Survey of Fast 500 CEOs reveals that 82% are either very confident or extremely confident that growth rates will be sustained over the next year - the highest figure in five years

An outstanding 36 Irish technology companies were last night ranked among Europe’s 500 fastest growing technology companies, with Ireland’s fastest growth company, Data Electronics, ranked a very credible 14th place with aggregate growth in revenue of 4,376 per cent over the past five years.  The full list of EMEA’s 500 fastest-growing technology companies was announced during the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA awards. The 2005 Technology Fast 500 EMEA CEO Survey was also released.  This survey provides 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.

David O’Flanagan, Partner with Deloitte, Dublin, said: “We are extremely pleased with Ireland’s performance as this programme has become a benchmark for the recognition of high growth technology companies’.

Key trends observed in this year’s ranking were:

• Total five–year revenue for the 500 ranked companies as a whole grew by an average of 935%
• 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%

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 percent of revenues to come from IP
• CEOs see the greatest potential for growth over the next three years in Internet and IP-related segments

Details on the winning companies and the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA CEO Survey can be downloaded from www.deloitte.com/fast500emea
 

Notes for Editors:

Awards Ceremony and Interview Opportunities
The 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA Award Ceremony will take place on 30th November during a dinner at Vinopolis in Southwark (6pm for 7pm), featuring Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO Orange Group.  The dinner will be preceded by an afternoon Business Forum (1.30 pm to 5.30 pm) for CEOs featuring speakers from Lastminute.com, Netsize, Cisco and Data Connection. To attend either event or to organise interviews, contact TMT Media Relations (below).

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA CEO Survey & Ranking 2005
This report is a comprehensive analysis of the business trends and background statistics of the winning companies as well as a summary of the key concerns and expectations of sector CEOs. It can be downloaded from www.deloitte.com/fast500emea after the awards, or please contact us (see below) for advance copies.

About DTT Technology Fast 500 EMEA
The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) 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 will be available at www.deloitte.com/fast500emea after the event, or please contact us (see below) if you need information in advance.

About TMT
The DTT 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. DTT’s member firms serve nearly 85 percent of the TMT companies in the global Fortune 500. Clients of DTT’s 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.