was noted across the region, down from a far healthier 3.3% a year earlier
• The third edition in a row in which the number of companies report declining revenues grew
• The decrease in revenues was recorded by almost half of the 500 companies analyzed by Deloitte
• Manufacturing industry recorded an average growth of 2.9%
• The consumer goods sector grew by only 1.1% as compared to 4.8 % last year
• Technology, media and communication decreased by 4.9%
• Real estate and construction saw the biggest drop for the second year in a row: -15.7%
• Total assets of the 50 largest banks increased by 2.8%, against an increase of 6.6% in 2012
• 29 financial institutions reported an increase in assets compared to 37 the previous year
• Average decrease in gross written premiums for insurers amounted to 0.8%, which means a further decline compared to 2012
• The sum of gross written premiums declined for the companies included in the ranking by 3%, reflecting the stagnation in the sector
• Poland’s PKN Orlen, Hungary’s MOL and the Czech Republic’s Škoda Auto continue to occupy the first three spots
• The biggest movers: Ford Romania which jumped an extraordinary 258 places (to 170th) thanks to a nearly twofold increase in revenues to 1,097 million Euro; Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary, meanwhile, rose 156 positions to 74th following a 127% rise in revenues.
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© 2014 Deloitte Romania
