Bezeq retains its position as the economy’s largest company, according to the Dun & Bradstreet 1998 rating. Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) continues in second place, with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) running third, up from fifth place in the previous rating.
An outstanding change in the list of the ten biggest companies in the economy was the move of Tadiran from 11th to 9th place, replacing Blue Square which is no longer listed. This change attests to a relative decrease in the volume of activity on the domestic compared to the export market, a process reflected throughout the rating.
Outstanding among the large industrial companies is the downslide of Oil Refineries from 2nd to 3rd place. IAI is also Israel's largest manufacturer. ECI also posted an outstanding rise, from 10th to 7th place, following a 19% increase in sales. IEC is still the economy’s largest industrial company.
Most outstanding growth was posted, as expected, by the high-tech sector. The aggregate revenues of the large software firms rose by 70%. High-tech companies constitute an absolute majority in the list of the fifteen industrial companies with the fastest growth rate and the ten companies leading in export increase. Most of the impressive advances in the rating of the 150 largest industrial companies are in high-tech sectors.
The company with the highest growth rate is Efrat Technologies, whose revenues posted 92% growth. Formula takes second place with an 84% increase in revenues, and Paradigm comes third with an 83% increase in revenues. C-Mer posted the most impressive growth rate, followed by Formula and Efrat Technologies in third place.
Included in the rating of the 15 companies posting the fastest growth rate are also Ormat, Crystal, Check Point, DSP and Third Dimension. Gilat Communications also reached an impressive rating, skipping 25 levels to 44th place.
In the rating of the 150 largest industrials, Efrat rose 17 levels to 20th place. Formula also jumped 17 levels, reaching 31st place. C-Mer, making the list for the first time this year, took 111th place. Other companies showing an outstanding change of rating in the 150 were Tecnomatix, rising 21 levels to 103rd place, Indigo, rising 16 levels to 51st, and ECI, advancing from the 10th to the 7th place.
Published by Israel's Business Arena April 26, 1999