Retailers shine as personal income growth outpaces inflation.
For a third consecutive year, Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom topped the SEE TOP 100 ranking of the biggest companies in Southeast Europe in 2023, published by SeeNews today.
OMV Petrom held onto the top spot despite a 42% decrease in revenues to 7.7 billion euro in 2023.
SEE TOP 100 ranks the biggest companies in Southeast Europe by total revenue in 2023. The publication also features rankings of the biggest banks and the biggest insurers in the region.
Fifty-three Romanian companies made it into the ranking.
The winner of the SEE TOP 100 banks ranking is also a Romanian lender – Banca Transilvania.
Following a year of record high gains, in 2023 the revenues of the biggest companies in Southeast Europe dropped as energy markets cooled off but consumer prices remained high, the SEE TOP 100 annual ranking by business news agency SeeNews shows.
The combined revenue of the top one hundred companies in Southeast Europe fell to 198.4 billion euro in 2023, from 223.9 billion euro booked by the region’s biggest companies a year earlier. Almost half of the entrants in the ranking reported lower revenues. The threshold for entry into the ranking slid lower for the first time since 2020 – the year the Covid pandemic broke out.
The combined profit of the region’s biggest companies, however, edged up to 10.5 billion euro, from 10.3 billion euro.
The total revenue of the biggest oil and gas companies in the ranking shrank by a fifth in 2023 as global commodity prices moderated but the sector remained the largest revenue generator in the region.
Last year was especially good for retailers and wholesalers. Revenue growth came primarily on the back of a rise in disposable incomes that outpaced inflation. As heightened price sensitivity changed consumer habits, retailers with competitive pricing models emerged as top performers.
The full SEE TOP 100 publication is available for download here.