Seven of the top 10 companies in this year’s IR Magazine Euro Top 100 held top 10 places in last year’s Euro Top 100. Within the wider list, however, there has been significant change, with approaching half of companies in the ranking being new entrants for 2022 and the same proportion new to the top 50.
The top-ranked company, Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, is up from third place in 2021, while last year’s top firm, Denmark-based healthcare provider Novo Nordisk, is at number two. Third-placed Allianz and fourth-placed Iberdrola are up from fourth and sixth, respectively.
The Euro Top 100 features in the IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – Europe 2022 and is compiled from the results of research for this year’s IR Magazine Awards – Europe, held in London last month. Investors and analysts from across Europe were asked to name the highest-performing companies in a number of categories and the results of this are combined to provide a table of overall IR excellence.
New companies recognized
Fieldwork for this survey was conducted in the first and second quarters of 2022, meaning that research was undertaken to coincide with the easing of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. It is interesting that while many of the highly ranked companies for IR as we come out of the pandemic are those honored for their work at the pandemic’s height, much else has changed as new companies are recognized.
There are some notable high climbers among the top European companies. Sixth-placed German real estate company Vonovia is up from joint 50th place in 2021, while CaixaBank has risen 59 places to rank ninth this year. Norsk Hydro, Aegon, Zalando and Stellantis didn’t even feature in the Euro Top 100 last year and now all find themselves ranked between 20th and 25th in the top-performing companies for IR in Europe.
Germany is the country with the most companies in the IR Magazine Euro Top 100 this year, accounting for more than a fifth of all spots, including 11 in the top 50 and seven in the top 20. The next most-represented countries are the Netherlands, France and the UK. Switzerland has five companies in the top 20 and Spain has three among the top 10.
Large-cap companies dominate the Euro Top 100, accounting for 83 entries. The highest-ranked mid-cap company is Polish retailer LPP at joint 20th, while the only small-cap company to feature is Norwegian paper maker Norkse Skog, which just squeezes in at joint 97th place.
The IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – Europe 2022 is the result of research conducted among members of the European investment community in Q1 and Q2 2022. The full report is available to IR Magazine Essentials and Advanced subscribers.
