Southeast Europe's top companies book record-high sales growth in 2022

The biggest companies in Southeast Europe (SEE) booked combined sales of 223.9 billion euro in 2022, according to the 16th edition of the ranking. Their total profit reached 10.3 billion euro, up by 61% as compared to the profit of the entrants in the ranking a year earlier.

The new edition of SEE TOP 100 is ranking the biggest companies in SEE by total revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. It covers non-financial companies registered in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.

Romania’s largest oil and gas producer, OMV Petrom, majority-owned by Austria's OMV, retained its top position in the region for a second consecutive year. Its turnover more than doubled year-on-year in 2022, reaching 13.4 billion euro, while profit more than trebled, to 2.1 billion euro.

As energy security issues triggered by the war in Ukraine topped the global agenda, oil and natural gas companies recorded an exceptionally good year, the ranking showed. The combined sales of their representatives in the ranking came in at 87 billion euro, twice as much as the turnover of the second biggest sector, electricity. More than a quarter of all companies in the ranking operate in the oil and gas sector, generating 39% of the total revenue of the entrants. Profits also more than doubled, reaching 4.4 billion euro, despite decisions by some governments to cap fuel prices and introduce tax on windfall profits.

For their part, electricity companies recorded a revenue growth rate of 85%, replacing wholesale and retail as the second largest sector in the region.