The ten most profitable companies in Croatia last year posted a consolidated EBITDA profit totalling 9.2 billion kuna (€1.2 billion).

Oil company INA topped the list, with sports betting chain SuperSport making it into the top ten for the first time, according to a report published by the Lider business magazine which examined business results of Croatian companies in 2017.

Among the ten companies with largest profits are still several leading Croatian banks, the state-owned power board HEP and its distribution company, Croatian Telecom, and the Pliva pharmaceutical company. Compared to 2016, the Rijeka-Zagreb Motorway company dropped out of the top ten.

The top ten collectively had a total EBITDA of 9.2 billion kuna, or 1.7 billion down from the top ten’s total in 2016, with the difference primarily due to lower profits posted by some of the biggest business banks, as well as HEP.

The sports betting chain SuperSport breaking into the top ten is a result of its profit growing to 358 million kuna in 2017 from 211 million kuna in 2016. In addition, it is also among the ten best companies by share of profit in total revenues. In that respect, the best performing was Cervesia Zagreb, the company operating the Zagrebacka Pivovara brewery, whose 186 million kuna profit was practically equal to its revenue as it formally has no employees.

The report also listed companies with the largest average monthly salaries paid out in 2017. Along with local branches of global companies such as Microsoft, Samsung, or Roche, a new arrival to the top ten was the trading company Boehringer Ingelheim Zagreb, which had around 30 employees with an average salary of 30,000 kuna.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.