Stock Exchange "champions" recover faster than economy

The ten biggest non-financial companies on the Stock Exchange last year reported turnover increases against 2009, with the leaders being companies in the industrial, energy and pharmaceutical sector.
The increased consumption of electricity and natural gas amid a rebound in industrial production, the major increase in exports, as well as the rise in the price of oil and of metals on international markets led the biggest Stock Exchange companies to report turnover increases last year, despite the overall economy recording its second year of decline.
The top 50 non-financial companies on the Stock Exchange (banks and SIFs excluded) posted 21.3 billion lei (5 billion euros) in cumulated turnover, up 15% against 2009, with Petrom, the largest local company, having yet to publish its results.
The explanation for the good performance of listed companies compared with that of the overall economy is the fact that major economic sectors are not present on the Stock Exchange. It is the case of trade, which last year recorded one of the biggest declines amid a consumer spending decline, but there are many companies in the energy and industrial sector, which recorded a positive trend thanks to the recovery of European Union economies and of exports.
"Stock Exchange companies have been more dynamic. These companies were the first to adjust their operations, ever since the end of 2007 or the first quarter of 2008, so it was normal for them to return to growth faster than the rest of the economy," said Iulian Panait, chairman of capital market consultancy KTD Invest.