Ljubljana, 28 May (STA) - The 300 largest Slovenian companies generated a combined EUR 41.7bn in revenue and EUR 1.7bn in profit last year, an increase of 13.5% and 21.4%, respectively, from the year before, shows a survey published by the newspaper Delo on Monday. The list is topped by energy company Petrol.
The 300 largest companies generated 44.4% of all revenue in the country or just over three percentage points more than in 2016.
Their combined profit accounted for 51.4% of total profit made in the country, which is ten percentage points more than in 2016.
The paper's TOP 300 list features the biggest exporters, large retailers and infrastructure companies. In total, they employed 134,774 people or 28% of all people working in the private sector last year. In 2016, the share was 26%.
Petrol generated EUR 3.8bn in revenue last year. It is followed by energy group Gen-I with EUR 2.5bn and car assembly plant Revoz with EUR 1.6bn.
Drug maker Krka finished fourth with EUR 1.3bn in turnover and retailer Mercator fifth with EUR 1.2bn, down two spots compared to 2016. The drop is attributed to the problems of its owner, Croatia's Agrokor.
In terms of profit, Krka topped the list with EUR 153.7m, followed by motorways company DARS (EUR 141.1m) and drug maker Lek (EUR 88.2m).
Despite a general improvement of the business environment, as many as 17 companies on the list posted a loss last year. Together they generated a loss of EUR 305m with Mercator contributing the most or EUR 207.3m.
Mercator was also one of the few big companies that cut the number of their employees last year. But with a workforce of 8,576 people, it remains the biggest employer in the country.
Postal operator Pošta Slovenije follows with 5,275 people, Krka is third with 4,673, and household appliance maker Gorenje and Lek follow with 4,429 and 3,569 people, respectively.
The list has been compiled based on data from annual reports submitted to the AJPES agency for public legal records.