6 Philippine firms join Forbes Global 2000 list

*_{SM Investments Corp. is the highest-ranking Philippine company in the Forbes Global Courtesy of SM Investments Corp. Facebook page}*

Six Philippine firms have again made it into the latest Forbes Global 2000 list ranking the world’s top public companies.

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) now leads Philippine firms at 877th place in Forbes magazine’s global ranking of the biggest and most valuable firms based on sales, profits, assets, and market value.

SMIC’s ranking rose from the 1,092nd spot in 2019 as its market value stood at $24.3 billion, assets at $25.5 billion, and profits at $471.6 million.

Sy-led lender BDO Unibank, Inc. followed at 1,159, dropping from the country’s top spot at 1,018 in 2019.

Top Frontier Investment Holdings, the biggest shareholder of San Miguel Corp., climbed to the 1,183rd spot from 1,196th.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. improved its ranking to the 1,801st spot from 1,236th.

Meanwhile, LT Group entered the list at the 1,831st spot, while listed lender Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. dropped to 1,929th from 1,639.

Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings Inc. is no longer in the list after holding the 1,720th in 2019.

Globally, the top 2000 firms account for $39.8 trillion in revenues, $2.5 trillion in profits, $223.4 trillion in assets and $79.7 trillion in market capitalization.

“The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on this year’s Global 2000 list, with total revenue and profits falling from last year,” Forbes Statistics Editor Andrea Murphy said in a statement.

“While certain sectors like the airline industry were hit hard, big-box retailers did well amid the shift to online shopping. Robust M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity and the growth in IPOs (initial public offerings) over the last year has also led to the debut of many companies on the Global 2000.”

The top-ranked company is Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, followed by American banking giant JPMorgan Chase and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

The United States has the biggest number of companies in the list at 590, followed by China at 350.

Article and Photo originally posted by Business World last May 14, 2021 8:04pm and written by Jenina P. Ibañez.