Logitech named most dynamic Swiss business

The "Bilanz" survey showed how weakened global markets had hurt many top firms swissinfo.ch

The company famous for its production of the computer mouse, Logitech, has been voted the most dynamic Swiss firm by business magazine, "Bilanz".

Based in canton Vaud, Logitech reported its best ever financial year last April with a 66 per cent increase in net income from $45 million (SFr68,13 million) to $75 million.

Close behind Logitech in the annual survey of the top 100 Swiss companies were the biomedical company, Synthes-Stratec, and the Swiss transportation company, Kühne & Nagel.

Assessment criteria

“Bilanz” compiles the table and bases its findings on a series of eight criteria which are designed to measure the performances of individual companies over both the short- and long-term.

Factors assessed by researchers when compiling the survey include the global presence of a company, its annual growth and financial turnover, as well as its overall performance on the stock market.

The survey highlighted how weakened global markets had resulted in surprisingly poor scores for companies which have traditionally performed well in previous surveys.

Survey losers

Switzerland’s two biggest banks performed worse this year than in 2001, with UBS slipping five places to 17th. Credit Suisse plummeted from the top ten in 2001 to 83rd spot.

The Rothschild Bank, which appeared in second place in last year’s survey, fell to 92nd place in 2002, due mainly to a fall in the financial institution’s profits.

The fall from grace was even more dramatic for banking group, Julius Bär, which slipped out of the top 100 altogether to land instead in position 152nd.

Swiss blue-chip firms like Nestlé and the pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Roche failed to make it into the top ten.

“Nestlé is doing pretty well at number 13, up from 35th last year,” Alain Jeannat, editor of “Bilanz” magazine, told swissinfo. “Novarits is number 48, last year it was number 45, so it is doing average, while Roche is 43rd.”

Hit by the global economic slump, companies from the new economy also fared badly in this year’s survey.

Of the companies listed on the Swiss New Market, only the web-based financial group, Swissfirst, retained its presence in the table, slipping slightly from 17th to 22nd position.

Other companies to register significant falls were the pharmaceutical company, Actelion, which was 206th, and Biomarin, which 208th.

Media companies

Media companies based in German-speaking Switzerland also under-performed this year. The “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” dropped from 40 to 192, while the troubled Tamedia group fell to 186th place.

Edipresse – based in canton Vaud and the publisher of “Bilanz” itself – climbed from 139th to 90th spot.

The best performers in the annual survey have a considerable impact on Switzerland’s macro-economy. Between 1998 and 2001, the top 100 firms together created a total of 68,574 jobs – a rate of 60 new posts a day.

swissinfo with agencies