Top Companies
Forbes: The World’s Most Valuable Brands 2010
Forbes magazine published the list of World’s 50 Most Valuable brands recently. Hi-tech firm Apple Computers (AAPL) tops the list with a brand worth of $57.4B. Software company Microsoft(MSFT) followed Apple to take the second place.
The top 10 brands from the ranking are listed below:
| Rank | Company | Ticker |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | AAPL |
| 2 | Microsoft | MSFT |
| 3 | Coca Cola | KO |
| 4 | IBM | IBM |
| 5 | GOOG | |
| 6 | McDonalds | MCD |
| 7 | GE | GE |
| 8 | Marlboro | MO |
| 9 | Intel | INTC |
| 10 | Nokia | NOK |
Among the top five tech companies occupy four spots. The non hi-tech brands in the top 10 included Coca Cola (KO), McDonald’s (MCD), Marlboro of Altria(MO) and GE (GE). Cell phone maker Nokia (NOK) of Finland is the only non-US company in the top 10 list.
The full list of Forbes magazine’s World’s Most Valuable Brands can be found here.
U.S. Falls Behind in Clean Energy Investment
It is well known that the Chinese are investing heavily in infrastructure than most other countries.This is understandable as the infrastructure in the country was poor before and they have to be upgraded to world-class standards. However the Chinese are not just investing in road, rail networks, airports, dams, etc. They are also focusing on the development and implementation of next generation technologies related to renewable energy such as wind power and solar power.
An article in the Bloomberg BusinessWeek notes that China is beating the U.S. in terms of private investment in clean energy as the chart shows below:
Click to Enlarge
“The deployment rate of renewable energy projects in America is withering,” said Andy Karsner, CEO of Manifest Energy and a former Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during the George W. Bush Administration. “Projects announcements are happening, but largely at the end of a federal check.” It is sad that the country consuming the largest amount of fossil fuels is unable to embrace green technologies which can not only save the environment but also offer much-needed economic activity including the creation of jobs.
Some of the major wind power companies in the world are:
1. Vestas Wind Systems (OTC: VWDRY)
Denmark
2. GE Energy (GE)
United States
3. Gamesa (OTC: GCTAF)
Spain
4. Enercon
Germany
5. Suzlon
India
6. Siemens (SI)
Germany
7. Nordex (NRDXF)
Germany
8. Veolia Environment (VE)
France
Some of the US-based solar energy firms include:
1. First Solar, Inc (FSLR)
2. SunPower Corporation (SPWRA)
3. STR Holdings, Inc (STRI)
Investors can also gain exposure to renewable energy stocks via ETFs, a few of which are listed below:
- iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index Fund (ICLN)
- PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio (PBD)
- Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (KWT)
- First Trust ISE Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN)
- PowerShares Global Wind Energy Portfolio (PWND)
The Best 50 Chinese Brands 2010
Interbrand, the brand consultancy and Forbes China have published the Best Chinese Brands 2010 list. The highest valued brand in China is China Mobile(CHL) with a estimated brand value of over RMB 202.0 billions. The other brands in the top five rankings are China Life(LFC), China Construction Bank (OTC: CICHY), ICBC and Bank of China(OTC: BACHF).
The three fastest growing brands in the past three years (2007-2010) are Baidu(BIDU), Lining and Ping An Group(OTC: PNGAY).
A a press conference in Beijing, Serge Dumont, senior vice president of Omnicom Group, which owns Interbrand said: “We have yet to see the creation of a truly global Chinese global brand name on par with Sony ( SNE - news - people ) or Nike ( NKE - news - people ), but it’s just a matter of time.”
