Largest Business Systems: 11 Euro Billionaires and 118 Billionaires in Kuna by Revenue

Energia naturalis stood out last year as the convincingly largest company in Croatia. Just two years ago, with consolidated revenues for 2021, it was only fifth; the following year it surpassed everyone, including the second-placed Fortenova by almost 20 percent, and ended last year with a growth of 63 percent, having revenues of 8.14 billion euros, which is 50 percent higher. And that’s not all! Besides controlling Energia naturalis as the sole owner, Pavao Vujnovac currently has a majority voting stake in the Fortenova Assembly without Russian sanctioned co-owners. So, if the results of the two largest companies were summed up, Vujnovac controls annual revenues of 13.5 billion euros, which is almost one-tenth of the total revenue of the Croatian economy. Such managerial power was not even held by Ivica Todorić during Agrokor’s golden age.

Just over half of Enna’s revenues are generated through its key company, Prvo plinarsko društvo, and more than 40 percent are achieved by companies based in other countries in the region – Slovenia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Italy. Of course, the rise in gas prices is a key reason for the significant growth last year. However, the group is also becoming stronger in logistics and transport and in the fruit and vegetable business, where the partnership with Konzum plus is a significant lever. The group’s results were not jeopardized by the sale of a 50 percent stake in Petrokemija, which was not part of the consolidated group anyway. Neither Luka Ploče, which is achieving better results, and in which Enna is the largest shareholder (38.27 percent), is included in the consolidated results. Additionally, Vujnovac is entering other businesses – from construction and real estate to finance – so it is a big question how the consolidated group will look in the coming years.

This is the first list of billionaires in euros. There were 11 of them, and another 118 groups or independent companies achieved more than a billion kuna in revenue. In the coming years, we will maintain the Leader’s club of billionaires in kuna equivalent, as 132.72 million euros in annual revenue for Croatian conditions is a true demarcation between large capital and the rest of the economy. It is also a small sign of our editorial ‘kuna nostalgia’.

By the way, the current list of billionaires this year includes 129 companies, 34 more than the results for 2021 showed. Such expansion is the result of excellent business results, but with the additional fuel of double-digit inflation. However, the revenue growth of these large systems of 37.9 percent significantly outpaced last year’s inflation of 13.1 percent. On the other hand, billionaires reported slightly higher profits than a year earlier (1.2 percent growth), indicating entrepreneurial caution in the gap between last year’s record results and anxiety as the main Western European market has begun to decline. Meanwhile, a war has erupted in the Middle East, which only deepens uncertainty and narrows business flows, but in a small market like Croatia, the individual results of the largest companies have a significant impact on overall business. The stagnation in profits was primarily contributed by the HEP group, which reported a loss of 920 million euros, compared to a profit of 165 million euros in the previous year. If the state had not limited the price of electricity and if HEP had reported profits like in 2021, the total profit of all billionaires would have increased by 37 percent, which would be on par with revenue growth.—

—