Three ICT groups made Financial Mail`s top 20 companies this year.
The three are cellular network operator MTN (ranked third), smart card company Aplitec (10th) and hi-tech group Altech (13th).
The top 20 companies, headed by mining group Mvelaphanda Resources, were determined by combining past financial performance with the views of Financial Mail investment writers.
Aplitec is new to the top 20, while MTN was sixth last year and Altech was ranked 19th.
According to Top Companies 2004, Financial Mail staff considered factors such as corporate governance, empowerment commitment, management strength, investability, industry and company profit prospects, in addition to financial performance.
Mustek emerged as the biggest profit-maker in the IT sector, with net profit of R185.5 million. It was followed by Comparex Holdings (R152.2 million), Aplitec (R102.1 million), Bytes Technology Group (R93.5 million) and Datacentrix (R46.6 million).