The world's best companies 2002

The fifth annual exclusive Global Finance survey of the World's Best Companies profiles global titans in 28 industries or sectors and identifies

Against a backdrop of a stubbornly weak global economy, still-sliding equity and corporate bond markets and scandals of corporate governance, it hasn't been easy running a global company during the past year. But some chief executives and their staffs have succeeded in using the downturn as a chance to strengthen their positions as global leaders in their industries and seek new opportunities for expansion or innovation.

It is these sorts of companies that our editorial team names and profiles in this year's edition of the Global Finance World's Best Companies survey Global leaders such as Toyota Motor, United Parcel Service and Wal-Mart are honored. Innovative regional players such as US-based software firm Electronic Arts and Ireland-based Ryanair also are recognized.

Selecting the winners involved assessing both objective and subjective criteria including revenue and profit growth, market capitalization and share price growth, technology or product breakthroughs, strategy, crisis control, aggressiveness in market building, social responsibility and success in expanding outside the home country.

-Adam Rombel

BEST GLOBAL COMPANIES

AIRLINES

SkyTeam Alliance

For an industry struggling to match global ambitions with strained finances, alliances are increasingly seen as the way forward.All the major carriers are tied up with one of the big-three global alliances; mediumsize airlines are rushing to join.That's why this year, for the first time, the global award goes to an alliance. With Air France and Delta at its core, SkyTeam is not yet the biggest grouping in the industry, but it's the one with a tailwind.

Delta and Korean Air won anti-trust immunity across the Pacific in June, allowing them to cooperate even closer on routes between Asia and North America.

SkyTeam members already enjoy immunity on the crucial cross-Atlantic routes, in contrast to OpenWorld members.And soon-to-be-privatized AirFrance is emerging as one of the strongest players in the industry, partly because of its modern Charles de Gaulle hub.

United Airlines' bankruptcy has placed a further strain on the Star Alliance, in which Lufthansa is the main European player. The five-year-old Star grouping was long regarded as the industry leader. All of that is increasingly luring carriers to

All of that is increasingly luring carriers to SkyTeam; KLM and Air India are the most prominent carriers edging toward the alliance.Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines and Aeromexico are the other existing SkyTeam members.

There are clouds on the horizon, however. Like the industry as a whole,Alliance members would be hard hit by more conflict in the Gulf. And a code-sharing and marketing agreement between Air France, Delta, Continental and Northwest may distract from the attractions of SkyTeam. www.skyteam.com

AUTOMOTIVE

Toyota

President: Fujio Cho

In a global auto industry struggling with overcapacity,Toyota Motor stands out.The world's thirdlargest carmaker is mulling expansion in almost all the regions in which it already operates. it's taken on the Big Three on home territory-and won, big time, With a US market share of 11% and rising, the company is considering adding a fifth plant in the United States. In Canada, traditional home-away-from-home of the US automakers, Toyota has just upgraded its facility to a full-service plant.

And with sales in Europe a year ahead of target, the company may add a fourth plant to existing ones in France, the United Kingdom and Turkey.

Under president Fuji Cho, the company certainly doesn't lack ambition. The "2010 Global Vision" sets a target of 15% for global market share by the end of the decade. That would almost certainly topple GM off its perch as the world's biggest carmaker.

Underpinning those lofty ambitions, analysts point to the "Toyota Production System"' a corporate philosophy that encourages innovation and creativity among employees and successfully binds suppliers to the company.

Still, not all is rosy An October recall of more than 770,000 cars over possible brake and gearbox problems threatened to dim the company's reputation for engineering excellence.

www.toyota.com

BEVERAGES

Diageo

Group CEO: Paul Walsh

Diageo delivered on its promises in 2002, transforming itself into a focused premium drinks operation. It had acquired Seagram's spirits and wine businesses right at the end of the previous year and inked the sale of Burger King in July. Diageo had already sold Pillsbury earlier in 2001.

The company reached organic performance targets, with 9% growth in net sales for premium drinks and 13% growth in operating profit. Sassy Smirnoff Ice led the charge, making up 42% of Smirnoff sales.

A May launch of Captain Morgan Gold, a spin-off from the eponymous rum brand aimed at the younger market, struggled in the United States.The company made a $59 million provision against unsold inventory.

Still, Diageo chief executive Paul Walsh says the ready-to-- drink category is here to stay. The company is not wasting any time, launching Smirnoff Black, a male version of Smirnoff Ice, in the United Kingdom, as well as J&B Twist in Spain and Johnnie Walker One in Thailand.

Diageo also created value for shareholders; economic profit increased by $247 million to $772 million, and return on invested capital improved 1.3 percentage points to 12.4%. The beverage company returned $2.7 billion to shareholders through its share buy-back program. www.diageo.com

CHEMICALS

BASF

Chairman: Jurgen Strube

BASF has made more moves, sooner, to guard against a downturn in its industry, and that's put it in a stronger position than its rivals. The German chemicals powerhouse has divested non-performing businesses and expanded into growth areas such as Malaysia and China. BASF forecasts Asian chemicals markets-outside Japan-- will be as large as those in Europe by 2010.

