The Top 15 Global Chemical Companies of the Decade

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As part of its annual ranking of the top 100 chemical companies in the world, the ICIS Chemical Business magazine published the top 15 global chemical players over the last decade. The graphic below shows the top 15 companies based on turnover:

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A few observations on this ranking:

The German chemical giant BASF (BASFY) takes the top spot. Sales went from around $29B in 2001 to $87B in 2008. BASF continues to maintain the leadership position in the industry since 2000.With the purchase of  Ciba speciality chemicals and Cognis BASF has the plenty of potential for further growth.

While most of the companies in list held their positions since 2000, the five newcomers are SABIC, Sinopec (SHI), LyondellBasell Industries, INEOS and Sumitomo Chemical.

US chemical maker DuPont(DD) has had a low sales growth in the past 10 years with sales oscillating between $24B and $30B.

The oil majors ExxonMobil(XOM), Shell(RDS.A, RDS.B), BP(BP) and Total (TOT) are in this ranking due to their significant operations in the petrochemical sector.

Peruvian Equity Market Continues To Climb

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The main Peruvian equity index IGBVL has climbed over 27%  in the last two months due to rising metal prices. Yesterday the index closed at 19,499. During the credit crisis the index reached just below 6000.

The Peruvian market has been on an upward trend since September. Last year the market went up 100.99% in local currency terms completely erasing the losses of 2008. According to a CEIC Macro Watch report, analysts expect the momentum in the mining sector to continue and also the strong macroeconomic foundations of the domestic economy to benefit equity prices.

Some of the Peruvian stocks that are listed in the US are Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN) and  Creditcorp  Ltd. (BAP) on the NYSE and Cementos Lima (CEMTY),  Ferreyros (FERXY) and  Grana y Montero (GRYMY) on the OTC market.

Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN)  is Peru’s largest publicly-traded precious-metal mining company engaged in the extraction of silver, gold, zinc, lead and copper. BVN’s 5-year average annual growth rate is about 22%.

Credicorp Ltd. (BAP) is a financial services holding company that operates in the banking and insurance sectors. The stock more than tripled form its March 2009 lows of about $35 and closed at $126.40 yesterday.

Cementos Lima(CEMTY) is cement, ready-mixed concrete, and brick maker.The company also mines lime and gypsum and imports coal and resells whole or pulverized coal. Year-to-date the stock is up over 64%.

Ferreyros(FERXY) is an importer of industrial engineering goods such as Caterpillar bulldozers, Massey-Ferguson tractors, etc. YTD the stock is up over 83%.

Grana y Montero  (GRYMY) is a construction and materials company with operations in building projects, toll roads, etc. YTD the ADR has shot up by about 137%.

Another easy way to gain exposure to the Peruvian market is via the iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index Fund (EPU). The fund has an asset base of about $427M and holds 26 companies with the materials industry accounting for about 60% of total holdings.

Related:
Investing in Frontier Emerging Markets (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Corporate Income Taxes: E.U. vs. U.S.A

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Contrary to popular belief, the average corporate income tax rate in the U.S is actually higher than many other developed economies. Some economists and media pundits have suggested that the Federal government should reduce this tax rate to stimulate investment and job growth.

The average corporate income tax rate in the U.S. is 35% compared to just 23% in the EU. The rate is even lower some countries of the EU as the graphic shows below:

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Ireland has the lowest rate at 12.5% in the EU except for Cyprus and Bulgaria. Ireland’s very low corporate tax rate attracted many multinationals to invest there leading to tremendous growth of the economy before the downturn.

The Top 25 Asian Banks (excl. China and Japan) By Tier 1 Capital

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Earlier this year The Banker magazine published its annual ranking of the world’s top banks. The graphic below lists the top 25 Asian banks (excluding China and Japan) based on their Tier 1 capital:

Four Australian banks take the top four spots followed by Singapore’s DBS Bank (OTC: DBSDY). Two other Singapore banks are also in this list. Despite having a large economy, India is represented by just three banks.  Compared to India, the smaller countries of Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore all have three banks in this ranking of Asia’s top 25 banks.