BME Growth companies increase turnover by 34% and staff by 24% in 2022

• Sales growth last year was higher than the 29.4% average of the last nine years despite the challenging environment
• SME stock market companies increased their aggregate EBITDA to 992 million euros, 30% more than a year ago

The companies listed on BME Growth maintained their capacity for growth and profitability in 2022 despite the complex environment marked by the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and rising interest rates. Despite the rising cost of financing, a key factor in boosting growth companies such as those in BME Growth, these companies increased their turnover last year to €4.6 billion, 34.2% more than in 2021. This is higher than the average for the last nine years, which is 29.4%.

The aggregate growth of companies in the SME stock market was largely driven by the most innovation-oriented sectors, which are the ones that most use BME Growth as a tool to finance their growth. Excluding SOCIMIs, which also grew notably, the other companies increased their turnover by 41% compared to 2021, demonstrating that even in the highest inflation and interest rate environment of the last decade they were able to grow at a rate well above inflation.

This increase in turnover was accompanied by an increase in the profitability of the companies at the aggregate level, achieving an increase in EBITDA of 30.4%, demonstrating that the growth in turnover was also aimed at creating value for their shareholders. This EBITDA increase was almost 50% above the 9-year average of 21.3%.

Another metric with a positive evolution in 2022 for BME Growth companies is job creation. According to INE data, Spain created 279,000 jobs last year, representing growth of 1.38%. Compared to the aggregate national figure, BME Growth companies contributed to job creation with a total workforce growth of 24.4%, bringing the total number of employees to 28,712. That is 5,628 new jobs. This figure confirms the contribution of SMEs to job creation and, in particular, that those companies that use the capital market as a source of financing manage to boost their number of employees at a much faster rate than the national economy.

Companies belonging to the fastest growing sectors such as electronics and software or media were the ones that contributed the most to the positive evolution of BME Growth companies in 2022 in such a difficult environment.

"These figures demonstrate the importance of accessing the capital markets for small and medium-sized companies, as it allows them to increase their number of employees at a much faster rate than the national economy, while at the same time strongly boosting their turnover and EBITDA," explains Jesús González, Managing Director of BME Growth.

*To calculate the evolution of turnover, EBITDA and employees, we have taken into account the available information of the companies included in BME Growth as of 31 December 2022, excluding from the whole series those companies suspended from trading and those that have been delisted.