Revenues of the 500 largest companies in Central and Eastern Europe went up by almost one fifth in 2008. However, we can already see the first signs of the crisis. Profits have been almost halved when compared to last year. Such conclusions can be drawn after reading the Europe 500 list, a list including the biggest companies in Central and Eastern Europe prepared for the third time by Rzeczpospolita and the consulting company Deloitte.
“Europe 500 is a very important and meaningful enterprise. In the present situation, what is really precious are the initiatives showing the strength and the potential of Polish companies,” said the honorary guest to the presentation, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Waldemar Pawlak.
Among the 500 local business leaders, there were 188 Polish companies, 12 more than a year ago. They also account for over one third of total revenue. “We should be all proud not only of the fact that PKN Orlen has turned out to be the biggest company in this region for the third time, but also because that there are as many as five Polish companies among the top ten companies in this list,” said Paweł Lisicki, chief editor of Rzeczposplita.
We also have other reasons to be proud – PZU is even further ahead of its competitors in the insurance sector than it used to be. Among banks, first place belongs to the Hungarian OTP, which has replaced the Czech CSOB and not to a bank located along the Vistula river. Bank Peako, which was in second place last year, has fallen to the fourth place due to lower value of its assets.
Among the top companies in the Europe 500 list there have been quite significant changes. The Ukrainian metallurgical company MetInvest, thanks to an increase of its revenues by 60.5%, to 9.1 billion Euro, has jumped from 27th to 3rd place. On the other hand, the raw-material corporation Naftogaz has increased its sales by 49.7%, to 6.6 billion Euro and has jumped 35 positions to 6th place. The last debutante among the top ten is the Polish branch of the Metro Group, the owner of the Makro, Real, Media Markt and Saturn networks.
