Close to BGN 10 billion. This is the threshold that the 100 largest companies in the information technology and telecommunications (ICT) sector in Bulgaria have reached in 2023, despite facing a global slowdown in the sector. For yet another year, the Digitalk 101 ranking of the leading IT companies shows robust growth. On average, revenues of the top 100 IT businesses are growing by 10%. Profits are also good: only four companies are in the red, and the average net margin is worthy of envy in many other sectors - 15 cents profit for every lev of revenue. Even the employee numbers in the 100 companies are growing, albeit by only 3% on average.
This happy picture has nuances, and not everyone has had a superb year - for 22 of the companies in the ranking, turnover last year was lower than in 2022. The reasons here range from the global contraction in the IT sector to political instability in Bulgaria.
Growth on all fronts
Halfway through 2024 companies in the sector are optimistic about how the year will end. Of the 69 companies that have given a revenue growth forecast for 2024, as many as 62 expect higher turnover.
When it comes to deals, the picture is positive, too - both last year and in the first half of this year the ICT sector is the champion in terms of deals and foreign investors. It is the renewable energy projects sector that only challenges its leadership. The bad news is that Bulgaria is increasingly rarely chosen by new IT investors as a place to start business. There are exceptions, but because of the state's passivity in attracting them and limited human resources, new players are almost absent.
In the ranking for 2023, 16 companies from the sector, which traditionally have high revenues, did not submit data. Their combined turnover is over a billion BGN (approx. EUR 500 million).
The 2023 revenues of the Digitalk 101 participants have increased by 10% year-over-year to almost BGN 9.3 billion. In our ranking for 2022, the growth rate has reached almost 13%, and the total revenue of the then 100 participants was BGN 9.1 billion.
The total net profit of companies in Digitalk 101 jumped to BGN 1.46 billion in the ranking for 2023. At the same time, exports shrank 18% to BGN 2.64 billion, but this amount is rather approximate because several major players did not submit data. Still, the downward trend is probably there and it is driven by the shrinking Western markets of IT companies' biggest customers in the country.
Telecoms lead the way
The companies in the ranking have reached revenues of over BGN 3.3 billion from telecom services alone. The operators' revenues from the sale of smartphones and other devices to end customers (figures were provided by A1 Bulgaria and Yettel Bulgaria), as well as A1's systems integration revenues ought to be added to this figure. Thus, the total turnover of these companies for 2023 exceeds BGN 4 billion, or 6% more than the turnover for 2022, which also included the revenues of Bulsatcom (acquired by Vivacom in February this year) and Novatel, which in previous years also generated project business turnover.
Revenues of the top 100 companies in the ranking dealing only with ICT products and services (including outsourced IT services (ITO)) for 2023 amount to BGN 5.23 billion, while for 2022 these same companies have achieved BGN 4.82 billion, which represents a growth rate of just over 10%. In the ranking for 2022, the volume of ICT revenues was around BGN 6.24 billion, with the difference explained by the lack of data for some of the largest software companies, which in 2022 had generated over BGN 770 million.
Systems integration jumped for another year to reach BGN 1.32 billion, becoming the second most important sub-segment in the Bulgarian IT business with 22.2% of total revenues. IT outsourcing and hardware sales, including domestically manufactured devices, were fourth and fifth with shares of 14.9% and 14.1% of total revenue, respectively.
The Big Seven
- Control Bulgaria reported the highest revenue growth rate in the ranking - over 372% to BGN 92 million, the main reason being the government order for the issuance of new generation ID documents, for which the contract was signed at the end of 2022.
- The company in the top 3 in terms of profitability (the other two are part of large telecom groups) is MM Solutions with 34% net revenue margin. What's interesting about the software company is that it is the only one in the ranking with a Chinese owner - Beijing-based ThunderSoft.
- The leading IT deal in 2023, not only for Bulgaria but for the region as a whole, was the acquisition of a majority stake in the telecom business of Czech group PPF by United Arab Emirates conglomerate Emirates Telecommunications Group Company (formerly known as Etisalat and currently as e&). The deal is at a multiple of 6.8 times EBITDA, giving a valuation of around EUR 1.55 billion to the Bulgarian companies - the mobile operator Yettel and the company Cetin. The transfer is not yet complete due to an European Commission inquiry.
- IT distributor ALSO Bulgaria reported the highest revenue per employee, of BGN 2,209.
- The biggest export revenue in terms of value is reported by IT and software services company DXC - 137 million euro, or 99% of its turnover.
- The biggest turnover growth rate for this year is planned by gaming software company EGT Digital - 166% to BGN 186 million.
- This year, the leader in the ranking for 2023 - A1 Bulgaria, plans the largest growth of employee numbers in the survey among the top 100. It will increase its team by about 300 people.
Close to BGN 10 billion. This is the threshold that the 100 largest companies in the information technology and telecommunications (ICT) sector in Bulgaria have reached in 2023, despite facing a global slowdown in the sector. For yet another year, the Digitalk 101 ranking of the leading IT companies shows robust growth. On average, revenues of the top 100 IT businesses are growing by 10%. Profits are also good: only four companies are in the red, and the average net margin is worthy of envy in many other sectors - 15 cents profit for every lev of revenue. Even the employee numbers in the 100 companies are growing, albeit by only 3% on average.
This happy picture has nuances, and not everyone has had a superb year - for 22 of the companies in the ranking, turnover last year was lower than in 2022. The reasons here range from the global contraction in the IT sector to political instability in Bulgaria.