With the new issue comes the 1000 largest – the most accurate overview of the previous business year

This year, Lider’s publication '1000 largest' – the most accurate and relevant overview of the previous business year has returned to its usual timing, before summer. For the past two years, due to the pandemic and earthquakes, the government extended the deadline for submitting annual financial reports by two months, until June 30. This year we have returned to 'normal', reports were submitted to the Financial Agency by the end of April and we hope that this deadline will remain in effect in the coming years.

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And in this year’s edition, the sinusoidal effect of delays in the phase is felt. It all started in 2020, when in the midst of the pandemic, after a total lockdown and the devastating Zagreb earthquake, the results of the best business year until then, 2019, were published amid the greatest pessimism. The following year, the propulsive 2021, we published catastrophic results from 2020.

Now you have before you a publication that records the business from last year, the best in history, but the accounts of business successes are being settled in a time of total uncertainty.

In such circumstances, we view even last year’s excellent results with reservation. GDP grew last year by a record 10.4 percent, more than it fell the previous year (8.4 percent), so we welcomed the end of 2021 with a GDP 1.2 percent higher than it was in 2019. This growth was enabled by entrepreneurs, who increased their companies’ revenues by 19 percent. Exactly in line with this, the 1000 largest operated, who did not outperform the rest of the economy last year, but at least did not lose to it.

The uniqueness of this year’s '1000 largest' is that we are publishing business data, in addition to the usual kuna, in euros simultaneously. This is how we prepare for entry into the eurozone. From January 1, 2023, not only the prices of bread, milk, coffee, meat, clothing, and energy will be expressed in euros, but also the revenues and expenses of companies. We will publish business results next year in euros. Until then, we will need to get used to the new currency and new business ratios.

And here is the regular issue that brings the following stories….

Economic analysts sense it, and entrepreneurs already feel it in their business. Some entrepreneurs believe that we are already in a recession, but no one has the courage to officially declare it first. The recession has (not) yet hit the economy, but it is only a matter of time. Macroeconomists are more optimistic in this situation than entrepreneurs, but far from being optimistic. The fundamental difference is their perspective. Macroeconomists look through the prism of money, or capital, liquidity, interest rates, GDP, and other statistics, while entrepreneurs interpret today’s situation based on indicators from everyday business, in which two burning issues currently dominate – high energy prices and labor shortages. In this week’s topic on recession, Željka Laslavić. writes.

In the past two months, the rise in inflation in Croatia has also been contributed by a significant increase in the prices of hospitality services and accommodation services as a subcomponent of inflation, reflecting the demand from foreign tourists. The feeling that we have not been importing inflation for some time, but 'producing' it, is not just a mere lucid dream. The truth is that tourism has 'pumped' above-average price growth in Croatia, about which Gordana Gelenčer. writes.

The challenges of the current economy arise partly from extremely clear circumstances and high-intensity events such as the pandemic, armed conflicts, and trade wars, and partly from subtle changes that are continuously occurring, slower and quieter in the general social, sociological, and cultural environment (changes in lifestyle habits, demographic changes, stratification and increase in poverty, climate change, digitalization of life). 'Poor visibility' and chaos as a norm require entrepreneurial organizations to move away from business as usual. Excellent business entities that succeed in the challenging age of chaos are not neat and overly organized, but flexible, innovative, and agile, capable of quickly and maximally utilizing opportunities and preventing threats observed in the environment. A large analysis of the real sector has been prepared in the new issue by our regular collaborator Nikola Nikšić.

Many stocks and global stock indices plunged into the so-called bear territory in June, losing more than 20 percent of their value since the beginning of the year, while the Zagreb and Ljubljana stock exchanges, at least for now, defy global trends. Namely, the domestic CROBEX index has only lost 3.5 percent in value this year, while the Slovenian index is down 10.5 percent in the same period. On the other hand, EURONEXT 100 and DAX are recording double-digit corrections when looking at the half-year period, and a similar situation is seen with American indices. Antonija Knežević writes that these two exchanges are so small and insignificant that even the 'bears' do not visit them.

The new issue also brings new entrepreneurial stories from our travel journalists who are this week in the Zadar County. Additionally, with the new issue comes a special supplement 'Transport, freight forwarding, and exports'.