Each year Fortune magazine publishes a list of the top 500 corporations in the world measured by revenue (the Fortune Global 500). The corporations are further categorised in a number of ways, including by business sector, by profits (after tax and extraordinary charges), and by country. Fortune ranks companies for the financial year just passed, so that the 2002 survey is based on data for the financial year ending March 2002 at the latest. In practice this will mean that much of the data given in the 2002 publication reflects the business operations of 2001. All figures are translated into US Dollar equivalents, using the average rate for the financial year in question.
Here, the companies listed by Fortune are split into banks and non-banks for six different countries (France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, UK) in five different years (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001). For each country, the total profits of the non-banks are calculated, and the total profits of the banks are calculated. The results are shown in graphical and tabular form below (our results for 2001 correspond with the Fortune 2002 publication, results for 2000 correspond with the Fortune 2001 publication, and so on).
As an example, in the survey published during August 2002, 33 of the Fortune 500 companies were based in the United Kingdom. Among these companies were 6 banking organisations which, together, made the equivalent of USD 20.62 billion in profit during the year. All of the other UK corporations on the list, when added together, made a loss of USD 0.97 billion. 37 companies on the Fortune 500 were headquartered in France. Here, the 5 banks made USD 7.99 billion profit, and the remaining 32 corporations when added together made a loss of USD 2.41 billion.
Table of Profits by Country for Banks and non-Banks in the Fortune Global 500
(millions of US Dollars equivalent)
|
1996 |
 |
|
1997 |
|
1998 |
|
|
2000 |
|
2001 |
|
|
bank |
non-bank |
|
|
bank |
non-bank |
|
bank |
non-bank |
|
|
bank |
non-bank |
|
bank |
non-bank |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| UK |
11925 |
30265 |
|
|
15549 |
29887 |
|
17567 |
31319 |
|
|
22133 |
12030 |
|
20621 |
(974) |
|
| France |
4414 |
5533 |
|
|
5412 |
16070 |
|
5778 |
22627 |
|
|
9498 |
31704 |
|
7999 |
(2412) |
|
| Italy |
1180 |
6533 |
|
|
(1233) |
12570 |
|
2403 |
11162 |
|
|
2632 |
8648 |
|
2133 |
8263 |
|
| Netherlands |
4896 |
3181 |
|
|
5057 |
6793 |
|
5922 |
9219 |
|
|
13384 |
13605 |
|
2893 |
28 |
|
| Spain |
1499 |
3619 |
|
|
1649 |
4693 |
|
2047 |
2942 |
|
|
4150 |
6185 |
|
4791 |
4129 |
|
| Switzerland |
(3959) |
13542 |
|
|
14 |
8691 |
|
4208 |
14337 |
|
|
8042 |
18875 |
|
3888 |
9126 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TOTAL |
19955 |
62674 |
|
|
26448 |
78703 |
|
37925 |
91606 |
|
|
59839 |
91047 |
|
42323 |
18161 |
|
figures in brackets are negative amounts
Original: December 2002; last updated: February 2004