The Best 50 Chinese Brands for 2010:
| Rank | Name | 2010 Brand Value (in RMB Billions) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China Mobile | 202.86 |
| 2 | China Life | 99.51 |
| 3 | China Construction bank | 96.20 |
| 4 | ICBC | 77.70 |
| 5 | Bank of China | 68.42 |
| 6 | Ping An | 56.97 |
| 7 | China Merchants Bank | 23.20 |
| 8 | Tencent | 22.96 |
| 9 | Moutai | 21.43 |
| 10 | China Pacific | 15.35 |
| 11 | Bank of Communication | 12.77 |
| 12 | Lenovo | 10.11 |
| 13 | Wuliangye | 8.81 |
| 14 | Tsintao Beer | 8.48 |
| 15 | Shanghai Pudong Development Bank | 8.14 |
| 16 | Luzhou Laojiao | 7.38 |
| 17 | Baidu | 6.95 |
| 18 | Citic Securities | 5.88 |
| 19 | Lining | 5.77 |
| 20 | Dongfeng Motor | 5.33 |
| 21 | Anta | 5.27 |
| 22 | Citic Bank | 5.17 |
| 23 | Changyu | 5.07 |
| 24 | Minsheng Bank | 5.04 |
| 25 | Industrial Bank | 4.49 |
| 26 | Gree | 4.13 |
| 27 | Alibaba | 4.01 |
| 28 | Mengniu | 3.95 |
| 29 | China Merchants Securities | 3.85 |
| 30 | Yunnan Baiyao | 3.81 |
| 31 | Midea | 3.74 |
| 32 | Sohu | 3.35 |
| 33 | Ctrip | 3.31 |
| 34 | Netease | 3.31 |
| 35 | Yurun Food | 3.29 |
| 36 | Haier | 3.12 |
| 37 | BYD | 3.11 |
| 38 | Shineway | 2.85 |
| 39 | Suning | 2.74 |
| 40 | New Oriental Education | 2.64 |
| 41 | Metersbonwe | 2.55 |
| 42 | 999 | 2.10 |
| 43 | 361 | 1.99 |
| 44 | Peak Sport | 1.80 |
| 45 | Hai Tong Securities | 1.75 |
| 46 | Bosideng | 1.42 |
| 47 | Gome | 1.23 |
| 48 | Hisense | 1.22 |
| 49 | Geely | 1.20 |
| 50 | Huaxia Bank | 1.15 |
The Best 25 Brazilian Brands 2010
The branding consultancy Interbrand recently published the top 25 Brazilian brands for 2010. The brand values are estimated based on various factors such as financial data, Economic Value Added (EVA), strength of brand, etc.
The Top 25 Brazilian Brands 2010:
| Rank | Name | Sector |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Itau | Financial Services |
| 2 | Bradesco | Financial Services |
| 3 | Petrobras | Energy |
| 4 | Banco Do Brasil | Financial Services |
| 5 | SKOL | Food and Beverage |
| 6 | Natura | Cosmetics |
| 7 | Brahma | Food and Beverage |
| 8 | Antartica | Food and Beverage |
| 9 | Vivo | Telecom |
| 10 | Renner | Retail |
| 11 | Embratel | Telecom |
| 12 | Banrisul | Financial Services |
| 13 | Lojas Americanas | Retail |
| 14 | Cyrela | Real Estate |
| 15 | Oi | Telecom |
| 16 | Braskem | Petrochemicals |
| 17 | TAM | Airlines |
| 18 | Net | Telecom |
| 19 | Marisa | Retail |
| 20 | Herring | Apparel |
| 21 | Gafisa | Real Estate |
| 22 | Havaianas | Apparel |
| 23 | GOL | Airlines |
| 24 | Positivo | Technology |
| 25 | Lopes | Real Estate |
Itau(ITUB) is the top Brazilian brand with a value of R$ 20,651 millions. Other financial services giants Banco Bradesco (BBD) and Banco Do Brasil(OTC: BDORY) appear in the top five rankings.
Nestle Tops Global Dairy Top 20 Rankings
Switzerland-based food and nutrition company Nestle SA(OTC: NSRGY) is the world’s top dairy company based on sales. In the “Global Dairy Top-20″ list published by the Dutch financial services provider Rabobank Group, European and US players dominate the top 10 ranks.
