Branham 300 companies set revenue milestone
This year's Branham results deliver good news and bad, but there's enough good to justify some optimism
By Peter Wolchak
April 1, 2009
April 1, 2009
“It’s not all doom and gloom” proclaimed the cover of our last issue (February/March). That was our annual focus on predictions and the cover was a fair reflection of the nine experts interviewed for that story. In the last two months, however, the economy has continued to falter. More jobs lost, more firms on the brink and more millions of dollars requested by the companies and individuals who were largely responsible for creating the problem. So is our message, accurate at the time, now a little too positive? Could saying the economy still held some strengths and bright spots open us to charges of Pollyannaism?
Which brings us to the issue you’re reading now, our fifth annual presentation of the Branham300, the premiere roundup of Canada’s top-performing technology companies, ranked by revenue.
I was a little reluctant to read through this year’s results. Would there be more bad news? Well, yes, the numbers offer up a fair share of poor results but, as with our predictions issue, Branham also reported a healthy dollop of good news. The average growth rate of the Branham honourees dropped from 44 per cent in 2007 to 22 per cent last year, but at the same time the revenue threshold of the Top 250 companies jumped to $5.88 million in 2008, a $1.3 million increase over 2007. Also—and this is the big one—the companies on the Top 300 list set a combined revenue record: $75.97 billion, up almost 20 per cent compared to 2007.
Let me underline that: the companies on the 300 list set a new combined revenue record. That means Canada’s tech sector, like our financial sector, is strong and performing fairly well. So it isn’t all doom and gloom; relatively speaking, it’s a good time to be Canadian.
Digging into the lists
The 300 is made up of the Top 250 IT Companies overall, Top 25 IT Multinationals operating in Canada and the Top 25 Up and Comers. It is interesting to note that, even in these tumultuous times, the companies in the top 10 spots on the 250 are the same as last year: they’ve jockeyed a bit for position but all 10 are back. And, after multiple and premature reports of Nortel’s death, it is still sitting proudly in the number one spot. Nortel’s prospects may be down but with revenue of $12,719,002,000 it is not yet out.
Consistently among the most interesting elements of the Branham rankings are the Up and Comers. This group is a signpost for Canada’s future innovation. This year, social networking, green technology and 3D systems are well represented. All three are clearly hot sectors, and two of those (green and 3D) will be covered in the next issue of Backbone.
But the real standouts this year are the Movers and Shakers, those companies which jumped the most spots in the revenue ranking. Averna increased its revenue by 250 per cent and bolted 103 steps up the Top 250 list. Its recipe for success seems to be an aggressive approach: the company acquired a competitor, expanded its field of operations, widened its product portfolio and beefed up its management team. It spent money to make money, and that paid off. If your company wasn’t on Branham’s radar, go to www.branhamgroup.com/application/criteria.php and get going on 2010.
Next: PICK 20 and Fast 50
And the Branham list is only the first in our yearly triple play of national rankings. The second annual Backbone/KPMG PICK 20 awards hits in our August/September issue, and we’re very pleased to report that, on Oct. 1, we will be presenting the results of this year’s Deloitte Fast 50 round up.
Peter Wolchak
Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com
Which brings us to the issue you’re reading now, our fifth annual presentation of the Branham300, the premiere roundup of Canada’s top-performing technology companies, ranked by revenue.
I was a little reluctant to read through this year’s results. Would there be more bad news? Well, yes, the numbers offer up a fair share of poor results but, as with our predictions issue, Branham also reported a healthy dollop of good news. The average growth rate of the Branham honourees dropped from 44 per cent in 2007 to 22 per cent last year, but at the same time the revenue threshold of the Top 250 companies jumped to $5.88 million in 2008, a $1.3 million increase over 2007. Also—and this is the big one—the companies on the Top 300 list set a combined revenue record: $75.97 billion, up almost 20 per cent compared to 2007.
Let me underline that: the companies on the 300 list set a new combined revenue record. That means Canada’s tech sector, like our financial sector, is strong and performing fairly well. So it isn’t all doom and gloom; relatively speaking, it’s a good time to be Canadian.
Digging into the lists
The 300 is made up of the Top 250 IT Companies overall, Top 25 IT Multinationals operating in Canada and the Top 25 Up and Comers. It is interesting to note that, even in these tumultuous times, the companies in the top 10 spots on the 250 are the same as last year: they’ve jockeyed a bit for position but all 10 are back. And, after multiple and premature reports of Nortel’s death, it is still sitting proudly in the number one spot. Nortel’s prospects may be down but with revenue of $12,719,002,000 it is not yet out.
Consistently among the most interesting elements of the Branham rankings are the Up and Comers. This group is a signpost for Canada’s future innovation. This year, social networking, green technology and 3D systems are well represented. All three are clearly hot sectors, and two of those (green and 3D) will be covered in the next issue of Backbone.
But the real standouts this year are the Movers and Shakers, those companies which jumped the most spots in the revenue ranking. Averna increased its revenue by 250 per cent and bolted 103 steps up the Top 250 list. Its recipe for success seems to be an aggressive approach: the company acquired a competitor, expanded its field of operations, widened its product portfolio and beefed up its management team. It spent money to make money, and that paid off. If your company wasn’t on Branham’s radar, go to www.branhamgroup.com/application/criteria.php and get going on 2010.
Next: PICK 20 and Fast 50
And the Branham list is only the first in our yearly triple play of national rankings. The second annual Backbone/KPMG PICK 20 awards hits in our August/September issue, and we’re very pleased to report that, on Oct. 1, we will be presenting the results of this year’s Deloitte Fast 50 round up.
Peter Wolchak Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com
