US tops the super growth company league table for third year - Press Release

• 56% decrease in number of super growth companies in India
• significant change in country league table rankings
• globalisation a greater opportunity for super growth companies.

The US tops the Grant Thornton International Super Growth Index for the third year running. 44% of US companies hit ‘super growth1’ status, an increase of 5% over the previous year. The Index measures the country with the highest proportion of “super growth” companies.

This year Armenia (38%) has replaced India in second position. Indian companies suffered a dramatic drop to 14th in the table as the country’s proportion of super growth companies halved from 34% to 15%. Ireland has maintained a top five ranking (29%; No.3) and is joined by the UK (26%/No.4) and South Africa (25%; No.5), up from tenth position last year.

Other significant climbers in the Super Growth Index include Russia which has moved from 29th to 18th in the rankings; the Philippines from 23rd to 8th; Argentina from 27th to 15th; Italy from 30th to 21st.

Hong Kong - the other strong performer in 2006 at third place, has fallen out of the top ten this year – coming in at number 11. Other fallers in the chart include Malaysia from 8th to 26th and New Zealand from 15th to 28th - its worst performance in four years.

The Super Growth Index 2007, now in its fourth year, is a unique research project which forms part of the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR). The report covers the opinions of 7,200 privately held businesses in 32 countries and represents 81% of global GDP.

A ‘super growth’ company is one which has grown considerably more than the average measured against key indicators including turnover and employment.

Said, Alex MacBeath global leader of privately held business services for Grant Thornton International, “The most significant finding from this year’s survey is how two of last year’s strongest performers, India and Hong Kong have fallen so considerably in the table. We expected continued strong performance and maybe that one of them would possibly take top spot this year. However, the US continues to defy predictions and has not only retained the top slot but consolidated their position by a further 5%. It is also very interesting to see Russia and the Philippines jump from 29th to 18th and 23rd to 8th respectively.”

When percentages of super growth companies year on year are compared, it is interesting to see that economies such as Hong Kong and India have fallen from 34% to 18% and 34% to 15% respectively. While the Philippines (7% to 21%) and Russia (4% - 14%) have both grown considerably.

MacBeath continued, “We should not necessarily consider that a drop in the number of super growth companies is a bad thing for an individual economy. Growth in employee numbers and turnover can only realistically be expected to grow rapidly for a limited time before responsible businesses take stock and review their growth strategies. What we might be seeing now is a consolidation in Hong Kong and India with those super growth businesses of the last few years perhaps concentrating on profitability rather than simply on high levels of growth.

“Conversely, businesses in the Philippines and Russia could be considered as being in a different stage of their economic expansion with growth in employee numbers and turnover a component element of their emergence as global economies.”

Trends

• 63% of super growth companies believe globalisation presents more of an opportunity for their company, compared with 55% of all businesses in the survey
• super growth companies say the availability of a skilled workforce is considered to be a greater constraint than for companies in general (44% compared with 36%)
• red tape and regulation is another major concern for one in three (32%) super growth companies
• super growth companies are considerably less constrained in their ability to raise long-term finance with just 13% quoting this as a problem compared with 21% of companies overall.

Super growth companies are typically more positive on balance about their prospects than companies in general on a number of other indicators including: turnover - 87% compared with 70%; employment - 67% compared with 45%; and profitability – 66% compared with 52%.

Ends

1. 'Super growth' companies are defined as those which have grown considerably more than average. To identify 'super growth' companies, Experian Business Strategies, the economics consultancy, took four key indicators to create a weighted index. The four indicators were: absolute growth in turnover (adjusted for inflation); the percentage growth in turnover (adjusted for inflation); absolute growth in employee numbers; the percentage growth in employee numbers. By this measure, 23% of all privately held businesses surveyed worldwide are classified as 'super growth'.

Notes to editors

Grant Thornton International started a major annual survey of the attitudes and expectations of small and medium-sized businesses in 1992 called the European Business Survey (EBS). In 2003 the research project was widened to an international perspective covering medium-sized businesses and renamed the International Business Owners Survey (IBOS).

In 2007, the survey’s name was changed from IBOS to the International Business Report (IBR). The IBR survey draws upon 15 years of trend data for original EBS participants and 5 years for original IBOS countries. 15 year trend data is available for: France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK, while 5 year trend data is available for Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa and the US.

Grant Thornton International will donate US$5 to UNICEF for every completed IBR questionnaire. In 2007 this will result in a donation of over US$35,000.

The research was conducted by Experian Business Strategies Limited and Harris Interactive. All figures were correct at time of going to press. To find out more about IBR and to obtain details of IBR reports and results.

About Grant Thornton International

Grant Thornton International is one of the world's leading organisations of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms providing assurance, tax and specialist business advice to privately held businesses and public interest entities. The strength of each local firm is reflected in the quality of the international organisation. All Grant Thornton International member firms share a commitment to providing the same high quality service to their clients wherever they choose to do business.

Grant Thornton International is a non-practising international umbrella organisation and does not deliver services in its own name or otherwise. Each member and correspondent firm in Grant Thornton International is a separate national firm. These firms are not members of one international partnership or otherwise legal partners with each other (with the exception of certain limited instances), nor is any one firm responsible for the services or activities of any other.

For further information please contact:

Paul Donlon, Catherine Huffer or Katherine Sladden
Grant Thornton International Press Office.
Tel: +44 (0)870 444 4568 /07970 029 650
Email: gti@fourcommunications.com

Neil Bird
IBR project manager
Grant Thornton International
Tel: +44 (0)20 7391 9516