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European BusinessWeek 50 Scoreboard
Special Report: Europe's BW 50
Slide Show: Europe's Top Companies
The companies in the S&P Europe 350, which was the starting point for our research, represent a huge universe—over 70% of the Europe equities market. We ran our proprietary data screens on these companies, then vetted the list with a board of BusinessWeek editors and correspondents to get the insights and commonsense judgments that purely financial measures can't provide. That process resulted in our list of 50 companies playing at the top of their game. Dive in.
Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
2008 | 2007 | Company Name | Country | Overall Grade | Profitability % | Profitability Grade | Sales Growth Rate % | Sales Growth Grade | Stock Market Value | 2007 Sales | 2007 Net Income | Total Return Past 12 Months | Total Return Past 36 Months | Economic Sector |
| DEUTSCHE BOERSE | (Ger.) | A | A | A | Financials | |||||||||
| NOBEL BIOCARE HOLDING | (Switz.) | A | A | A | Health Care | |||||||||
| NOKIA | (Fin.) | A | A | A- | Information Technology | |||||||||
| DRAX GROUP | (Brit.) | A | A | A- | Utilities | |||||||||
| VALLOUREC | (France) | A | A | A | Industrials | |||||||||
| RECKITT BENCKISER | (Brit.) | A | A | A | Consumer Staples | |||||||||
| RIO TINTO | (Brit.) | A | A | A | Materials | |||||||||
| STATOILHYDRO | (Nor.) | A | A | B+ | Energy | |||||||||
| BELGACOM | (Belg.) | A | A | B- | Telecommunication Services | |||||||||
| MAN GROUP | (Brit.) | A | A | A | Financials | |||||||||
| H&M HENNES & MAURITZ | (Swe.) | A | A | A- | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| NA | OPAP | (Greece) | A | A | A | Consumer Discretionary | ||||||||
| RANDSTAD HOLDING | (Neth.) | A | A | B | Industrials | |||||||||
| ANGLO IRISH BANK | (Ire.) | A | A | A | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | SALZGITTER | (Ger.) | A | A | B | Materials | ||||||||
| INDITEX | (Spain) | A | A- | A | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| CAPITA GROUP | (Brit.) | A | A | A- | Industrials | |||||||||
| NA | BEIERSDORF | (Ger.) | A | A | B- | Consumer Staples | ||||||||
| MEDIOLANUM | (Italy) | A | A | B+ | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | PUMA | (Ger.) | A | A- | A | Consumer Discretionary | ||||||||
| SCOTTISH & SOUTHERN ENERGY | (Brit.) | A | A- | A | Utilities | |||||||||
| NA | HAYS | (Brit.) | A | A | C | Industrials | ||||||||
| NA | UNIBAIL-RODAMCO | (France) | A- | A- | A | Financials | ||||||||
| BHP BILLITON | (Brit.) | A- | A | B | Materials | |||||||||
| BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP | (Brit.) | A- | A | B- | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| BARCLAYS | (Brit.) | A- | A | B+ | Financials | |||||||||
| TELENOR | (Nor.) | A- | B+ | A | Telecommunication Services | |||||||||
| SANDVIK | (Swe.) | A- | A | B | Industrials | |||||||||
| ASTRAZENECA | (Brit.) | A- | A | C | Health Care | |||||||||
| NA | IMPERIAL TOBACCO GROUP | (Brit.) | A- | A | C | Consumer Staples | ||||||||
| NEXT | (Brit.) | A- | A | C | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| OLD MUTUAL | (Brit.) | A- | B+ | A | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | ASML HOLDING | (Neth.) | A- | A | B | Information Technology | ||||||||
| NA | BG GROUP | (Brit.) | A- | B | A | Energy | ||||||||
| NA | BOLIDEN | (Swe.) | A- | A- | A- | Materials | ||||||||
| NA | ABB | (Switz.) | A- | A | B- | Industrials | ||||||||
| NA | BBVA | (Spain) | A- | A | C | Financials | ||||||||
| PERSIMMON | (Brit.) | A- | B+ | A | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| NA | GAS NATURAL SDG | (Spain) | A- | B+ | A | Utilities | ||||||||
| NA | METSO | (Fin.) | A- | B+ | A- | Industrials | ||||||||
| BANCO POPULAR ESPAÑOL | (Spain) | A- | A | C+ | Financials | |||||||||
| AEGIS GROUP | (Brit.) | A- | B | A | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| LONMIN | (Brit.) | B+ | B+ | A- | Materials | |||||||||
| NA | NESTLÉ | (Switz.) | B+ | B+ | A- | Consumer Staples | ||||||||
| NA | BANK OF IRELAND | (Ire.) | B+ | A- | B- | Financials | ||||||||
| NA | ATLAS COPCO | (Swe.) | B+ | A | C | Industrials | ||||||||
| MEDIASET | (Italy) | B+ | A | C | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP | (Brit.) | B+ | A- | B- | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | SWISSCOM | (Switz.) | B+ | A | C | Telecommunication Services | ||||||||
| A.P. MOLLER - MAERSK | (Den.) | B+ | B | A | Industrials | |||||||||
FOOTNOTES
PROFITABILITY For non-financial companies, annual pretax operating profit as a percentage of year-end invested capital. For financial companies, annual pretax profits as a percentage of year-end shareholders' equity. Each was calculated for three years, and then averaged.
ASSETS GROWTH RATE This was used to rank financial companies. Three-year average annual asset growth based on the most recently reported three years, calculated using the least-squares method.
SALES GROWTH RATE This was used to rank the nonfinancial companies. Three-year average annual sales growth based on the most recently reported three years, calculated using the least-squares method.
MARKET VALUE Share price on April 30, 2008, multiplied by the latest available common shares outstanding.
TOTAL RETURN (1 YEAR) Annual dividend per share plus April 30, 2008 share price, as a percent of April 30, 2007 share price.
TOTAL RETURN (3 YEAR) Annual dividend per share plus April 30, 2008 share price, as a percent of April 29, 2005 share price.
SALES Latest available sales for the most recent year. Includes all sales and other operating revenues. For financial service companies, this includes interest and non-interest income.
PROFITS Latest available profits for the most recent year. Net income from continuing operations before extraordinary items.
GRADES Companies in the Financial Sector were ranked on Return on Equity and Assets Growth; companies in all other sectors were ranked on Return on Invested Capital and Sales Growth. The overall sector letter grade reflects how the weighted average of the ranked return on capital and ranked sales (or assets) growth compares with others in the same sector. For the overall grade as well as the ROE/ROI and sales or assets growth grades, an "A" places a company in the top 6% of its sector and an "A-" in the top 12% of the sector. The actual ranking was done using the underlying numerical measures. Grades are for information only.
Results for Belgacom, Telenor, and Swisscom adjusted for the small size of sector.
Note: Compustat data provided by Standard & Poor's, a unit of The McGraw- Hill Companies, from sources such as statistical services, registration statements, and company reports that S&P believes to be reliable but are not guaranteed by S&P or BusinessWeek as to correctness or completeness. This material is not an offer to buy or sell any security.
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