Global Dairy Top-20
| Rank | Name | Ticker | Country | Dairy Sales in US $ Billions, 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nestle | NSRGY | Switzerland | 25.90 |
| 2 | Danone | DANOY | France | 14.79 |
| 3 | Lactalis | France | 12.68 | |
| 4 | FrieslandCampina | The Netherlands | 11.17 | |
| 5 | Fonterra | New Zealand | 10.20 | |
| 6 | Dean Foods | DF | USA | 9.74 |
| 7 | Arla Foods | Denmark/Sweden | 8.64 | |
| 8 | Dairy Farmers of America | USA | 8.10 | |
| 9 | Kraft Foods | KFT | USA | 6.79 |
| 10 | Unilever | UN,UL | The Netherlands/UK | 6.38 |
| 11 | Meiji Dairies | Japan | 5.13 | |
| 12 | Saputo | SAPIF | Canada | 4.97 |
| 13 | Parmalat | Italy | 4.93 | |
| 14 | Morinaga Milk Industry | Japan | 4.81 | |
| 15 | Bongrain | France | 4.57 | |
| 16 | Mengniu | China | 3.77 | |
| 17 | Yili | China | 3.54 | |
| 18 | Land Olakes | USA | 3.21 | |
| 19 | Bel | France | 3.10 | |
| 20 | Tine | Norway | 3.02 |
Source: Rabobank
From the research report:
“Changing diets and strength in numbers are key to understanding the growth of demand in the Asian markets, according to Mark Voorbergen of Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory. “The Chinese government is helping create a whole new generation of dairy consumers by promoting a school milk programme. So Chinese dairy companies will have ample opportunity to increase sales simply by keeping up with domestic market growth.”
Supply and demand
Putting consumption into perspective, Mark contrasts the 300 litres of dairy products consumed per person per year in the Netherlands with the current 20 litres per person per year in China. “We expect the Chinese market to grow along the same lines as Japan or South Korea, from zero levels five years ago to a maximum of 50 litres per person per year.”
But volume growth is only happening in developing regions like China, South East Asia and selected markets in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. For the developed markets of Europe, the USA and New Zealand, the main growth challenge is to introduce new characteristics – often related to health and convenience - to standard dairy products that the consumer is willing to pay for.”
It is interesting to note that emerging markets are represented by just two companies from China. As the report notes above, focusing on health benefits of dairy products is a major selling point in developed countries. For example, French company Danone(OTC: DANOY) is the world’s leading producer of fresh dairy products accounting for about 28% of the world market share. Growth of Danone’s products is mainly driven by innovation and the marketing of dairy products emphasizing the health benefits to consumers. The success of Activia brand of yogurts in the U.S. and other developed markets is a proof of this strategy.
The 15 Most Profitable Canadian Companies
Recently Canadian Business magazine published its 11th annual ranking of Canada’s 500 largest publicly-traded companies. This list is grouped by various categories such as best value stocks, best dividend stocks, mid caps, small caps, etc. In this post lets review the companies that earned the largest profits.
The Top 15 Canadian companies based on profits:
| 2010 Rank | Company | Ticker | 5-Year Return (%) | Sector | Profit in ($mil) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Bank of Canada | RY | 94.8 | commercial banks | 3,858 |
| 2 | Bank of Nova Scotia | BNS | 58.1 | commercial banks | 3,547 |
| 3 | The Toronto-Dominion Bank | TD | 78.6 | commercial banks | 3,120 |
| 4 | Research In Motion Ltd. | RIMM | 127.1 | communications equipment | 2,731 |
| 5 | EnCana Corp. | ECA | 50.3 | oil, gas & consumable fuels | 2,124 |
| 6 | Canadian National Railway Co. | CNI | 76.2 | road & rail | 1,854 |
| 7 | Teck Resources Ltd. | TCK | 116.1 | metals & mining | 1,831 |
| 8 | Bank of Montreal | BMO | 39.1 | commercial banks | 1,787 |
| 9 | BCE Inc. | BCE | 26.2 | diversified telecommunication | 1,738 |
| 10 | Great-West Lifeco Inc. | N/A | 30.7 | insurance | 1,699 |
| 11 | Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. | CNQ | 131.7 | oil, gas & consumable fuels | 1,580 |
| 12 | Imperial Oil Ltd. | IMO | 34.9 | oil, gas & consumable fuels | 1,579 |
| 13 | Enbridge Inc. | ENB | 86.8 | oil, gas & consumable fuels | 1,562 |
| 14 | Rogers Communications Inc. | RCI | 123.8 | wireless telecommunication serv. | 1,478 |
| 15 | Power Financial Corp. | N/A | 25.8 | insurance | 1,439 |
Note: Profit amount is in Canadian $ and the 5-year return is for the Toronto Exchange listed security
Unlike many other developed countries, Canadian banks have been highly profitable and have taken the top three ranks this list. Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Canada’s most profitable bank, also made the largest profit of C$3.8B among publicly traded companies. Railroad operator Canadian National Railway (CNI) beat competitor Canadian Pacific (CP) in total profits earned. All the companies shown above have also great 5-year returns with four exceeding 100%.