Economic downturn hit the chemicals industry hard last year, and BASF had to issue a profit warning. In 2001 it increased sales from ongoing businesses by 3.2%.

"One reason why BASF did better than its competitors despite the downturn in the global economy is that about half of our sales stem from businesses that are cyclically resilient," says chairman Jurgen Strube. The company's oil and gas business provides a partial hedge against any spikes in energy prices. Still, special items for an extensive restructuring program to improve competitiveness pushed earnings down 19%.

BASF is the world's largest chemical company by sales. Founded in 1865, BASF changed the course of history with the development of indigo dyeing processes. In the 1950s the company made pioneering products such as nylon, plastics and Styrofoam.

www.basf.com

COMPUTER HARDWARE

IBM

CEO and President: Samuel J. Palmisano

IBM-the technology behemoth best known for computer hardware-is rapidly becoming a sort of technology supermarket, where customers can get everything they need, including hardware, software, computer services and consulting services.

Under the leadership of then-CEO Louis Gerstner, IBM made a big push in the late 1990s to grow its services business, including consulting, which boosted margins, profitability and the stock price sharply until the meltdown in corporate technology spending.

Gerstner stepped down as CEO on March 1, handing the baton to president Sam Palmisano, who looks to be accelerating the strategic shift. Palmisano, a 29-year company veteran who actively helped Gerstner build up Big Blue's services business, made a big move early in his tenure: He scooped up the consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers-- called PwC Consulting and boasting an army of 30,000 consultants and an estimated $5 billion in annual revenue-for the bargain price of $3.5 billion.The purchase, which closed in early October, makes IBM the world's biggest consulting services organization; it already was the largest computer hardware and services provider. IBM has 320,000 employees worldwide.

www.ibm.com

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Microsoft

CEO: Steven Ballmer

Microsoft has survived anti-trust turmoil, a change in the chief executive suite, a severe technology spending downdraft and the best punch of rivals like Oracle and Sun to remain a tech powerhouse that owns the desktops of the vast majority of computer users.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft employs about 48,000 people, offers more than 225 products and services, has units in 74 countries and pumped out almost $8 billion in profits in its latest fiscal year. It also has about $39 billion in cash on hand.

Company revenue rose 10% to more than $25 billion for the year ended June 30. That's down from the 30% to 50% revenue growth often seen from Microsoft in the 1990s but better than what many of its big high-tech rivals produced over the past year.

The company does face challenges. Its two latest high-- buzz initiatives-the Windows XP upgrade and the .NET Web services strategy-have disappointed analysts and market watchers so far.

It's now been three years since the legendary Bill Gates turned over the CEO title-and all the organizational responsibilities it brings-to Steve Ballmer. Gates, now 46 years old and a very active philanthropist, is focusing on developing and delivering Microsoft's next big thing. A new loaded version of Windows with the code name Longhorn could be it. Scheduled to come out after 2005, it's supposed to handle a whole range of computer functions not currently offered on Windows.

www.microsoft.com

CONGLOMERATES

General Electric

Chairman and CEO: Jeffrey R. Immelt

With its hand in everything from broadcasting to financial services to appliances, General Electric is a corporate powerhouse whose reach spans across the globe in more than 100 countries. The company that traces its inception to the Edison Electric Light Co. established by Thomas A. Edison in 1878 now pays wages to more than 300,000 people and sells everything from jet engines to refrigerators to locomotives. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt has had his work cut out for him since assuming his post two days before the September 11 terrorist attacks last year. In addition to filling the shoes worn by legendary former CEO Jack Welch, Immelt had to deal immediately with large losses to GE's insurance business and a slowdown in the company's aircraft engine operations. The new year didn't get much better as the economy continued to sputter and the wave of corporate scandals prompted analysts to question the financial numbers of all corporations-including GE. But despite all the turmoil, GE remains ahead of the pack and is one of only eight industrial companies worldwide to receive an Aaa rating from Moody's Investors Service for its debt.The company is a giant, with 2001 sales of $125.9 billion, and remains well positioned to benefit from an eventual upturn in the economy. Investors remain satisfied as third-quarter earnings were up 25% over the previous year to $4.1 billion.

www.ge.com

CONSUMER DURABLES/ELECTRONICS

Samsung Electronics

CEO: Jong-Yong Yun

The evolution of Samsung Electronics from a small Korean exporter of cheap TVs in the 1970s to a technology powerhouse on the global stage is nearly complete. The Seoul-based company, with 64,000 employees, still makes TVs but also cranks out cutting-edge products such as combined mobile phone and handheld organizers, very thin laptop computers and the popular flat screen TVs. Samsung Electronics last year ranked fifth in the world in patents, ahead of such big Asian rivals as Matsushita, Sony, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric and Fujitsu.

Samsung Electronics jumped to third place from fifth in share of the global mobile phone handset market in the past year. Its share increased to 9.5% from 6.5%, zooming past rivals Siemens and SonyEricsson, according to Gartner Dataquest. Samsung Electronics now has its sights set on beating secondplace Motorola.

