Manila Bulletin

Sy family controls 2 of 6 PH firms in Forbes’ Global 2000 list

- By JAMES A. LOYOLA

The fortune of the world’s biggest corporatio­ns rose and fell as it’s been a rollercoas­ter of a year for global markets.

This is reflected in Forbes Magazine’s 17th Global 2000 list –an internatio­nal ranking of the world’s biggest, most powerful and most valuable companies.

Only six Philippine companies made it to the prestigiou­s list, led by two firms controlled by the Sy family which has also been ranked as the country’s richest.

Topping the list of Philippine firms in Forbes’ Global 2000 is BDO Unibank at 1,018 followed by SM Investment­s Corporatio­n at 1,092. Both firms are controlled by the Sy family — the only Philippine group with two firms in the list.

Third is Top Frontier Investment Holdings at 1,196. The firm is the biggest shareholde­r of conglomera­te San Miguel Corporatio­n and is controlled by SMC President Ramon S. Ang.

Ayala Corporatio­n, the country’s oldest conglomera­te, is fourth among Philippine firms in the Global 2000 list at 1,236.

Metropolit­an Banking and

Trust Corporatio­n controlled by the Ty family, is the second bank and fifth among local firms in the list at 1,639.

Conglomera­te JG Summit Summit Holdings, Inc. of the Gokongwei family is ranked at 1,720 and is the last Philippine company to be included in the list.

“We compile our Global 2000 list using data from FactSet Research systems to screen for the biggest public companies in four metrics: Sales, profits, assets and market value,” said Forbes.

It added that, “our market value calculatio­n is as of April 18, 2019, closing prices and includes all common shares outstandin­g.”

For the global ranking, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China took the top spot again for the seventh year in a row. The rest of China’s “Big Four” banks all made the top ten, and JPMorgan Chase climbed up to the second spot due to rising profits thanks in part to major tax cuts.

Of the 61 countries represente­d on the list, the United States is home to the largest number, 575 companies. China and Hong Kong were next with 309, followed by Japan with 223.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines