Estonian companies are increasing, while Lithuanian and Latvian companies are decreasing, according to the latest ranking of the TOP-50 largest companies in the Baltic States, prepared annually by the international risk management company Coface. Although currently the number of Lithuanian companies on the list is more than half (27), a year ago there were 28 of them, and in 2021 - 32. The number of Estonian companies, on the contrary, is growing every year - 17 of them entered the list this year, last year there were 14, and in 2021 – 10. The number of Latvian companies remains the most modest - this year only 6 entered the ranking, while in previous years they entered 8 each.
Providing an assessment of the economic environment, Grzegorz Sielewicz, Coface's economist for Central and Eastern European countries, emphasizes that the economies of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were severely affected by the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as the neighboring country started a war. Consumer and industrial confidence have weakened, while rising commodity and capital goods prices and significant supply chain disruptions have pushed inflation to record highs within months. in 2022 The highest inflation among EU member states was recorded in the Baltic States, reaching 19,4 percent. annual average in Estonia, 18,9 percent. in Lithuania and 17,2 percent. in Latvia. Nevertheless, the resilience of the economy has been relatively good, as only Estonia in 2022 economic decline was recorded, reaching -0,5 percent. Other Baltic countries experienced a slowdown, but their GDP growth reached 3,4 percent. in Latvia and 2,4 percent. In Lithuania. Evaluating the riskiness of the Baltic countries' economies, Coface gave A4 (English, Reasonable) estimates to Lithuania and Latvia and a slightly higher A3 (English Satisfactory) to Estonia.
The first ten are made up of 9 Lithuanian and one Estonian company
This year, Orlen Lietuva is the leader in the Coface ranking again (1st place, last year it was 3rd, with a turnover growth of 2022% to EUR 77,12 billion in 7,6). "Vilnius Prekyba" came in second place (it was in 1st place last year, turnover grew by almost 17% to EUR 6,4 billion). This year also landed in third place "Maxima group" (last year it was in 2nd place, turnover grew by almost 15% to EUR 5,2 billion). In fourth place is "Ignitis grupė" (it was in 6th place last year, its turnover grew by 133,4 percent to 4,4 billion EUR). The fifth place this year is "Ignitis", which rose from last year's 20th place, and grew its turnover by almost 225%. up to 3,2 billion Eur.
The companies in the top ten are ranked as follows: in 6th place - the Estonian company "Eesti Energia" (up from 10th place, having grown its turnover by almost 69% to EUR 2,22 billion last year), in 7th place - "Koncernas Achemos grupė" (increased from 12th place, increased turnover by almost 83% to EUR 2,15 billion). As last year, Maxima LT remained in 8th place (turnover grew by almost 13 percent to EUR 1,98 billion). The 9th place in the list was also retained by "Willgrow" (previous name - "ME investment", turnover grew by almost 34% to EUR 1,94 billion). And in 10th place - "Linas Agro group", which rose from 17th place and grew its turnover by 101% last year. up to 1,9 billion Eur.
Turnover of Estonian companies grew the fastest, Latvian companies - the slowest
In total, the turnover of the 50 largest companies in the Baltic countries last year amounted to 74 billion. EUR is 44,3 percent. more than 2021 (EUR 51,3 billion), and the total earned profit grew even more (47,4 percent) to EUR 2,78 billion. EUR, compared to EUR 1,89 billion. EUR 2021
Lithuanian companies generated a total of 51,1 billion last year. EUR turnover - 43 percent. more than 2021 (35,7 billion EUR). Their total earned profit was down from $1,869 billion. EUR (2021) to 1,868 billion Eur. The turnover of the listed Estonian companies grew by 62% last year. up to 15,9 billion EUR, compared to 9,8 billion EUR 2021 A total of 169,11 million loss in 2021 replaced 622,4 million EUR profit in 2022 The turnover of Latvian companies grew by 20,3 percent last year. to 6,977 billion EUR (in 2021 it was EUR 5,797 billion), and the profit - 55 percent. up to 294 million EUR, compared to 189 million EUR 2021
The turnover share of Lithuanian companies included in the list reaches 69,1 percent, Estonian companies - almost 21,5 percent, and Latvian companies - 9,4 percent. The total profit earned by our country's companies (EUR 1,868 billion) is 67,2%, Estonian - 22,4%, Latvian - 10,6%.
The biggest profit - 555,49 million. Eur - earned by Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltic
According to the profit received in 2022, the largest companies in the Baltic States are ranked as follows:Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltic (EUR 554,49 million, 12th place in the ranking), Ignitis Group (EUR 293,4 million, 4th place), Eesti Energia (EUR 215,7 million, 6th place), Vilniaus Prekyba (EUR 207,33 million, 2nd place), Latvenergo (EUR 183,87 million, 11th place), Willgrow (EUR 134,44 million, 9th place),Bolt operations" (114,61 million EUR, 32nd place), "Maxima group" (104,4 million EUR, 3rd place), the Estonian company "Infortar" (96,12 million EUR, 19th place) and "Eesti gaas " (95,22 million EUR, 23rd place).
Estonian companies: 9 newcomers and the biggest leapfrogs Kasperwiki Laevaomanikud and Bolt Technology
In this year's "Coface" TOP - 50 largest companies in the Baltic States ranking, 5 Estonian companies improved their positions, 3 - worsened, and as many as 9 companies entered the list newly. In 6th place is "Eesti energia" (last year it was 10th, its turnover grew by almost 69% to EUR 2,2 billion). 17th place went to "Bolt Technology" (last year it was 42, turnover increased by 152 percent to EUR 1,3 billion). The newcomer to the ranking - the company "Infortar" immediately entered the 19th place, having grown its turnover by 155% last year. up to 1,05 billion Eur. This year, "NG Investeeringud" dropped to 20th place in the list, last year it was 16th, with a turnover growth of 6,6%. up to 1,04 billion Eur. Eesti gaas, whose turnover grew by 23 percent last year, also entered the list and immediately took 166rd place. up to 1,01 billion Eur.
Several old companies remained in the ranking - Enefit Power (24), Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp (30), Tallink Grupp (36), Tavid (39) and Kasperwiki Laevaomanikud (40), while new another seven companies - Orlen Eesti (26), MM Grupp (28), Bolt Operations (32), Aqua Marina (45), Olerex (47), AVH Grupp (48) and "Alexela" (50).
The breakthrough of Estonian companies is explained by the increased energy and fuel prices
The head of Coface Baltics, Mindaugas Sventickas, points out that out of all the three Baltic states, it is worth highlighting Estonia this year - this country's companies have entered the ranking the most.
"This is related to the significant increase in commodity prices in 2022, which has led to the growth of many energy and fuel companies. Only 4 of the newly listed Estonian businesses grew by less than 40 percent. pace, and 4 businesses grew by as much as 140 percent. and more. Since Estonia is the smallest of the Baltic markets, some of these businesses were significant, but not large enough to be among the 50 largest companies in the Baltic countries in previous years. After 2022 due to the effect of increased prices of raw materials, the mentioned companies were on the TOP-50 list, but if the prices fall, some of these companies will probably no longer be on the list next year, - says M. Sventickas. Among the new entrants, it is worth highlighting the business of the "Bolt" group of companies, whose impressive growth was due to even more impressive attracted funds from investors in 2022. at the beginning - more than 600 million EUR, giving the company 7,4 billion Evaluation of EUR. Among the three Baltic countries, Estonia stands out with a very strong start-up ecosystem - not one of these companies claims to enter the TOP-50 list in the future."
Latvian companies: energy and fuel businesses grew, positions of retail companies fell
This year, only 50 Latvian companies entered the TOP-6 largest Baltic companies ranking, which were in this ranking before. Only energy company "Latvenergo" (11th place, last year was 14th, turnover grew by almost 2022% to EUR 73 billion in 1,84) and "Orlen Latvia" (18th place, last year was 44th, growing turnover by almost 122) improved their positions. percent to EUR 1,1 billion). The places of other companies fell in the ranking: this year, "Elko grupa" came in 13th place (last year it was 7th, the turnover fell by almost 23% to EUR 1,4 billion), in 22nd place - "Rimi Latvia" (it was 15th, last year the turnover grew by 1,2% to EUR 1,03 billion), 25th - "Maxima Latvija" (was 18, increased turnover by 6,5% to EUR 975 million) and in 49th place - "Circle K Latvia" (was 48, increased turnover by 35% to EUR 623 million).
Only Lithuanian companies are in the top five largest employers
When evaluating companies according to the 2022 the number of jobs created, the largest employers included in the ranking are: "Vilnius Prekyba" (47018, number of employees increased by 8%), "Maxima grupė" (38256, decreased by 1%), "Willgrow" (21966, increased by 12%). ), "Maxima LT" (12006, decreased by 3%) and "Euroaphoteca" (7454, increased by 102%). Next, the largest employers in the ranking are as follows: "Maxima Latvija" (6371, decreased by 7%), "IKI Lietuva" (5876, decreased by 1%), "RIMI Latvija" (5581, decreased by 10%), "NG Investeeringud" (5368, decreased by 3%) and "Linas Agro Group" (5031, increased by 139%).
A total of 50 thousand people worked in the 220,7 largest companies in the Baltic countries last year. employees - this is 6,25 percent. more than 2021 (207,7 thousand).
The condition of the Baltic countries' farms will be directly affected by geopolitical risks and changes in global trade
Summarizing the economic situation, G. Sielewicz notes that although the economy of the Baltic countries has already returned to the pre-pandemic level, it is affected by new challenges. Sharp increases in the prices of energy and imported capital goods, lower household incomes and subdued business sentiment are reducing consumption and investment.
"On the other hand, this crisis was no longer as severe as the financial crisis in 2008-2009. Since then, the Baltic countries have actively invested in digitization, which has led to the growth of foreign direct investment, especially related to programming and other IT services. It seems that the IT sector was the least affected," says the Coface economist.
In the coming years, it is predicted that the Baltic countries' farms will continue to be affected by global economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
"Due to demographic changes, the tension in the labor market will continue, wages will grow steadily, and inflation will decrease. However, there is no shortage of challenges in the external environment either, says G. Sielewicz. - In Western Europe, which is the main export direction, weak economic indicators are recorded so far, which may improve in the coming 2024. However, this, in turn, depends on the situation in the world's largest economies, including JAV and China, which are experiencing limited economic activity. We have no doubt that the recovery of global trade would lead to better moods, and at the same time to the growing economic results of the Baltic countries."
According to Coface's revised assessment, 2,7 percent is forecast for Estonia next year. GDP growth, for Latvia - 2,9 percent, and for Lithuania - 3 percent.