In memory chips and thin-film displays, Samsung Electronics plays second fiddle to no one. It has the top share of both markets. Samsung Electronics produced almost $25 billion in revenue and more than $2 billion in profit in 2001.

www.sec.co.kr and www.samsungelectronics.com

CONSUMER NON-DURABLES

Procter & Gamble

Chairman, President and CEO: Alan G. Lafley

This giant corporation's sheer size alone-revenue that totaled $40 billion for the fiscal year ended in June-- gives it a top position in the consumer products industry. The global reach of the mega-corporation gives it access to new consumers in emerging markets abroad while it remains the top manufacturer of household products in the United States. So a company that began as a soap and candle company in 1837 in Cincinnati, Ohio, now markets nearly 300 products to more than 5 billion consumers in about 160 countries. Items like its Ivory soap and Pringles potato chips have become household names and are purchased by consumers across five continents. P&G also produces two popular soap operas, and last year it expanded its reach into consumer homes even further by buying Clairol, the hair products company, from Bristol-Myers Squibb. All of this activity led to a 50% hike in net income for the fiscal year that ended in June and has its financial executives predicting that sales will grow by 4% to 6% in the current fiscal year.

www.pg.com

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Lockheed Martin

Chairman and CEO: Vance D. Coffman

As a leading defense contractor, Lockheed Martin is ready to tap into the increased emphasis on global security sweeping the planet.The Bethesda, Maryland, corporation derived between 55% and 60% of its $23.9 billion in annual sales last year from defense contracts, mostly with the US government. But the company is a true global player, and international sales account for 15% to 20% of its revenue. Billions of dollars have come from the sale of its F-16 jet fighter to Denmark, Israel, Jordan, Portugal,Thailand and Italy. The new Joint Strike Fighter program, a $200 billion aircraft program approved by the US Department of Defense, is a joint effort between the United States and eight nations that will expand the company's international sales. Closer to home, Lockheed Martin will undoubtedly benefit from the United States' increased attention to protecting its borders. Homeland security now accounts for less than 5% of the company's revenues. Company financial executives are expecting annual sales of nearly $26 billion in 2002, and investors are happy with a stock price that has jumped 60% since the terrorist attacks on September 11 last year and 30% during this year alone.

www.lockheedmartin.com

ENERGY SERVICES/ELECTRICITY

Southern Company

Chairman, President and CEO: H. Allen Franklin

In an industry still reeling from the fallout of last year's collapse of Enron, the Southern Company has managed to retain the confidence of its investors and customers alike. Unlike energy trading companies, Southern can fall back on billions of dollars of real assets-five southeastern electric utilities that together generated 165 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2001.

These five regulated utilities-- Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric-provide energy to a 120,000 square-mile service territory spanning most of Georgia and Alabama, southeastern Mississippi and the panhandle region of Florida. The residential, commercial and industrial customers in this regulated market form the company's core, providing 90% of the $102 billion in revenue last year. Eager to diversify, Southern is expanding its revenue base by building new power units in the Southeast that will boost its capacity in the unregulated wholesale market by nearly 40% over the next three years. In the meantime, it continues to satisfy investors, who have seen Southern's stock price jump by 15% this years as its earnings for the first half rose by more than 20% to $556 million. www.southernco.com

ENERGY SERVICES/EQUIPMENT

GE Power Systems

President and CEO: John G. Rice

The secondlargest division of conglomerate General Electric, GE Power Systems is a top player in the global energy sector. The company has its hand in everything from the design and manufacture of steam-driven power generation plants to nuclear reactors to oil distribution equipment.This year it expanded its reach in the wind power industry by buying some assets of Enron Wind Corp. and setting up GE Wind Energy. And the company's span is truly global, whether providing steam turbines to a power plant in Korea or completing an installation closer to home at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Power Systems was responsible for about a quarter of the parent company's profits last year as it pulled in about 16%, or $20.2 billion, of General Electric's total sales.

The GE division headed by president and CEO John Rice for the past two years has benefited from the energy industry's increased demand for electrical generating turbines. Well aware that the demand for power system turbines is declining, executives are confident the company's other units-including GE Oil & Gas and GE Hydro-will keep the division thriving.

www.gepower.com

FOOD

Nestle

CEO: Peter Brabeck

This company is hungry, and how.The world's largest food company continues to gobble up acquisitions, in part at least to alter its geographical balance. Dominant over large parts of the globe, Nestle still has too light a footprint in the all-important US market.A $10.2 billion joint bid with Cadbury Schweppes for the famous candy maker Hershey was rejected as too low by the controlling trust-which later bowed to hometown pressure to reject a sale altogether.

Nestle was more successful in August, when it paid $2.6 billion for Chef America, the maker of Hot Pockets frozen sandwiches.That gives Nestle clear leadership in two of the three main frozen food categories in the United States, the world's largest market for these products. Recent acquisitions had given Nestle the No. 1 position in the US ice cream market, as well as in pet food.

Dominant positions allow market leaders in the United States to cut better deals with retailers in what is a fiercely competitive market; in Europe national boundaries allow Nestle to maintain more robust margins.

The company reported real internal growth-stripping out disposals-of 3.5% for the first six months of 2002. Eastern Europe and North America were the star performers, making up for slower Western European and Japanese markets.

www.nestle.com

FRANCHISES

McDonald's

Chairman and CEO: Jack M. Greenberg McDonald's remains No. 1 in global fast-food sales, although Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, has passed "Mickey D's" in number of locations.

