Top 10 Banks in the World by Assets

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BankersAlmanac.com, a site run run by the information database provider Reed Elsevier, tracks the world’s top banks based on assets.

The World’s Top 10 Banks ranked by Total Assets:

[TABLE=173]

Note: Data compiled from banks’ balance sheet information included on Bankersalmanac.com on 5th August 2009

European banks dominate the above list. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) ranks the number one bank in terms of assets held. Currently the British government is the largest owner of the bank and due to severe losses and conditions of government bailout, RBS stopped paying dividends. The total assets held by RBS  is more than double the size of assets held by Bank of America. Deutsche Bank (DB) has a large global presence  but now offers a low yield.

Among the large French banks, BNP Paribas fared the credit crisis better than Societe Generale. And
Societe Generale took a $7.2 B loss last year due to the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel. US-based banks JP Moran Chase(JPM) and Bank of America(BAC) are two of the so-called “too big to fail” banks. JP Morgan Chase is in a much better shape than Bank of America. As shown above, JPM also has the highest dividend yield.

Related Post from 2008:

Top Banks of the World available as ADRs

Most Valuable Brands of Canada 2009

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“Branding is about having a unique personality, a point of view and a positioning.”
David Haigh
CEO, Brand Finance plc

The Most Valuable Brands of Canada for 2009 were published by Brand Finance a while ago. The rankings ” represents a point-intime examination of the Canadian ‘brandscape’, including many brands who are ‘getting it right’ – and consequently are playing an increasingly important role on the global stage during these challenging times.”

Royal Bank of Canada is the top brand with an estimated brand value of almost C$5.4 B. RIM’s BlackBerry is Canada’s highly rated brand with a score of AAA-. Canada Post ranks the best among ‘Iconic’ brands. In 2009, 65 companies were included in the most valuable brands list.

The Ten Most Valuable Canadian brands are listed by rank order (ascending):

Royal Bank of Canada (RY)

Research In Motion (RIMM)
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
Manulife Financial (MFC)
BCE Inc. (BCE)
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)
Loblaw Companies Ltd
Bombardier
Bank of Montreal (BMO)
CIBC (CM)

Mining, Oil & Gas and Banking form the top 3 sector by enterprise value in 2008. So its not surprising to see the five large banks in the list above.

To see the complete list of 65 most valuable brands click on the icon below.

Canada-Top-Brands-List-2009

The Top 20 World Ports in 2008

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The Top 20 World Ports for 2008 are shown below. Not surprisingly China dominates this list with taking 3 out of the top 5 spots. In addition, out of the total 20, ten of them are Chinese ports. Shanghai ranked the top port last year. In the US, the top ports were LA, South Louisiana and Houston.

Click to Enlarge Image

Top-20-World -Ports-2008

Top-20-World -Ports-2008-by-chart

The Top 20 World Container Ports for 2008 are listed below. Singapore tops the list followed by Shanghai, Hong Kong  and Shenzen in China.

Top-20-World-Container-Ports-for-2008

Rotterdam was the number one container port in 2008. The Top 20 European Container Ports for 2008 are displayed below:

Top-20-European-Container-Ports-for-2008

Ten Stocks from the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index

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The one hundred components in the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index are “selected to the index by dividend yield, subject to screens for dividend-per-share growth rate, dividend payout ratio and average daily dollar trading volume. Components are weighted by indicated annual dividend”. As of July 31,2009 the total return for the index was -4.03% and the yield is 4.39%. Utilities account for one fourth of the index.The following is a brief overview of the top ten stocks from this index:

1.CenturyTel Inc (CTL) is a telecom provider with operations rural and mid-size markets in 25 states. The majority of its business are in Missouri, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas and Washington.The current dividend yield is 9.02% and the market cap is $9.2B. Last year the company had $2.6 in revenues.

2.New York Community Bancorp Inc.(NYB) has 214 branches in all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County in New York, and Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties in New Jersey. NYB pays a dividend of 9.31%.

