17Oct2017
With all the excitement following the 2017 Nordic Business Forum in Helsinki, we thought we’d take a breather and head out with our financial binoculars to do a bit of gazelle spotting.
Gazelles, for those who don’t know, are animals in the antelope family known for their ability to reach and sustain high speeds for relatively long periods of time. A business gazelle is a high-growth company that has doubled its revenues over a four-year period.
Our 2017 Finnish Gazelle List is based on this and some additional criteria, including a positive profit flow in each of the four preceding years (and financial statements to prove it), and a starting revenue of at least €135,000. Additionally, the company’s revenue should have seen 100% growth between 2012 to 2015.
Statistics for the Finnish Gazelles List are provided by Asiakastieto every September, and companies are selected for the Gazelle List based on their accounting cycle. This year, there are over 1,700 companies that make the list, beating last year’s total of over 1,600.
The construction industry dominates the list, but the medical industry is well represented. A particular stand-out was Tampere-based Aksonium Oy, which showed a staggering rise in net profit by 9015% in the €10M – €24.9M revenue category.
Interestingly, there are almost entirely new faces in the top five of each of the seven categories (presented below), with behemoths like Supercell moving just out of the top 5 to number 8. Even in eighth position, Supercell still had a recorded revenue of €2,099,872,556 for 2016.
Topping the €100M+ list is Suomen Laatuasunnot Oy, which recorded a very healthy growth of 1492%. While that is very impressive, with higher turnover in revenue comes difficulties in multiplying. That being said, the total number of €100M+ companies for 2016 is 33 compared to 2015 at 13.
It’s further down the page that we really see who’s running like a gazelle. These companies include the aforementioned Aksonium Oy, as well as NTG Polar Road Oy (6586%), Laatapiste Oy(6434%) and Wärtsilä Projects (5467%).
And finally, even though it didn’t make the €100M+ top five, St1 Nordic Oy cleared the herd in net sales with a whopping €4,390,372,000.
TOP 5 Gazelles €100M+ revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Suomen Laatuasunnot Oy | 146,922,000 | 1,492 |
| Minimani Yhtiöt Oy | 109,817,615 | 1,353 |
| Turun Osuuskauppa | 562,629,000 | 920 |
| SL Yhtiöt Oy | 143,230,226 | 836 |
| Vestas Finland Oy | 378,137,000 | 644 |
TOP 5 Gazelles €50M – €99.9M revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Wärtsilä Projects Oy | 93,863,000 | 5,467 |
| Kiinteistö Oy M2-Kodit | 59,281,000 | 2,025 |
| Hyvät Lehdet RSM Oy | 91,688,000 | 1,902 |
| UPM-Kymmene Seven Seas Oy | 58,248,000 | 1,182 |
| Finanssi-Kontio Oy | 56,955,000 | 911 |
TOP 5 Gazelles €25M – €49.9M revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Laattapiste Oy | 31,691,000 | 6,434 |
| Klinger Finland Oy | 35,291,000 | 2,172 |
| Raahen Rautakauppa Oy | 49,685,000 | 644 |
| Touhula Varhaiskasvatus Oy | 43,941,000 | 506 |
| Tuuliwatti Oy | 47,628,000 | 489 |
TOP 5 Gazelles €10M – €24.9M revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Aksonium Oy | 17,318,000 | 9,015 |
| NTG Polar Road Oy | 12,235,000 | 6,586 |
| Adison Oy | 14,519,000 | 3,652 |
| Nocart Oy | 12,031,000 | 3,308 |
| Cemt-Trans Oy | 11,344,000 | 2,874 |
TOP 5 Gazelles €5M – €9.9M revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Petrofinn Oy | 5,713,000 | 2,620 |
| Schengen Advisors Oy | 9,879,000 | 1,330 |
| Euro24 Finance Oy | 5,824,000 | 1,254 |
| Navix Marketing Oy | 7,770,000 | 1,225 |
| Mr Max Oy | 5,423,000 | 1,182 |
TOP 5 Gazelles €2.5M – €5.9M revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Kiinteistö Oy Alvar Aallon katu 1 | 4,014,000 | 2,594 |
| St Capital Oy | 3,829,000 | 1,815 |
| Karjalan Metsätilat Oy | 3,918,000 | 1,603 |
| H & H Talorakennus Oy | 3,570,000 | 1,515 |
| MS-Steel Oy | 4,308,000 | 1,433 |
TOP 5 Gazelles €2.49M revenue
| Company | Revenue 2016 (€) | Growth 2013-2016 (%) |
| Suomen Maansiirto Oy | 2,336,000 | 1,593 |
| AMETEK Finland Oy | 1,623,000 | 1,051 |
| SARACI Oy | 1,922,000 | 1,017 |
| Vaidia Oy | 1,855,000 | 919 |
| KOVAKO OY – Vahinkosaneeraus | 1,681,000 | 819 |
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