HS study: Largest Finnish corporations enjoyed 10 percent growth last year
Economists regard growth rate as significant; Fortum posts largest
profit on turnover
|
|
|
The combined turnover of Finland's largest corporations grew in 2005 by around 10 percent, or considerably more than in the previous financial year.
According to comparative studies made by Helsingin Sanomat in connection with the paper's annual report analyses, the combined turnover of the largest companies grew to EUR 155 billion, from EUR 141 billion in 2004.
Much of the growth was derived from operations outside Finland: from China, India, the Baltic States, and other countries with cheap labour.
The growth was also reflected in new hirings: the companies listed hired some 17,000 new workers, and around 488,000 are now employed by these large corporations.
Economists have already been quick to note that the 10 percent growth is significant. "Finland is going well", argues Sixten Korkman, Managing Director of ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
In terms of profit as a share of turnover, the company topping the lists in 2005 would have to be the state-owned energy giant Fortum, which managed to produce a result after financial items that represented 32.3 percent of turnover. The company benefited from higher electricity prices brought by the emissions trade.
Down at the other end of the table were companies in the forestry and paper and pulp sector, which turned in poor returns on capital invested and relatively low profit figures relative to net sales. The companies in this branch were hit by last year's labour disputes, which involved strikes and a lengthy lock-out, and also by an excess of sawn timber in the market.
Unsurprisingly, mobile phone manufacturer Nokia remains the largest Finnish corporation, with net sales of more than EUR 34,000 million, on which the company made a net profit in 2005 of some EUR 3,500 million.
Forestry giant Stora Enso is in second place, with net sales of EUR 13,188, but the company could generate a net result of only EUR 215 million, and return on capital invested was only 3.2 percent, which compares unfavourably with the company's target of 13 percent, or the 35.3 percent achieved by Nokia.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 22.2.2006 - TODAY |
 HS study: Largest Finnish corporations enjoyed 10 percent growth last year
|
|
