Southeast Europe’s biggest companies grow sales in double digits in 2021 - SEE TOP 100

The top one hundred companies in Southeast Europe closed 2021 with combined revenues of 153.8 billion euro ($149.6 billion), 28% higher than the total revenue of the entrants in the ranking a year earlier and surpassing by far the 129.3-billion euro level reached in 2019, according to the ranking.

The rise in their profits was even more remarkable - by 83% to 6.4 billion euro.

SEE TOP 100 is an annual ranking of the biggest companies in Southeast Europe by total revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. It covers non-financial companies registered in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.

The oil and gas industry emerged as the top performer in terms of both revenues and profit, replacing the 2020 winner — the wholesale and retail sector. The oil and gas companies in SEE TOP 100, which a year earlier saw their combined revenue shrink by a quarter as a result of the economic slump, travel bans and low commodity prices, increased their aggregate revenue by 54% in 2021, while profits more than doubled. Twenty-one oil and gas companies entered the 2021 ranking.

After a seven-year break, Romania’s largest oil and gas producer OMV Petrom returned to the top of the ranking, ousting automobile manufacturer Dacia. OMV Petrom booked a 60% increase in sales to 6.0 billion euro, well ahead of second-placed Automobile Dacia with 4.4 billion euro. In terms of profit, it ranked second with 546.3 million euro.

The region's leader by profit is Romanian hydropower producer Hidroelectrica. The company ended 2021 with a profit of 614 million euro and a 45% return on revenue on the back of a surge in electricity sales. The company is preparing for an initial public offering next year, expected to be the biggest in Romania’s history.

($= 1.0282 euro)