McDonald's is slowing its expansion pace abroad, where it has been opening an average of three new restaurants a day. Instead, the hamburger-and french-fries chain will focus on promoting its $1 menu and renovating existing restaurants in the United States. In the past year, however, McDonald's has opened 193 new restaurants in Japan and 125 in China. At the same time, it shuttered 32 under-performing restaurants in Turkey.

Instantly recognizable by its golden arches, McDonald's remains committed to franchising as its main method of doing business. Some 80% of the company's worldwide restaurant businesses are owned and operated by independent franchisees.

Non-US restaurants account for the majority of McDonald's sales and approximately half of its profits. The company is sensitive to global economic conditions and has been affected in the past year by weakness in many Latin American markets. Global sales have continued to increase, however, due to restaurant openings.

The discovery of mad-cow disease in Japan resulted in a significant decline in sales at McDonald's Japanese affiliate, although the restaurant doesn't sell any Japanese beef. Many Japanese consumers have returned to a traditional vegetable- and fish-based diet and still have little trust in the safety of beef. McDonald's has 3,873 restaurants in Japan, more than in any other country other than the United States.

www.mcdonalds.com

HOTELS

Starwood

Chairman and CEO: Barry S. Sternlicht

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is one of the leading global hotel operators, with 750 properties in 80 countries.The company plans to expand its highly successful W chain of luxury hotels to Europe in the near future.Three new Ws under construction in San Diego, Seoul and Mexico City will bring the total to 19.

While sales and earnings have suffered from a worldwide decline in business travel, Starwood's European operations have fared better than predicted, notably in Italy and Spain. The rise in the euro is expected to continue to help European results in the future.

Starwood's Asian operations also have exceeded management expectations. China, Japan and Thailand are the company's three priority markets in Asia. The South American market has been difficult, particularly Argentina, and is likely to remain so for some time.

On October 1 2002 the company's Sheraton brand opened its 400th hotel, the Sheraton Wild Horses Pass Resort & Spa on the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona.Treatments at the spa incorporate native traditions of the Pima and Maricopa tribes.

Other upscale hotels in the family are Four Points, Luxury Collection, St. Regis and Westin. Starwood also operates time-share resort properties.

Approximately 58% of Starwood's 115,000 employees work outside the United States.

www.starwood.com

INFRASTRUCTURE

Bechtel

Chairman and CEO: Riley Bechtel

In its fourth generation of leadership by the Bechtel family, this engineering, construction and project management firm has completed 20,000 projects worldwide and has 1,000 more in the works. San Francisco-based Bechtel Group, known for building the Hoover Dam and cleaning up the Chernobyl nuclear plant, booked $9.3 billion in new work last year.

Bechtel will participate in a five-year project to eliminate rockets, bombers, submarines and weapons-of-mass-- destruction infrastructure in the former Soviet Union. It recently completed an eight-year project to dismantle missile-launch facilities in Ukraine.

Bechtel has considerable experience overseeing extremely large projects.The company is part of a consortium involved in a public-private partnership that will work on improving London's run-down subway system. Bechtel also was appointed in March 2002 to lead the troubled UK West Coast Rail Modernization project.

A Bechtel-led joint venture has been awarded a $1.4 billion contract for engineering, procurement and construction of the Goro nickel-cobalt mining development on Grand Terre, New Caledonia, an island east of Australia.

In August 2002 Bechtel landed a project to expand Aluminum Bahrain's smelting complex, one of the world's largest. The project will expand Alba's production capacity by 60%.

www.bechtel.com

LEISURE

Starbucks

President, CEO and Director: Orin C. Smith

Starbucks is the world's leading retailer of specialty coffees, with 5,900 locations in 22 countries. In September 2002 the Seattle-based company opened its first stores in Greece, Mexico and Puerto Rico. One of the fastestgrowing brands in the world, Starbucks has expanded into ice cream in a joint venture with Dreyer's. It also makes a bottled coffee drink, Frappuccino, with

PepsiCo. Starbucks' Tazo Tea brand offers a line of premium teas, and its Hear Music subsidiary produces and distributes compact discs.

Starbucks offers 20 single-origin coffee beans, along with blends from around the world. It also sells coffee grinders, coffeemakers and mugs, as well as pastries and food items.The company has introduced wireless Internet access at many of its US locations and is testing the service in some London and Berlin stores.T-Mobile International, the wireless unit of Deutsche Telekom, provides the Internet hookup.

While Starbucks is becoming a mature company in the United States-where it may be hard-pressed to maintain its brisk growth-it has plenty of room to grow internationally. The company plans to continue to rapidly expand its retail operations and leverage its popular brand through the introduction of new products.

www.starbucks.com

UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, last year delivered an average of 13.5 million packages daily across the globe. It has 370,000 workers and sends its familiar-looking brown trucks to addresses in more than 200 countries and territories.

In 2001 UPS's revenue increased 3% to $30.6 billion. For the six months ended June 30, revenue rose 2% to $15.3 billion. UPS shares have gained 15% in the past year (as of October 7) and easily outperformed the broader market.