3.Zenith National Insurance Corp. (ZNT) is a small-cap property and casualty insurance company offering worker’s compensation, reinsurance and investments. Dividend yield is 7.97% and the beta is 0.9. For the 2nd quarter, Zenith reported a net income of $1.8 million.

4.R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.(RRD) is a printing services company. It pays a 6.16% dividend yield.
Donnelley earned $25.2 million, or 12 cents a share in the 2nd quarter and sales fell to $2.36B.

5.Altria Group Inc. (MO) is a fully owned subsidiary of Philip Morris USA Inc with a dividend yield of 7.26% which is comparable to the yield of its peer Reynolds America (RAI). MO has a profit margin of about 15%.

6.Based in Puerto Rico First Bancorp(FBP) is bank holding company with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States and the US and British Virgin Islands. In the past 52-weeks the stock is down nearly 67% due to loan losses.The current yield is 8.81%. On July 30th, First Bancorp announced the suspension of common and preferred dividends.

7.F.N.B. Corp.(FNB) is a bank holding company operating in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Florida.FNB pays a 6.85% dividend yield. The Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio was 13.22% on June 30, 2009.

8.NiSource(NI) is a utility that provides “natural gas, electricity, and other products and services to approximately 3.8 million customers located within a corridor that runs from the Gulf Coast through the Midwest to New England.” It pays a 7.10% yield.Revenue and earnings growth are down in the past few years and the stock is a poor performer.

9.Mercury General Corp.(MCY) is a California-based insurance company offering homeowners, mechanical breakdown, commercial and dwelling fire, and commercial property insurance. In 52 weeks MCY is down 28% and the dividend yield is 6.34%.

10.Arizona-based electric utility Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) has a market cap of $3.3B.The current dividend yield is 6.50%.

To download the complete list of Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index components in Excel click here.
Note: The yield listed in the Excel file is as of July 27,2009

Three China Oil ADRs

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In an article titled Shanghai Market Sees Red the Journal says:

“It is rich in irony. But preparing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party won’t want a plunging stock market to mar the festivities.

At least, this is the latest thinking among traders betting on an end to the slide in Chinese stocks.

It highlights the Shanghai market’s defining characteristic: Successful investing there requires sniffing the winds from Beijing.

The recent selloff — taking the Shanghai Composite down 16% from its Aug. 4 high — has been stoked by fear Beijing will tame its massive rate of bank-loan expansion.”

I would agree that successful investing in not just China, but many emerging markets requires following the government’s moves on a regular basis. Some of the money from the stimulus program is moving into the stock markets. China’s car sales is growing exponentially due to high demand created by tax breaks and other incentives.

After Coal, oil is the major source of energy for China. As the following charts show, China was the 3rd largest importer of oil in 2008 and majority of the imports come from the middle east.

Source: Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy

As China’s economy grows demand for oil will continues to grow and the large Chinese oil companies would benefit. Already some of the Chinese oil producers are active globally. In July, “Crude imports jumped 18% from a month ago to 19.63 million metric tons last month, or about 4.64 million barrels a day, according to monthly data released by China’s General Administration of Customs.”

One easy way to invest in the oil companies are via the 3 Chinese oil ADRs listed in the NYSE. A brief summary of them follows:

1.China National Offshore Oil-CNOOC (CEO) is a producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas with operations in People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Australia, Nigeria, Canada and Singapore. The current dividend yield is 3.91%. In 2008, total revenues was about $18B and the annual earnings growth is 28%. China National Petroleum Corp. and Cnooc Ltd. are trying to acquire to Repsol YPF’s stake in its Argentine unit YPF for $17 billion.

2.China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (aka Sinopec Corp.) (SNP) is involved in integrated oil, gas and chemical operations in the People’s Republic of China. At the end of last year the company operated 16 oil and gas producing fields. The stock is up 41% YTD.

3.PetroChina Company Ltd (PTR) is another integrated oil and natural gas producer and distributor with a market cap of over $200B. Revenues grew consistently over the past 5 years and the yield is 4%. PTR has nearly doubled from the March lows.