8 PH firms in Forbes ‘world’s biggest public companies’ list

MANILA, Philippines – SM Investment Corporation (SMIC) leads the roster of Philippine firms that made it to the Forbes’ list of “the world’s biggest public companies” for 2015.

The Forbes Global 2000 is a comprehensive list of the world’s largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenues, profits, assets, and market value.

Philippine companies that made it to the list include 3 other holding firms, two banks, a telecommunications firm, and an electric utility company:

• Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)
• Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT)
• Metropolitan Bank & Trust (Metrobank)
• Ayala Corporation
• JG Summit Holdings
• Top Frontier Investment Holdings
• Manila Electric Company (Meralco)

The companies in the list hail from 61 countries and account for combined revenues of $39 trillion, profits of $3 trillion,  assets worth $162 trillion, and a  market value of $48 trillion.

“Thanks to a bull market, the total market value of Global 2000 companies grew 9% year-over-year, the most among the 4 metrics,” Forbes wrote Wednesday, May 6.

Big public PH firms

SMIC

SMIC at 911^th spot and with a market value of $16.7 billion, is the holding company founded by Henry Sy, the Philippines’ richest man per Forbes’ list. Founded in January 1960, it operates in 3 segments: property, retail, and financial services.

Headquartered in Pasay City, SMIC’s property segment is involved in mall, residential, commercial development, and hotels and convention centers operations. The retail segment is engaged in the retail and wholesale trading of merchandise like dry goods, wearing apparels, food, and other merchandise.

The financial services and others segment primarily includes the parent company which engages in asset management and capital investments, and associates which are involved in financial services.

BPI

BPI, at 1243^rd place in the Global 2000 list, has a market value of $9.1 billion.  Founded in August 1851, the oldest commercial bank in the country is engaged in consumer, corporate, and investment banking, and is headquartered in Makati City.

The consumer banking segment provides deposit taking and servicing; consumer lending like home mortgages, auto loans, and credit card finance; and remittance services. Its corporate banking unit is offering lending, leasing, trade, and cash management services to corporate and institutional customers, including high-end corporations and middle market clients.

BPI’s investment banking, meanwhile, provides corporate finance, securities distribution, asset management, trust, and fiduciary services. It is also engaged in proprietary trading and investment activities.

PLDT

At 1259^th spot is legacy telecommunications firm PLDT, listed with a market value of $14.2 billion. Headquartered in Makati City, it has 3 principal business groups: fixed line, wireless, and information and communication technology.

PLDT, established in November 1928, operates through wireless, fixed line, business process outsourcing (BPO), and others. The wireless segment consists of cellular through text messaging and wireless broadband. It also provides fixed line telecommunications services throughout the country, servicing retail, corporate, and small and medium enterprises or SME clients, offering local exchange, international long distance, national long distance, data, and other network and miscellaneous services.

Its BPO segment includes process solutions through subsidiaries while the “other” business includes investment.

Metrobank

At 1297^th place is Metrobank, founded in April 1962 and headquartered in Makati City. With a market value of $7.1 billion, Metrobank operates through the following segments: consumer corporate, investment, treasury, branch banking, and others.

The consumer banking segment provides consumer type loans and support. Its corporate banking handles loans, other credit facilities, deposit, and current accounts for corporate and institutional customers. Metrobank’s investment banking segment arranges structured financing, and provides services related to privatizations, initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers, and acquisitions.

Its treasury segment deals with money market, trading, and treasury services while its branch segment handles branch deposits and provides loans, and other loan related businesses. The others segment provides services like remittances, leasing, account financing, and other support services. Metrobank was founded by George Ty, who holds the 369^th rank in Forbes’ billionaires’ list.

Ayala Corporation

At 1344^th spot and with a market value of $11.2 billion is conglomerate Ayala Corporation led by its chief executive officer, Jaime Augusto Zobel De Ayala.

A holding company, Ayala Corporation operates its business through 9 business segments: real estate and hotels; financial services (BPI included) and insurance; telecommunications (Globe, rival of PLDT); water utilities; electronics; information technology and BPO; automotive; infrastructure and power; international; and others.

Through its infrastructure arm, Ayala Corporation is also one of the key players in the country’s public-private partnership projects.

The company was founded in January 1968 and is headquartered in Makati City.

JG Summit

At 1525^th  place is JG Summit, with a market value of $11.9 billion. Headquartered in Pasig City, JG Summit was founded in November 1990 by John L. Gokongwei Jr, listed this year as 254^th richest in Forbes’ billionaires’ list.

A holding company, JG Summit is engaged in food; agro-industrial and commodities; air transportation (budget carrier Cebu Pacific); telecommunications (Sun Cellular, where Gokongwei used to have a majority control); real estate and hotels; petrochemicals; banking; and other supplementary business.

Top Frontier

At 1792^nd place in the Global 2000 list is Top Frontier, an investment holding company with interest in the beverage, food, and mining exploration and development. It holds interest in San Miguel Corporation and Clariden Holdings, Incorporated.

The Makati City-based company, founded in March 2008 has a market value $763 million.

Meralco

At 1808^th spot is Meralco, listed with a market value of $6.8 billion. Chaired by business icon Manuel V. Pangilinan (who also is chairman of PLDT), the electric power distribution company operates through two segments: power and services and others. It was founded in 1903 and headquartered in Pasig City.

The power segment includes electricity distribution, power generation, and retail electricity supply. The services and others segment is involved principally in electricity-related services such as electro-mechanical engineering; construction; consulting; related manpower; light rail-related maintenance services; e-transaction and bills collection; insurance; e-business development; and energy systems management.

US, China rule the list

Forbes noted that for the first time, 4 of the biggest banks from China own the top 4 spots in the list, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China topping the list for the third consecutive year. Bank of China jumped 5 notches to 4^th spot.

China Construction Bank ranked 2^nd while the Agricultural Bank of China occupied the 3^rd spot.

The latest list also showed that the US and China dominate the current global business landscape, as the two countries split between themselves the top firms in the list.

US is leading the list with 579 companies while China (mainland and Hong Kong) has 232 firms that made it to the list, also surpassing Japan for the first time, Forbes wrote.

The list also welcomed 200 newcomers like Expedia; Electronic Arts, one of the world’s largest publisher of video games handed in good profits; and Tiffany & Co, a luxury jewelry company which debuted on the list thanks to rising profits.

“Thanks to a rising stock market and strong investor demand, the boom of the global IPO market added more than 20 notable newcomers to the list. In particular, Asian companies took the lead by raising capital, such as Alibaba’s IPO, the world’s largest IPO ever,” Forbes noted.

Banks and diversified financials also continue to dominate with 434 members; followed by oil and gas companies with 136 companies. Construction overtook utilities with 121 spots as the third leading industry this year, Forbes added. – Rappler.com