Europe's fastest growing high tech companies identified

Brussels, 04 Dec 2002

The top 500 fastest growing high-tech companies in Europe have been identified by the international professional services company, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

The fastest growing company is identified as Danionics A/S from Denmark, a producer of lithium-ion polymer batteries. The top ten also includes two Norwegian companies, three UK companies, one Dutch company and two Israeli companies. The average three year revenue growth for all 500 companies is 528 per cent.

Igal Brightman, Global Leader of Deloitte's technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) group said that these companies' 'vision, strategies and innovation have made them not only successful companies, but the true growth leaders of the TMT sector.'

'Although the technology sector has been severely challenged by a major economic slowdown, these companies have found successful ways to develop products and services that fit the needs of the technology market and outpace their competitors,' added Karel Bakkes, Deloitte's partner in charge of the survey.

Public and private technology companies based in Europe, Israel, Russia and South Africa are included in the top 500. The survey used the three year average revenue growth of each company between 1999 and 2001 to determine the ranking.

While all TMT industries are represented in the 2002 ranking, the most dominant industry is software, representing 179 companies or 36 per cent of the list. The regions with the fastest growing companies are the UK with 142, France with 99, Germany with 54 and Norway with 50.

To see a full list of the top 500 companies, please visit: http://www.fast500europe.com

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2001