To pave the way for continued growth, the company recently completed a seven-year, $1 Billion expansion of its air hub in Louisville, Kentucky.The expansion doubles the size of the package-sorting complex to 4 million square feet and automates the express package sorting process with new technologies. UPS says the expansion will allow the facility to sort 304,000 packages an hour, or more than 84 packages every second.

www.ups.com

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Viacom

Chairman and CEO: Sumner Redstone

New York-based media powerhouse Viacom is a giant in many ways. It employs about 127,000 people, churns out more than $20 billion in annual revenue and reaches millions of consumers around the globe through movies, television, radio, outdoor advertising, theme parks and the Internet.

Viacom's stable of media properties includes CBS, Paramount Pictures, the UPN network, MTV Networks, Showtime Networks,TV show production and syndication units, 39 TV stations, publishing house Simon & Schuster, an 81% stake in Blockbuster (the leading video rental chain in the United States) and Infinity Broadcasting, which includes about 185 radio stations.

But one man symbolizes Viacom more than anything else. The 78-year-old Sumner Redstone built this media empire by cobbling together assorted media properties and making them fit together. Redstone owns almost one-third of Viacom's equity and controls about twothirds of its voting stock.

Redstone and company president Mel Karmazin, who runs the day-to-day operations, have had quite a run of late as Viacom thrives amid the distress at media conglomerates like AOL Time Warner, Walt Disney and Vivendi Universal.

Viacom's revenue last year rose 16% to $23.2 billion, and its operating margin has increased in each of the past three quarters despite the difficult economic environment.

The company recently forecast a double-digit increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year.

About 53% of Viacom's revenue comes from non-adver. using businesses, and 47% derives from advertising.

www.viacom.com

METALS & MINING

Anglo American

CEO: Tony Trahar

This was another dramatic year for Anglo American.The London-headquartered company increased its stake in De Beers to 45%, canceled 10% of its shares in issue, secured full weighting in the FTSE and realized $1 billion in cash with a further $700 million to follow. It's continuing to grow, with the proposed acquisition of Disputada, the major Chilean copper producer.

Together with its consortium partners BHP Billiton and Glencore, it has now acquired 100% of the El Cerrejon Zona Norte coal mine in Colombia.Anglo American has made some tough decisions this year. In January it announced it would not invest further in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Zambia. The company said it couldn't fund the development of the loss-making Konkola project.

Anglo American also prepared for the future by appointing three new directors to its wholly owned South African subsidiary from operational divisions. They are likely to provide the next generation of leadership for the main company, which is listed in London. That future might be considerably brighter than it looked earlier this year: A charter on transfer of South Africa mining assets to black hands emerged much watered-down in October.

www.angloamerican.co.uk

NETWORK SYSTEMS

Cisco Systems

CEO and President: John Chambers

The proclivity of corporate IT executives around the globe to delay and cancel spending on technology projects over the past three years has hit the data networking business hard. San Jose, California-based Cisco hasn't been immune, as sales for its fiscal year 2002, ended in July, fell 15%. And some analysts cut earnings expectations for the firm for 2003.

But Cisco has maintained its dominant position in the market for the routers and switches that link computer networks and the Web, as key rivals have been hurt more in the downturn. In the latest quarter Cisco's sales increased while those for juniper Networks and Extreme Networks fell. Networking equipment accounts for between 700/ and 80% of Cisco's $19 billion in annual revenue.

To combat sluggish orders in the company's main business, CEO John Chambers is steering Cisco toward the storage business, which analysts say has a brighter outlook for technology spending right now. Cisco will begin selling equipment for building storage-area networks in December. Chambers in an October speech confidently predicted that Cisco would eventually climb to the first or second rank in sales in this high-margin business.

www.cisco.com

OIL & GAS

ExxonMobil

Chairman and CEO: Lee R. Raymond

ExxonMobil, the world's largest integrated oil company, conducts business in 200 countries and territories. At a time when deepwater oil and gas production is key to meeting future world energy demand, ExxonMobil has the leading deepwater acreage position. It also has the proprietary technology and disciplined project management to exploit its geographically diverse energy resources on time and below budget.

The company is constructing a number of deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of westem Africa. ExxonMobil began development of the $1.2 billion Yoho project off the Nigerian coast in August 2002.The project will temporarily use a floating production storage and offloading vessel to produce the first oil in late 2002, almost two years ahead of full-field start-up.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government marketer of natural gas in the world. Its subsidiary, Exxon Nefte Gas Project Services, opened an office in Tokyo in August 2002 as part of an effort to develop gas from the Sakhalin-1 Project. Earlier this year, Exxon Japan Pipeline and a Japanese consortium completed a feasibility study for the Japanese segment of a proposed pipeline to supply gas from Sakhalin Island, offshore Russia, to customers in Japan.

ExxonMobil signed an agreement with Qatar Petroleum in June 2002 that is expected to lead to the supply of liquefied natural gas from Qatar to the United Kingdom.The agreement covers the development of two LNG 'trains,' the largest ever built by industry, that could begin shipments in 2006 or 2007.

www.exxon.mobil.com

PHARMACEUTICALS

Johnson & Johnson

Chairman and CEO: William Weldon

Johnson & Johnson-the health-care giant most known for its Band-Aid bandages as well as baby shampoo and powder-has become a powerhouse in the pharmaceuticals business over the past decade. Pharmaceuticals now account for 60% of the company's revenue and will be a major driver in the future. William Weldon took over the chairman and chief executive positions from wildly successful Ralph Larson in May when the latter retired.Weldon was selected over another internal candidate in part because of his experience in the drug manufacturing business.

