The largest Russian IT companies doubled the turnover
The largest Russian IT companies over three years increased the turnover by 95%, to 6.7 trillion rubles. Market participants among growth drivers note import substitution, an increase in M&A transactions, as well as support from the state. Experts believe that thanks to new state programs, growth will continue, but at a more modest pace.
The total revenue of the TOP-100 of the largest Russian IT companies over three years increased by 95%, to 6.7 trillion rubles, says the Smart Ranking agency, which Kommersant familiarized with. Compared to 2023, growth was approximately 41%. At the same time, it is noted in the study, for the first ten in the ranking (among them VK, Yandex, Rostelecom, X Holding, etc.), 70% of all total revenue accounted. Among the growth drivers, analysts note the filling of the vacant niches after the departure of Western companies from the Russian Federation, the popularization of ecosystems, as well as an increased number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). According to the last indicator of the IT market, over the past three years, it has been leading: in total, 43 M&A transactions were carried out in the amount of $ 10.64 billion, or 19.6% of all transactions in this format.
The total turnover of the RVB (the united company Wildberries and RUSS, sixth place in terms of the revenue of the Smart Ranking rating) in the E-Commerce segment in Russia in 2024 exceeded 4.1 trillion rubles, the company said. This is 60% more compared to Wildberries turnover in 2023. In addition to the sale of goods, this indicator also includes receipts for the services rendered – for example, advertising and financial.
Ozon revenue according to the results of 2024 increased by 45%, to 616 billion rubles, due to the increase in revenue from the provision of services and the growth of Fintech interest revenues, the representative of Ozon (3rd place) says. “The main factors of revenue growth in 2024 were IT infrastructure and information security,” says the representative of X Holding (1st place in the growth of revenue in three years). According to the forecast of the representative of T1 (8th place), in 2025 the growth of the company’s revenue will continue, but with a slowdown in the pace: “This is due to the gradual saturation of demand for domestic software in key sectors (finance, retail, public sector).”
The growth of the domestic IT industry in the period 2022–2024 is associated with the implementation of import substitution programs for Russian companies, said Tedo’s technological practice, Artem Semenikhin. “After the departure of the Western IT players, the multimilliar market share of the market turned out to be unclosed, which led to explosive growth and development of both the leaders of the industry and new players,” he emphasizes. However, Mr. Semenikhin notes, Russian companies have not yet closed the market needs for specialized software (software), especially in engineering areas, including systems for designing aircraft and ships. “The creation of Russian analogues of such systems is a rather complicated process, and internal demand does not provide a stable economic model for their manufacturers,” he says.
Of all one hundred companies, only eleven are public, so we can expect an increase in the release of technological companies at an IPO, says Dmitry Kalaev, director of the Accelerator Frius (Fund for the Development of Internet Initiatives). However, he notes, at the current key rate of 21%, interest in the exchange for the company is low, and the market expects to reduce the rate to 10%.
In addition to import substitution, the partner of maintaining transactions of the NEO consulting company Vladimir Fomchenko confirms the consolidation of the Russian market by acquiring technologists by large players and adds the purchase of assets of foreign partners. “Russian technological companies receive significant support from the state in the form of subsidies, tax benefits and grants, which allows you to partially level the negative consequences of a high key rate and tax reform,” he adds.
According to Artem Semenikhin, taking into account the start of new national programs, such as the “data economy”, an increase in the income of IT companies will continue, but not at a pace as before, about 5-10% per year.
