The Flagships in Eastern Europe Coface CEE Top 500 October 2010 CREDIT INSURANCE | FACTORING | INFORMATION | RECEIVABLES MANAGEMENT Contents 4 Coface Austria & Coface Central Europe 5 Methodology of the Study 6 CEE Top 500 Executive Summary 8 CEE Top 500 The Top Three Countries 10 CEE Top 500 The Ranking 18 CEE Top 500 Country Comparison: Ranks 4 to 13 26 Coface Contacts IMPRESSUM: Herausgeber: Coface Austria Holding AG, Stubenring 24, 1010 Wien Kontakt: www.coface.at, [email protected] Layout: Alex Bauer Communication Consulting Druck: Edelbacher Druck Ges.m.b.H., Eduardgasse 6, 1180 Wien IMPRINT: Wir haben die Coface CEE Top 500 mit höchster Sorgfalt erstellt. Publisher: Coface Austria Holding AG, Stubenring 24, 1010 Vienna Satz- und Druckfehler können dennoch nicht ausgeschlossen werden. Contact: www.coface.at, [email protected] Layout: Alex Bauer Communication Consulting Aus Gründen der leichteren Lesbarkeit wird auf eine geschlechtsspezifische Printed by: Edelbacher Druck Ges.m.b.H., Eduardgasse 6, 1180 Vienna Differenzierung, wie z.B. Mitarbeiter/Innen, verzichtet. Entsprechende Begriffe gelten im Sinne der Gleichbehandlung für beide Geschlechter. We have prepared the Coface CEE Top 500 with the greatest of care. However, typesetting and printing errors cannot be excluded. Welcome! On the safe road to successful business transactions. Credit insurance and professional risk management have We are well aware of our responsibility as experts. We work formed the core business of Coface ever since its founding. together with our qualified staff to continuously optimise our products and thereby meet the latest challenges of the Decades of experience on national and international markets business environment. as well as an extensive offering for a wide variety of target groups in the credit insurance sector have played a key role The further development of our products and our strategic in this worldwide top positioning. growth in Central and Eastern Europe strengthen not only our know-how but also our skills – and we pass these benefits Our goal is to create a strategic connection between our on to our customers. risk instruments, and use these links to develop specially designed solutions for the entire company lifecycle. Coface is a reliable partner for professional risk manage- ment. We offer a wide range of instruments and integrated Martina Dobringer solutions to pave the way for the success of your business Chairwoman transactions. Coface Austria & Coface Central Europe Coface Austria & Coface Central Europe CREDIT INSURANCE FACTORING INFORMATION RECEIVABLES MANAGEMENT Trend-setting for risk and opportunity management. More than 130,000 companies of all sizes in all branches rely on our services. We would be pleased to accompany you on your road to success. The cornerstone for the success of Coface Austria was laid rience as a source of information on the countries of Central in 1954. Our core expertise over these many decades has and Eastern Europe. remained the insurance of default risk for both domestic and expert receivables. Coface Austria wants to accompany you as a reliable partner and help you to reach a very special goal: your own. Rising export activity, above all to Central and Eastern Europe, has increased the importance of credit insurance, The economic environment is a focal point of continuous information and collection services. This development led to transformation. As the geographical market leader in 13 the founding of Coface Central Europe Holding AG in Vienna Central and Eastern Europe countries and Austria, we are during 1990. in a position to identify changes on the market at an early stage, to react to these changes and to take the necessary Today the customers of Coface Austria and Coface Central measures to always stay a decisive step ahead of future de- Europe are able to profit from more than 50 years of know- velopments. For us, success means remaining on the leading how in the field of credit insurance and 20 years of expe- edge. Our four integrated risk instruments – credit insurance, 4 factoring, information and collection services – make it possible for us to respond to the individual needs of our Methodology customers at any time. Our extensive network of know-how and our dynamic solutions can pave the way for safe and successful transactions. of the Study The proven, comprehensive approach taken by Coface is the compass that points the way. We are the only provider to offer integrated solutions for all aspects of credit risk management, and in this way help you to meet your business goals. Are you looking to increase the security of your business transactions? Coface Credit Insurance: Coface makes sure your busi- ness runs smoothly by helping you to prevent the loss of receivables. Our experts in countries throughout the world analyse the development of economies and companies. The well-known Coface rating