TOP101 2025 – The Observer of the development of Latvia’s Most Valuable Companies for 20 Years!

There’s a Latvian saying: “You count your chickens in the autumn.” For the past 20 years, we have been counting the value of Latvia’s most valuable companies every autumn. We do it in autumn because annual reports of Latvia’s largest companies become available only by the end of July. And we focus on value because, in our view, it is the most important measure - it reflects a company’s true significance to society. Revenue, profit, total assets, and other figures are also important, but without context, they don’t reveal a company’s real importance. For instance, take a wholesaler with high turnover but very low and a medium-sized specialized manufacturer with a net profit margin of 25% or more. Comparing the two by turnover or profit alone simply does not make sense.

We created the first TOP101 ranking in 2006, just two years after Latvia joined NATO and the EU. The economy was growing at an extraordinary pace, with GDP increasing by nearly 12% that year. Lending activity and real estate prices were rising rapidly, and the overall economic sentiment was highly optimistic, largely driven by the fast convergence of the Baltic States towards the rest of the European Union.

In the following years, however, came the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the nationalization of Parex Bank, and the IMF financial assistance program marked the beginning of difficult austerity years and a gradual economic recovery. In 2014, Latvia adopted the euro, and in 2016, it joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). At the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic hit both Latvia and the world, followed by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which fundamentally altered the global geopolitical landscape. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list and reflects a subjective overview of the most significant events, yet all of these developments have had a profound impact on Latvian companies, their business operations, and consequently, their overall value.

Over these 20 years, we - the Prudentia and Nasdaq Riga teams behind the TOP101 ranking - have accumulated a substantial amount of unique data. This valuable dataset enables us to analyze trends, identify interesting patterns, and draw interesting conclusions about the development of Latvia’s largest companies.

I will share some of our initial findings a little later.

The 2025 TOP101 ranking has been compiled in accordance with our established methodology, using 2024 annual reports of the companies and stock market multiples as of the end of the first half of 2025.

The total value of the TOP101 companies has reached almost 31 billion EUR, representing a 12.4% increase compared to the previous year.

AS Swedbank Baltics has retained its status as Latvia’s most valuable company. As a reminder, it is a holding company that consolidates all Baltic operations of the Swedish financial group Swedbank AB. AS Swedbank Baltics has reached a value of 6 billion EUR, representing a solid 39% increase compared to the previous year.

Such an increase has had a significant impact on the overall growth of the TOP101’s total value, accounting for approximately half of the total value increase in 2025. Of course, this should be viewed with some caution, as the list of companies included in the 2024 and 2025 TOP101 rankings differs — some companies have dropped out, while others have entered the list.

AS Swedbank Baltics is both a reason and an example of how the combined value share of Latvia’s 10 most valuable companies within the overall TOP101 value has increased significantly in recent years. This trend is clearly visible in our 20-year analysis, which we have called the “TOP Gini” or an inequality index.

In the 2025 TOP101, the financial sector as a whole has demonstrated strong value growth. The value has increased across all categories — banks, insurance companies, and non-bank lenders. Overall, the total value of the financial services sector reached 8.78 billion EUR, accounting for approximately 28% of the total TOP101 value and representing a 36.4% increase compared to the previous year.

The utilities sector ranks second in terms of share and significance in TOP101 2025, accounting for 18% of the total value, or 5.57 billion EUR. The sector has shown a 12.2% increase compared to the previous year. Within this group of seven companies, the lion’s share of the value and growth dynamics is driven by AS Latvenergo, which this year holds the honorable 2nd place in the TOP101 ranking.

The manufacturing sector also plays a significant role, including industrial goods, consumer goods, and the production of energy carriers. The total sector value stands at EUR 4.11 billion, representing approximately 12.8% of the overall TOP101 value, which is about a 4% decrease compared to the previous year.

The sector leaders, SIA Mikrotīkls and AS Latvijas Finieris, have both demonstrated solid value growth — 19% and 39%, respectively.

AS Latvijas Finieris deserves special recognition for its achievement, having risen to an impressive 11th place in the TOP101 ranking. The intriguing question now is - will we see a new entrant among the 10 most valuable companies next year, for the first time in a while?

One of the most notable value increases this year comes from the national airline airBaltic, whose value has risen by 75%, reaching EUR 542 million. It should be noted, however, that this figure is significantly lower than the recent transaction value reported publicly, where Lufthansa reportedly acquired a 10% stake in airBaltic for EUR 28 million. The TOP101 ranking reflects enterprise value (EV) - that is, the total business value including financial liabilities. When airBaltic’s financial obligations are deducted from the enterprise value indicated in the TOP101, the company’s equity value turns out to be negative.

The second-fastest value growth, amounting to 57%, was achieved by SIA DEPO DIY, whose enterprise value has reached 385 million EUR. This growth has been driven by improved profitability and rising market valuation multiples.

As mentioned earlier, we have done extensive work with 20 years of data. Our analyses have examined the impact of inflation and interest rates on TOP101 company values, sectoral value dynamics, as well as changes in value by shareholder group — including Latvian private, state-owned, and foreign-owned companies.

We have dedicated a separate in-depth study to these topics. However, here I would like to highlight the 12 companies that have been part of every single TOP101 ranking since the very beginning - all 20 editions.

Table 1 - 12 Companies Featured in All TOP101 Rankings, Analysis of Changes in Value

Interestingly, the highest value growth over the period has been recorded by SIA Maxima Latvija, with an impressive increase of 695%. In second place is AS Latvenergo with 603%, followed by AS Rīgas Siltums in third place with 518%.

Other companies have shown more moderate growth, while the bottom three positions are occupied by telecommunications companies, which is somewhat surprising. This can likely be explained by intense competition, rapid technological change, and other industry challenges.

It is also insightful to look at the average annual value growth of these companies and the volatility of that growth, expressed as the standard deviation. In simple terms — the less a company’s value has fluctuated on average over 20 years, the lower its risk.

Based on this indicator — which can be described as a modified Sharpe ratio - AS Latvenergo has shown the best performance, with the highest coefficient of 0.73.

For more insights in the 20-year development of Latvia’s most valuable companies, please visit this page.