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The World's Best Companies

Story: World's Best Companies 2009

Stock Screen: Cherry-Picking the Top Companies

A commitment to innovation, diversified portfolios, aggressive expansion, strong leadership, and a clear vision for the future—these are just some of the strategies employed by the best companies to get to the top of the World's Best Companies/Global Top 40 list compiled for BusinessWeek by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. Two groups stand out: technology and telecommunications companies that have tapped into continuing demand for mobile-phone service and new digital hardware and services, and heavy industry and engineering outfits benefiting from the uptick in infrastructure spending. Have a look at the numbers behind the companies on this list.

Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.

Rank	Name	Industry	Country	Value CAGR (2004-2008)	Sales CAGR (2004-2008)	Market Cap ($ Millions, Dec. 31, 2008 )	2008 Sales ($ Millions)	International Sales (%)

40	Kao	Cosmetics & Toiletries	Japan	4.04	11.16	16,204	13,247	30.00
39	Fresenius	Medical Devices & Services	Germany	1.42	14.77	9,168	17,148	55.00
38	ExxonMobil	Oil & Gas	U.S.	4.11	12.65	397,234	425,071	87.00
37	Bidvest Group	Trading Company	South Africa	3.96	14.36	3,709	14,113	42.60
36	Praxair	Industrial Gas Supplier	U.S.	5.56	13.12	18,215	10,796	39.70
35	ConocoPhillips	Oil & Gas	U.S.	1.54	17.39	78,784	225,424	30.90
34	Anheuser-Busch InBev	Beverages	Belgium	2.02	17.74	36,458	22,383	44.60
33	Bilfinger Berger	Engineering & Contracting	Germany	3.46	16.39	1,772	13,563	39.10
32	Telefónica	Telecommunications	Spain	2.85	18.24	100,898	80,550	38.30
31	Oracle	Software	U.S.	1.21	21.91	91,310	22,430	48.80
30	Apache	Oil & Gas	U.S.	0.12	23.46	24,946	12,390	45.40
29	Saipem	Engineering & Contracting	Italy	0.12	23.54	7,148	13,423	80.10
28	Schlumberger	Oil & Gas Services	U.S.	0.47	24.02	50,546	27,163	70.27
27	Li & Fung	Trading Company	Hong Kong	1.17	23.87	6,227	14,286	97.82
26	Tenaris	Oil & Gas Services	Luxembourg	0.61	26.37	11,922	11,476	83.14
25	Komatsu	Construction Machinery & Equipment	Japan	4.64	18.31	12,361	22,535	77.50
24	Sasol	Chemicals	South Africa	10.83	14.43	18,941	16,599	30.00
23	K�hne + Nagel	Transportation	Switzerland	7.65	20.49	7,493	16,904	34.00
22	Petrobras	Oil & Gas	Brazil	5.54	22.67	85,934	92,246	48.19
21	Mapfre	Insurance	Spain	4.24	24.28	9,157	19,827	33.00
20	Teva Pharmaceutical	Pharmaceuticals	Israel	8.60	20.38	36,443	10,458	99.00
19	Occidental Petroleum	Oil & Gas	U.S.	8.56	20.81	48,607	24,217	40.00
18	America Movil	Telecommunications	Mexico	10.33	19.87	50,974	24,960	61.00
17	Amazon.com	Online Retail	U.S.	1.22	29.00	21,948	19,166	47.00
16	CNOOC	Oil & Gas	China	3.25	28.58	41,727	18,273	27.00
15	ABB	Industrial Machinery	Switzerland	21.09	11.77	33,412	35,262	55.00
14	Fluor	Engineering & Contracting	U.S.	10.26	24.21	8,146	22,326	44.00
13	World Fuel Services	Oil & Gas Services	U.S.	3.96	34.51	1,084	18,509	54.00
12	Jacobs Engineering	Engineering & Contracting	U.S.	14.59	25.10	5,913	11,252	38.00
11	Reliance Industries	Chemicals	India	10.29	30.35	39,858	34,055	59.00
10	BHP Billiton	Mining & Metals	Australia	13.51	29.49	113,807	63,140	90.00
9	Inditex	Apparel	Spain	18.57	25.05	27,563	13,969	66.00
8	Monsanto	Chemicals	U.S.	23.74	20.13	38,547	11,365	50.00
7	MTN	Telecommunications	South Africa	17.61	30.81	21,923	11,090	63.00
6	GDF Suez	Utilities	France	16.67	39.91	105,346	94,420	48.00
5	Hyundai Heavy Industries	Shipbuilding	Korea (South)	42.59	17.37	12,038	21,820	82.00
4	Doosan Heavy Industries	Construction Products & Services	Korea (South)	25.79	34.21	5,241	15,269	70.00
3	Apple	Electronics	U.S.	24.16	40.74	75,871	32,479	28.00
2	Google	Internet Services	U.S.	8.62	61.69	96,953	21,796	51.00
1	Nintendo	Electronics	Japan	38.11	35.75	52,930	16,802	81.00

DATA: A.T. Kearney, Thomson Reuters

METHODOLOGY: To create the list, Kearney first calculates the median value growth rate--the rise of market capitalization after subtracting any increase in capital--and the sales growth rate for approximately 2,500 of the largest publicly listed companies around the world. Kearney then only considers those companies with 2008 sales greater than $10 billion, with at least 25% derived from outside their home region. In addition to having positive value growth, the companies on the list also have above average (median) sales growth.

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