Shaky Global Economy Affects Fortune Global 500 List
13 July 1999
Shaky Global Economy Affects Fortune Global 500 List
NEW YORK--July 12, 1999--Merger Mania Dramatically Alters Face of Global 500
For the third year in a row, General Motors tops the 1999 FORTUNE 500 list of the world's largest corporations, followed closely by automotive industry powerhouses DaimlerChrysler at No. 2 and Ford Motor at No. 3. Wal-Mart Stores, Mitsui, Itochu, Mitsubishi, Exxon, General Electric and Toyota Motor complete the top ten. The annual ranking of The Global 500 appears in the August 2 issue of FORTUNE.
Of all the countries on the list, none suffered more than Japan. Asia's continued economic crisis trimmed the number of Japanese firms in the Global 500 to 100 (down from 126 two years ago); these collectively registered a stunning $9 billion loss. The U.S. posted a net gain of 10 companies to 185; these suffered a bit of a slump as well with overall profits falling 3.7%--the first decline in seven years. Europe remained a bright spot. Its 170 companies on the Global 500 list, posted annual revenue gains of 6.4%, and witnessed overall profit expansion of 13%. Among the European star performers that posted dazzling profit increases from last year were Royal Philips Electronics (124.5%) and BT (76.2%).
Of the seven companies with profits above $6 billion, six were American. The U.S. also laid claim to the top revenue generating corporation in 24 of the 43 industries represented, one more than the year before. U.S. companies joining the list this year were MCI Worldcom (No. 214), Haliburton (No. 223) Fred Meyer (No. 272), Texas Utilities (No. 276), Dana (No. 340), Washington Mutual (No. 344), Rite Aid (No. 345), Utilicorp United (No. 352), US West (No. 364), Tech Data (NO. 394), Reliant Energy (No. 396), Circuit City Group (No. 413), Whirlpool (No. 428), American General (No. 432), Warner-Lambert (No. 434), Best Buy (No. 441), Eli Lilly (No. 443), Fleet Financial Group (No. 447), Tenet Healthcare (No. 451) and Sun Microsystems (No. 455).
1998 proved an excellent year to tie the knot, setting an all-time record for mergers and acquisitions and proving the advantages of thinking big, acting fast and occasionally disregarding national and cultural boundaries. The Daimler-Benz (formerly No. 17) purchase of Chrysler (previously No. 25) created the second-largest corporation in the Global 500, DaimlerChrysler. Travelers' decision to acquire Citibank and form Citigroup caused the company to leap from No. 58 to No. 16 on the Global 500, with $76 billion in revenues and $5.8 billion in profits. BP's $55 billion acquisition of Amoco (formerly No. 72), set off a wave of consolidation in the oil industry and helped propel the newly merged company to No. 19.
Merger mania also fueled this year's top performers. Waste Management's (No. 346) acquisition of USA Waste Services led to revenues increasing by 386%, while Worldcom (No. 214) boosted revenues over 140% with its takeover of MCI. Eastman Kodak's restructuring contributed to a turnaround that made the company No. 1 for profit gains.
Chinese companies, which debuted on the Global 500 in 1995, reinforced their ranks to six companies (up from four last year) as more Chinese corporations opened their books to the public.
The global economic malaise caused revenues of the Global 500 to rise only 0.1%, decelerating from last year's already anemic 0.2%. Profits fared even worse, sinking to 2.6% from 11.8%--the first such decline since 1992. Assets were up 14%, and the number of employees grew 8.0%.
The FORTUNE Global 500 is available on www.fortune.com as of 8:00 a.m. ET, Monday, July 12.
TOP 25 COMPANIES OF THE FORTUNE GLOBAL 500
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Rank 1998 Rank 1997 Company, Country Revenues in %Change in
$ Millions Revenues
from 1997
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1 1 GENERAL MOTORS, U.S. 161,315.00 9.5
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2 17 DAIMLERCHRYSLER, Germany 154,615.00 116.1
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3 2 FORD MOTOR, U.S. 144,416.00 6
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4 8 WAL-MART STORES, U.S. 139,208.00 16.7
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5 3 MITSUI, Japan 109,372.90 23.3
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6 6 ITOCHU, Japan 108,749.10 14.1
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7 4 MITSUBISHI, Japan 107,184.40 16.9
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8 7 EXXON, U.S. 100,697.00 17.7
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9 12 GENERAL ELECTRIC, U.S. 100,469.00 10.6
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10 11 TOYOTA MOTOR, Japan 99,740.10 4.8
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11 5 ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL
GROUP, Brit./Neth. 93,692.00 26.9
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12 9 MARUBENI, Japan 93,568.60 15.8
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13 10 SUMITOMO, Japan 89,020.70 -
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14 14 INTL. BUSINESS
MACHINES, U.S. 81,667.00 4
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15 16 AXA, France 78,729.30 2.4
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16 58 CITIGROUP, U.S. 76,431.00 103.2
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17 22 VOLKSWAGEN, Germany 76,306.60 16.8
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18 15 NIPPON TELEGRAPH
AND TELEPHONE, Japan 76,118.70 1.1
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19 20 BP AMOCO, Britain 68,304.00 4.1
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20 13 NISSHO IWAI, Japan 67,741.70 17.3
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21 19 NIPPON LIFE
INSURANCE, Japan 66,299.60 7.1
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22 24 SIEMENS, Germany 66,037.80 3.6
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23 28 ALLIANZ, Germany 64,874.70 -
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24 21 HITACHI, Japan 62,409.90 9
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25 27 U.S. POSTAL
SERVICE, U.S. 60,072.00 3.2
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