MOSCOW, November 1 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s telecommunications company Sitronics has become the only Russian company that entered the top 100 largest high technology companies of the world. The rating has been prepared by TASS-Telecom based on annual company reports and published on the tasstelecom.ru and tasstelekom.rf websites. The main criterion was the volume of receipts from the sale of products and services. One of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers Samsung Electronics took the first took place in the rating. The Korean corporation’s income in 2010 amounted to 133.78 billion US dollars. The American company Hewlett-Packard took the second place in the rating with last year’s revenues worth 126 billion dollars.
The American corporation IBM is third in the rating with 2010 receipts volume of 99.87 billion dollars. The world’s leading software manufacturer Microsoft, whose profit was 69.943 billion dollars, took the fifth place, and the producer of iPhones and iPads Apple with receipts of 65.225 billion dollars – the sixth. Sitronics is on the 97th place in the rating with 2010 proceeds of 1.167 billion dollars. Among the main activities of the company is the production of telecommunication equipment and software; system integration, development and production of microelectronic components; industrial electronics, security systems and smart cards. The main shareholder of Sitronics is AFK Sistema, which owns 63.97 percent of its shares. The combined turnover of the companies represented in the rating in 2010 totalled over $1.6 trillion. The rating authors noted that the largest segment of the high-technology industry is the production of computers, components and peripherals.
In 2010, this segment accounted for 34.1 percent of the industry's total revenue, or 552 billion dollars. The next largest segment is the production of equipment and development of novelties for the telecommunications industry. Its share is 23.9 percent of the industry's revenue or 387 billion dollars. JSC Sitronics is one of the largest high-technology company in Russia, CIS and Europe, specialising in telecommunications, information technologies and microelectronics. Sitronics is an affiliate of JSFC Sistema — the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and CIS, serving more than 100 mln consumers.
Sitronics is listed on the London Stock Exchange since February 2007, and its shares are also traded on RTS. Sitronics reported full year 2010 revenues of $1.17 bln, with an OIBDA of $105.6 mln, and an OIBDA margin of 9.1 percent. Total assets were $2.01 bln at the end of 2010. Sitronics was established in December 2002 as a Scientific Concern consisting of JSC NIIME & Micron (a Russian micro-electronics producer) and STROM Telecom (a Czech telecommunications equipment and software manufacturer). The next milestone in Sitronics’ development occurred in June 2004, when the Company gained a controlling share in Kvazar-Micro, the largest Ukrainian IT-company. As a result of this, the Company launched an IT-services business line. In 2005, assets that formed the Scientific Concern, as well as Kvazar-Micro and Sitronics (which produced consumer electronics under the SITRONICS brand), were consolidated into JSC Sitronics.
In June 2005, Sitronics purchased a majority stake in INTRACOM TELECOM (a Greek company). This purchase gave Sitronics access to Southern European, Middle Eastern and African telecommunication service markets, which generated substantial product range synergy, as well as opened up numerous R&D designs. In February 2007, Sitronics placed 17.5 percent of its shares on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: SITR). The $356.4 mln raised (from the listing) was used to introduce new technologies and fund corporate development.
Beginning in 2008, the Company undertook key measures to optimise and integrate the Group’s businesses: determining priority business trends, consolidating subsidiaries under a single umbrella brand and centralising sales and marketing functions. In 2009, Sitronics launched new products, concluded numerous landmark contracts, entered promising geographic markets and optimised costs. In June 2011 JSC RTI purchased the majority stake of 63,074 percent from JSFC SISTEMA and became controlling shareholder of the Company.