J&J has used acquisitions as a key strategy to build up its pharmaceutical and medical devices lines. It has often partnered with small firms that develop breakthroughs in the lab while J&J provides the marketing and manufacturing muscle and expertise.

Weldon has signaled that J&J will continue to actively buy smaller drug companies. Before he became CEO, Weldon was largely the force behind the $12 billion purchase in 2001 of Alza, a drug delivery company.

J&J's medical devices and pharmaceutical products include ACUVUE contact lenses, surgical instruments, joint replacements, oral contraceptives and drugs to treat anemia and epilepsy.

www.jnj.com

RETAILING

Wal-Mart Stores

CEO and President: H. Lee Scott

Wal-Mart, the company Sam Walton started as a neighborhood shop selling fishing equipment and discount clothes, is a global behemoth in every sense of the words. Already the world's biggest retailer by far, it has now become the largest company on the planet, as measured by revenue. Sales rose almost 14% to $220 billion last year, allowing it to pass ExxonMobil. Wal-Mart's profit increased 6% to a whopping $6.7 billion, and its shares returned more than 8% in a weak market. The company has nearly 1.4 million employees, or roughly the number of soldiers in the United States military.

The most recent super-size growth has been fueled by Wal-Mart's decision in the mid-1 990s, after Walton's death, to go full bore at the food market. The company sold $56 billion worth of groceries last year and is the largest food retailer on top of everything else it's first at. Grocery sales at Wal-Mart's stores, called super centers, are growing at double the rate of its total business.

Wal-Mart has increased the number of super centers from 260 in 1996 to more than 1,000 now. It could add as many as another 3,000 stores in the next few years, analysts say.

www.walmartstores.com

Finland's Nokia continues to be the undisputed leader in the mobile phone handset market. It had nearly a 36% share of the global market in the second quarter, up from just over 34% the year before, according to Gartner Dataquest. Nokia's sales gained 5% year-over-year and 7% sequentially in a flat overall market.

The company has built its dominant position by having the most innovative phones, the most efficient manufacturing logistics and the most visible brand name, analysts and investors say.

The challenge for Nokia, which has more than 50,000 workers and is named after a small town in Finland, will be to continue growing as the cell phone market becomes saturated. large emerging wireless markets such as Russia, India and China will be key China already accounts for more than one-tenth of Nokia's sales.

Pushing the technology envelope to give people in the most developed countries a reason to upgrade their existing wireless handsets, or to purchase a second or third phone, is also crucial.

www.nokia.com

TELECOM SERVICES

Vodafone

CEO: Christopher Gent

Vodafone has used an aggressive acquisition strategy to become the world's biggest mobile phone service provider, with more than 101 million subscribers and another 229 million customers of ventures in which it's invested. Vodafone owns states in wireless carriers on five continents and in 28 countries and has more than 175,000 employees. The company has the No.1 or No.2 market share in a dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. And Vodafone's joint venture with Verizon, called Verizon Wireless, dominates the US market.

Such heft will be crucial as more advanced services such as video messaging and fast Web access become available over the mobile phone, say telecom analysts.

Vodafone's revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31 rose by half to nearly $33 billion.Vodafone's balance sheet also looks relatively good as it avoided getting entangled in debt because of third-generation license bidding or overexpansion, as so many of its competitors did. Instead, it stumped up its own shares.

www.vodafone.com

TOBACCO

Philip Morris

Chairman President and CEO: Louis C. Camilleri

Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company, employs 169,000 people in 150 countries. Its "Marlboro man" advertising campaign with a cowboy motif has resonated with different cultures around the world, creating a valuable global brand.The company also makes Benson & Hedges and Virginia Slims cigarettes.A California jury last month ordered Philip Morris to pay a record $28 billlion to a 64-year-old woman with lung cancer who said the company failed to warn her of the risks of smoking.

The company's domestic and international tobacco sales both increased last year. Altogether, tobacco accounted for 58% of the company's sales and 61% of its profits. Philip Morris also owns 84% of Kraft Foods, the world's second-largest food company, and purchased Nabisco Holdings in late 2000. It plans to continue to pursue large acquisitions in the tobacco and food industries.

In May 2002 Philip Morris agreed to sell its Miller Brewing unit to South African Breweries of the United Kingdom in a $5.6 billion transaction. Under the terms of the deal, Philip Morris will hold a 36% stake in the company, which is to be renamed SAB Miller.

www.philipmorris.com

BEST COMPANIES IN NORTH AMERICA

AIRLINES

Southwest Airlines

Vice Chairman and CEO: Jim Parker In just 30 years Southwest Airlines has evolved into one of the United States' largest commercial airlines and now flies from coast to coast. Despite being in an industry hard hit by the global economic slowdown and its own irrational exuberance of the late 1990s, the Dallas-based airline is still keeping its customers and employees happy by keeping its product and delivery system simple.

www.southwest.com

AUTOMOTIVE

General Motors

President and CEO: C. Richard Wagoner Jr.

