A total of 15 companies from the Valencian Community are included in this year’s edition of the ‘1000 companies to inspire Europe 2018‘, published by the London Stock Exchange for the past three years. It is worth remembering that last year there were 7 Valencian companies included, as this newspaper reported at the time. To wit: Alcanzia, ESB Sistemas y Viajes Transvia from Valencia; The Size Surfaces from Castellón; and Ale-Hop, Plastic Forte and Incom Group from Alicante.
On this occasion, from those recognised by the London regulator, eight are from the province of Valencia (the fruit trading company Bollo International Fruits, the orange exporter Fontestad, the transport company Grupo Mazo -which was selected two years ago-, the car component manufacturer Grupo Segura, the company dedicated to the sale of raw materials Guzman Global, Ice Cream Factory Comaker -formerly Avidesa-, Mercadona’s supplier of reusable fruit and vegetable boxes Logifruit and the technological multinational Power Electronics.
Four more are located in Alicante: Aceitunas Cazorla, the leading multinational in the hearing correction sector Gaes, Supermercados Masymas and the footwear firm Pikolinos; and three in Castellón: Argenta Cerámica -also chosen in 2016-, the fruit and vegetable wholesaler Frutinter and the tiling firm Grespania.
A total of 75 Spanish SMEs have been selected, five more than last year, for this pan-European program called Elite, where a group of companies is chosen among those with a high growth capacity and which have good numbers. Then, they are prepared to go public, although this does not mean they will do so imminently. Spain ranks fifth behind Germany (180), the United Kingdom (160), France (150) and Italy (110) out of a total of 1,000 companies spread across 28 European countries.
The report highlights the growth of the companies included, their good turnover data and, among other aspects, the challenges they are taking on. They must also demonstrate growth in their revenue over the last three years compared to other firms in their sector in each country and maintain their commitment to job creation.
The most dynamic companies
“In this pioneering report, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is proud to identify the most dynamic, fastest growing companies across Europe. Our congratulations to them all,” said Nikhil Rathi, LSEG’s CEO, at the presentation of the report. “With an exceptional three-year average compound annual growth rate of 24% (with the top 10% growing at a staggering 102% on average), it is not surprising that they have two-year average job creation rates of 37%. The most prominent sector is Engineering and Manufacturing Development, followed by Food and Beverage, which gives a diverse and encouraging picture of the potential of the future European Union (EU) economy,” he adds.
This year alone, some 224 SMEs from 18 countries around the world have joined the Elite programme in which the Valencian company Pinturas Isaval participated three years ago. All of them have as a common denominator -besides their growth- the search for new financing alternatives to continue in their development stages. And that is where this programme of the London Stock Exchange comes in, providing professional advice and assistance.