Deloitte: Leadership challenges facing Central Europe

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

While some  figures paint an encouraging picture of economic health among Central Europe’s leading business, average net profitability fell by 3.5% during 2011. The combined revenues of the region’s leading 500 companies reached ca. EUR 707 billion in 2011 – returning to the level achieved in 2008 before the region felt the impact of the global crisis. Performance data for the first three months of 2012 show a continuing increase in average revenue levels, but only at a half the rate achieved throughout 2011. This may indicate the approach of another economic slowdown.

“Even though countries in our region are faring better than many elsewhere, this does not mean that we are in any way immune from the impact of the almost daily turbulence that continues to shake our interconnected economies,” says Deloitte Central Europe CEO Alastair Teare.

These are some of the key findings of the sixth edition of the Deloitte CE Top 500 report, which finds Central European business leaders in pensive mood as they tackle the twin challenges of growing economic difficulties affecting some of their key export markets and the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone.

During 2011, revenue growth was consistent across almost all the industry sectors surveyed in the report. It was particularly strong in the construction sector, boosted by preparations for Euro 2012, which saw average revenues rise by 21%. The manufacturing sector performed strongly too, largely as a result of the exceptional performance of the processing industry, also energy & resources companies saw revenue growth.