As the number of truly US-controlled automakers dwindles to two companies, GM edges out Ford once again for its performance under pressure. The world's largest vehicle manufacturer is beating other domestic players, with smart management decisions made several years ago that have boosted its operating efficiency and its competitive position.

www.gm.com

BEVERAGES

PepsiCo

Chairman and CEO: Steven S. Reinemund

Though still the world's No. 2 soft-drink maker, PepsiCo pushed its share of the soft- market up to 31.1% last year.The company's soft drinks-Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Slice-made up about a quarter of its nearly $27 billion in sales. Now the Purchase, New York, corporation is selling another popular beverage, Gatorade, after last year's merger with The Quaker Oats Company.

www.Pepsico.com

CHEMICALS

Rohm & Hass

Chairman and CEO: Raj L. Gupta

Rohm & Hass is successfully battling the effects of a global recession that has reduced demand for chemicals as the industry works through the overcapacity of new plants that came on line in the late 1990s. It garnered nearly half of its $5.66 billion in annual revenue last year from overseas sales, and posted an 11.6% hike in net income, although sales were down by more than 10%.

www.rohmhaas.com

COMPUTER HARDWARE

IBM

President and CEO: Samuel J. Palmisano

The world's biggest computer hardware, services and consulting provider, has responded to the technology downturn with old-fashioned belt tightening and opportunity seeking. IBM let go 15,000 workers in the second quarter. But Big Blue has also used the bad market to make acquisitions, including the purchase of PwC Consulting, and to buy back its own depressed shares.

www.ibm.com

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Electronic Arts

Chairman and CEO: Lawrene Probst III

Electronic Arts has avoided the software industry's doldrums largely because it's a leading player in the red-hot games markets. Its stock has gained about 45% over the last year, easily outperforming the S&P 500 Index, which it joined in July. EA's revenues increased 82% in the quarter ended June 30. The company expects revenue growth of 50% to 60% in the fiscal year 2003.

www.ea.com

CONGLOMERATES

United Technologies

Chairman and CEO: George David

Although much of its business is defense-related, United Technologies is behind such well-known names as Otis elevators and Carrier heating and air-conditioning systems. The company is among the top 60 in the United States but also has a global presence. More than half its 152,000 employees are stationed abroad.

www.utc.com

CONSUMER DURABLES

Whirlpool

Chairman and CEO: David R. Whitwam

Whirlpool posted a profit in its sales of everything from washers to refrigerators to microwave ovens, even as recession-weary consumers pulled back on their purchases of durable goods.The United States' top manufacturer of home appliances, Whirlpool still gathered nearly 35% of its $10 billion in annual sales last year from customers outside North America.

www.whirlpoolcorp.com

CONSUMER NON-DURABLES

Procter & Gamble

Chairman, President and CEO: Alan G. Lafley

No matter what happens to the financial markets, consumers still keep buying Tide laundry detergent and Crest toothpaste-just two of the dozen brands that are billion-dollar sellers for this consumer products giant. And this Cincinnati, Ohio-based powerhouse shows no sign of slowing down. Last year it acquired hair-care giant Clairol from Bristol-Myers Squibb. The result: Net income jumped by nearly 50% to $4.4 billion last year.

www.pg.com

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Lockheed Martin

Chairman and CEO: Vance D. Coffman

With 80% of its nearly $24 billion in annual sales coming from contracts with the US government, Lockheed Martin is well positioned to reap the financial benefits of the administration's increased focus on security. Although its net income dipped last year after it exited the satellite telecommunications business a strong management team and the consolidation of acquisitions made over the past five years should be enough to counter that decline.

www.lockheedmartin.com

DIVERSIFIED SERVICES

Automatic Data Processing

Chairman and CEO: Arthur F. Weinbach

The world's largest payroll and tax-- filing processor is on a roll. The fiscal year ended June 30 2002 marked the company's 41st consecutive year of double-digit earnings-per-share growth and 164th consecutive quarter of record highs in both revenues and earnings per share since ADP became a public company in 1961. ADP processes transactions for clients in 26 countries.

www.adp.com

ELECTRONICS

Texas Instruments

Chairman, CEO and President: Thomas Engibous

Dallas-based TI, the world's biggest maker of semiconductors for cell phones, has been able to consistently raise and beat profit expectations in a very tough environment this year Strength in its wireless and consumer electronics markets has offset weakness in telecom equipment, Internet infrastructure and PCs.

www.texasinstruments.com

Southern SERVICES/ELECTRICITY

Chairman, President and CEO:

H. Allen Franklin

With nearly 4 million customers and over 34,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Southern Company is one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States. The Atlantabased company is expanding its revenue base by building a series of new power units in the South-east that will boost its wholesale capacity by nearly 40% over the next three years. Meanwhile, it continues to satisfy investors, who have seen its stock price jump by 15% this year.