systems provide an overview of the risks associated with deliveries and thereby stabilise the flow of goods and services – and if one of your customers becomes insolvent, Coface will provide compensation for up to 80% of the insured receivables. Are you looking to acquire state-of-the-art information? Coface Information: The credit standing of your customers and the reliability of your suppliers are decisive factors for The CEE Top 500 is a joint project by the Coface branch long-term success. Coface provides you with the necessary offices in Central and Eastern Europe. This ranking covers credit information for your business transactions based on the largest companies in the region – based on revenues our unique worldwide database with over 60 million data- for the 2009 calendar year – and was prepared in 2010 sets. for the second time. The study includes the following countries: Are you looking to save time and money? Coface Collection: Fast collection improves liquidity and Bulgaria • Croatia • Czech Republic • Estonia • Hungary safeguards profits. Our experts use their wide-ranging Latvia • Lithuania • Poland • Romania • Serbia • Slovakia expertise to provide you with support on all collectionrelated Slovenia • Ukraine issues. Coface also takes care of the time-consuming collec- tion measures – so you can concentrate on your business. The largest companies in each of the above countries (revenues ≥ EUR 120 million) were identified, whereby Are you looking to stabilise your liquidity? financial service providers such as banks, insurance com- Coface Factoring: Stable liquidity creates the necessary panies, leasing firms and brokers were excluded. In addi- flexibility for entrepreneurial decisions. Coface factoring provi- tion to revenues, the ranking of the CEE Top 500 includes des you with key support through the purchase of customer other key corporate indicators, e.g. profits, the number of receivables and immediate payment for up to 90% of the employees and the respective changes in relation to the outstanding balances. We also carry the risk of default for previous year. insured receivables 5 CEE Top 500 Executive Summary 2 4 Coface CEE Top 500: ESTONIA Number of Top 500 companies per country RUSSIA 7 9 ● 2009 ● 2008 LATVIA 16 18 LITHUANIA 142 161 BELARUS GERMANY POLAND 69 80 66 UKRAINE 43 CZECH REPUBLIC 32 17 SLOVAKIA FRANCE AUSTRIA 83 72 30 MOLDOVA SWITZERLAND 17 HUNGARY 14 17 48 SLOVENIA 17 ITALY ROMANIA CROATIA 6 6 BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA 6 SERBIA 18 MONTENEGRO BULGARIA In 2008 the flagships of Central and Eastern Europe were able to sail against the wind – but in 2009 they were overtaken by the economic crisis. Sharp drop in revenues. GDP growth only in Poland. 2008 was a year of growth for the top players in Central The CEE Top 500 mirrors economic development in the and Eastern Europe, but 2009 brought a 16.6% decline countries of Central and Eastern Europe, where the effects in revenues for the 500 largest companies in the region. of the economic crisis differed in 2009. The largest GDP Profits fell by 27%, or by nearly EUR 7 billion. The econo- decline was recorded by Latvia with -17%, followed closely mic crisis hit the automobile branch particularly hard with by Ukraine (-16%), Lithuania (-15%) and Estonia (-14%). a drop of almost 39% in revenues and the metal industry Economic development was substantially better in Serbia with a minus of 40%. In contrast, the transportation branch (-4%), the Czech Republic (-4.3%) and Slovakia (-4.5%). recorded sound growth – which was reflected in 11 new The only country in Europe to record positive results for entries in the CEE Top 500 ranking. 2009 was Poland, with a further 1.4% increase in GDP. 6 Hungary rallies, Poland number one. Major employers. It is therefore not surprising that Poland again had the A detailed analysis shows the importance of these major largest number of companies in the CEE Top 500 with a corporations for maintaining stability on the labour market total of 142 firms, despite a decline in relation to the previ- in Central and Eastern Europe. Despite a decline in reve- ous year. However, the sound performance of the leading nues, the number of employees in the CEE Top 500 rose companies in Hungary – with 83 firms in the Top 500 listing by 3.5% during the crisis year 2009. Over 2.5 million men – is also of special note. Hungary therefore ranked second and women – or 3.5% of the entire regional workforce – in the country comparison, notwithstanding a sharp drop were employed by one of the top players during the past in GDP during 2009. In contrast, the Czech Republic now year. The comparable figures for Slovenia and Hungary only has 69 companies in the CEE Top 500 and dropped show an impressive 10.1% and 8.9%, respectively, of the to third place in the ranking. Last place on the list is once working population (also see the graph on page 21).