Brazilians step up in Financial Times Global 500
Valor Econômico - 06/30/2008
Petrobrás appears as the 12th most valuable company of the world, in an annual classification of the British newspaper "Financial Times" that shows how the value of the company changed last year, and points out the performance of sectors and countries. Vale is the second Brazilian company in the list, at the 25th place in the ranking. The leap of Brazilian companies in the ''FT Global 500 2008'', which is based on the market value, is spectacular. Brazil has 11 companies in the list, with total value of US$ 670 billion, the 11th place among the countries. CSN, Unibanco, Gerdau, and Usiminas have been included in the list of the 500 most important companies worldwide. Banks Itaú, Bradesco, and Banco do Brasil, besides the beverage manufacturer AmBev, had their position improved. The holding company Itaúsa moved 135 positions up and is included among the 25 largest rises of the ranking. The FT notices that the strong increase in the prices of commodities increased the wealth of the producers of energy, mining and fertilizers, which helps them finance their expansion and acquisitions. That can be seen in Petrobras, which went from the 50th position last year to rank 12th place thanks to a market value of US$ 208.4 billion in March 31st, the date used by the ranking. Vale went from the 74th to 25th most valuable company, with market capitalization of US$ 159.5 billion. The newcomer CSN is already in 312th place with a greater market value than several large multinational companies. Exxon Mobil keeps the leadership as the most valuable company of the planet. Nonetheless, PetroChina comes in second place, knocking General Electric down to the third position. Chinese companies went from eight to 25 in the list, followed by Russian and Indian ones. The domain of the USA has decreased; the number of Canadian companies has increased; and German and Swiss ones have remained steady.