In 2020, the 5,000 largest companies in Belgium achieved a total turnover of 690 billion euros. This is a decrease of 60 billion euros compared to 2019. This is apparent from the ‘Top 5,000’ of Trends. “In total, 45 percent of the largest 5,000 companies saw net profits fall and 52 percent sales,” explains Tommy Browaeys, publisher of the Trends Top.
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While in 2019 six companies from the top saw their turnover increase by more than a billion euros, for all together 12.6 billion euros, that number has halved to three, for all together 5.2 billion euros.
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While total sales fell by 8 percent, the underlying profit of the 5,000 largest companies plummeted by 48 percent to 20.7 billion euros. The law of large numbers also plays a role here. Six companies lost more than a billion euros each in 2020, while this did not happen to any company in 2019.
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“This is not without consequences for our economy, because in 2020 the Top 5,000 companies paid 1.24 billion euros less in corporate tax than in 2019,” it reads.
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As far as the solvency of the large companies is concerned, there is no sign of deterioration, although the figures are still missing for 5 percent of the balance sheet debtors. Within the Top 5,000, 2.58 percent has a negative solvency, compared to 13.78 percent of all companies.
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Ranked by revenue, Toyota Motor Europe leads the Top 5,000. Revenues fell by 3.1 billion to 25 billion euros. Pfizer Service Company (24 billion euros) and Janssen Pharmaceutica (17.2 billion euros) complete the top three.
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The latter company leads the ranking in terms of profit: below the line, the pharmaceutical company had 2.2 billion euros left in 2020. Sector peers GSK Biologicals (1.8 billion euros) and Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium (868 million euros) are in the wake. from Janssen.
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European Commission expects 6 percent economic growth in Belgium this year
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