London, November 30, 2005 — The full list of Europe, the Middle East and Africa's (EMEA) 500 fastest-growing technology companies was announced today during the 2005 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ("Deloitte") Technology Fast 500 EMEA awards. Deloitte also released the 2005 Technology Fast 500 EMEA CEO Survey, a comprehensive analysis of business trends amongst the winning companies and a summary of the key concerns and expectations of sector CEOs.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 program covers public and private companies across EMEA, and is based on five-year average percentage revenue growth. The awards are researched and sponsored by the Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Group. Key trends observed in this year's rankings were:

• Total five-year revenue for the 500 ranked companies as a whole grew by an average of 935%, down 308% from last year;
• Software firms have increased their dominance of the ranking, making up 47% of all listed firms;
• Communications and networking firms are generally better represented than last year, at 16% of all listed firms;
• Northern Europe and Eastern Europe have increased their share of ranked firms this year, with 25% (up 8%) and 7% (up 3%), respectively;
• Number one ranked Norwegian broadband provider Catch Communications ASA achieves average five-year revenue growth of 77,682%.

"Our ranking and survey tell us a lot about these remarkable businesses and we feel it is important to share this information with the wider business community," said Igal Brightman, Global Managing Partner of Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications. "The overwhelming messages we are getting this year are confidence in growth, confidence in IP to deliver revenues, and reliance on and concern about people, who are the primary drivers of high-tech growth.

"This is the fifth year of the ranking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and we are beginning to see some interesting regional and global trends emerging," said Eric Morgain, Deloitte's Partner in charge of the Technology Fast 500 EMEA. "Western Europe still dominates the ranking, with 61% of companies featured in the Fast 500 from this region (a drop of 11% compared with 2003). Northern Europe's presence in the ranking has grown, with 25% of winners from this region, a rise of 8% compared with 2003. Also worth noting are the number of companies from the Middle East & Africa, which make up 7% of the ranking, compared with 4% two years ago."

In addition to compiling the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking, Deloitte today published a survey of the Fast 500 CEOs in EMEA. Highlights of the survey include:

• Confidence in sustaining future growth has reached an all time high in the region, with 82% of CEOs either extremely or very confident that their company will sustain its growth over the next year;
• 66% of CEOs agreed that the quality of employees is the key to successful growth, and recruitment and personnel development are the key operational and personal challenges of CEOs. This is also true in Asia Pacific and North America this year;
• 62% of firms offer flexible working hours (far higher than in any other global region) and 46%  offer a stake in the company like stock options to enhance motivation;
• 42% of CEOs see over 50% of their planned business revenues coming via IP-based applications. 16% expect between 30% and 50% of revenues to come from IP;
• CEOs see the greatest potential for growth over the next three years in Internet and IP-related segments.

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA Heavyweight Award
This year also saw the launch of a new award, the Technology Fast 500 Heavyweight Award, for a company that has ranked in the Technology Fast 500 EMEA list for two years or more and has annual company revenues in excess of €10 million in year one and in excess of €50 million in year five. This year's winner, German Internet Group freenet.de, has been in the Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking for three years and finished number 37 in this year's ranking, with average growth of 2,075% over the past five years.

Other highlights from the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA rankings:

Top 5 ranked companies

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA winners, by sector

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA winners, by region

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA
The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA program is the region's most objective industry-ranking standard to focus on the technology field. It was created in 2000 to recognize the effort and dedication of the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in EMEA and includes all areas of technology: from Internet to biotechnology; from medical and scientific to computers/hardware. It includes both public and private companies. The awards, which have been running in EMEA for five years, are based on five-year average percentage revenue growth. Details of the winning companies are available at www.deloitte.com/fast500emea.

About the Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group
The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Group consists of the TMT practices organized in the various member firms of DTT and includes more than 5,000 member firm partners, directors and senior managers supported by thousands of other professionals dedicated to helping their clients evaluate complex issues, develop fresh approaches to problems and implement practical solutions. There are dedicated TMT member firm practices in 45 countries and centers of excellence in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Deloitte member firms serve nearly 85 percent of the TMT companies in the global Fortune 500. Clients of Deloitte member firms' TMT practices include some of the world's top software companies, computer manufacturers, wireless operators, satellite broadcasters, advertising agencies and semiconductor foundries — as well as leaders in publishing, telecommunications and peripheral equipment manufacturing.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 120,000 people worldwide, Deloitte delivers services in four professional areas — audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services — and serves more than one-half of the world's largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, locally important clients and successful, fast-growing global growth companies. Services are not provided by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, and, for regulatory and other reasons, certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas.

As a Swiss Verein (association), neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names "Deloitte," "Deloitte & Touche," "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu" or other related names.