www.southernco.com

ENERGY SERVICES/EQUIPMENT

GE Power Systems

President and CEO: John G. Rice

Whether it's providing steam turbines to a power plant in Korea or completing an installation closer to home at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, GE Power Systems is providing an array of products and services to customers around the globe.This division pulled in about $20 billion last year-about 16% of General Electric's total sales-and was responsible for about a quarter of the parent company's profits.

www.gepower.com

FOOD

ConAgra Foods

Chairman, President and CEO:

Bruce C. Rohde

Hunt's tomato paste, Bumble Bee tuna, Chef Boyardee pasta and Gulden's mustard are among 30 of ConAgra's brands that ring up more than $100 million each in annual sales. ConAgra is the second-largest US food company after Kraft Foods, which is 84%-owned by Philip Morris.

www.conagra.com

FRANCHISE

Yum! Brands

Chairman and CEO: David C. Novak

Yum! Brands changed its name from Tricon Global Restaurants. With KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, this former PepsiCo subsidiary has more outlets than McDonald's and does business in 100 countries. Its acquisition of Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants chains will accelerate Yum!'s multi-branding strategy.

www.yum.com

HEALTH SERVICES

Quest Diagnostics

Chairman and CEO: Kenneth W. Freeman

Quest Diagnostics performs more than 100 million lab tests annually, including cholesterol, HIV and alcohol tests, as well as complex "esoteric" testing and clinical trials. The company is expanding by acquisition, snapping up American Medical Laboratories and Unilab. Quest operates labs in the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

www.questdiagnostics.com

HOTELS

Starwood

Chairman and CEO: Barry S. Sternlicht

Known for its upscale Four Points, St. Regis,Westin and W Hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is polishing the image of its Sheraton hotel brand by awarding discounts and cash to guests making any complaints. The company's affiliate, Starwood Capital, along with Goldman Sachs, is buying National Golf Properties, the largest golfcourse owner in the United States.

www.starwood.com

INFRASTRUCTURE

Bechtel

Chairman and CEO: Riley Bechtel

The billionaire Bechtel family owns a controlling stake in this global engineering, construction and project management company. Bechtel was awarded a program management contract for Cingular Wireless's upgrade and expansion to a GSM/PRS network. A Bechtel-led joint venture won a $1.4 billion contract for the Goro nickel-cobalt mining development in New Caledonia.

www.bechtel.com

LEISURE

Starbucks

President, CEO and Director:

Orin C. Smith

Starbucks delivered its 10th consecutive year of comparable-store sales gains of 5% or greater and 20%-plus revenue growth in the fiscal year ended in September 2002.America's leading specialty coffee retailer has introduced high-speed wireless Internet access in 1,200 cafes across the country, with another 800 scheduled to go online by the end of the year. There are 4,247 Starbucks stores in the United States and Canada.

www.starbucks.com

LOGISTICS

United Parcel Service

Chairman and CEO: Michael Eskew

UPS, the world's biggest package delivery firm, has attacked the global economic downturn by sticking to its spending plans for information technology and acquisitions, of which it has made more than two-dozen since 1999. However, UPS is challenged by increasing competition from air express giant FedEx on its traditional turf of ground delivery.

www.ups.com

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Viacom

Chairman and CEO: Sumner Redstone

Viacom, the network and cable TV, radio, publishing and motion picture giant, has weathered a nasty economic and advertising climate during the past couple of years better than rivals such as Disney, Vivendi and AOL Time Warner. Viacom is on track for double-digit earnings growth before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, it recently said.

www.viacom.com

METALS & MINING

Alcoa

Chairman, President and CEO:

Alain J.P. Belda

Alcoa, the world's largest producer of aluminum, is an integrated bauxite miner, alumina refiner and chemical maker.This year, it purchased Illinois-based Ivex Packaging, a consumer packaging company. In 2001 Alcoa broke into the China market by forming a strategic alliance with Aluminum Corporation of China.

www.alcoa.com

NETWORK SYSTEMS

cisco Systems

President and CEO: John Chambers

Cisco is weathering the downturn better than rivals such as Lucent, Nortel and JDS Uniphase. Cisco is sitting on a cash war chest, some of which it used to buy back its own shares. But times are tough. Revenue fell 15% in the fiscal year ended in July. And Chambers says many big corporate customers tell him they're having difficulty forecasting business again, a chronic problem in 2001.

www.cisco.com

OIL & GAS

ExxonMobil

Chairman and CEO: Lee R. Raymond

The world's largest integrated oil company has a total of 20 billion barrels of proved reserves in the major production areas. Its refiners supply 40,000 service stations in 118 countries. The company recently began development of the $1.2 billion Yoho oil project offshore Nigeria. Produced gas will be re-injected to maximize oil recovery and eliminate routine flaring.

www.exon.mobil.com

PHARMACEUTICALS

Johnson & Johnson

Chairman and CEO: William Weldon

New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson's revenue rose 11% to $17.8 billion, and net income increased 15% to $3.5 billion in the first half of the year. The company also increased its forecast for earnings for the rest of 2002 and 2003. The solid financial results have come about as a result of cutting expenses and getting solid growth from its skin-care and sweetener products in particular.

www.jnj.com

RETAILING

Wal-Mart Stores

CEO and President: H. Lee Scott

Wal-Mart, the global retailing powerhouse, reported that revenue rose 14% to $116 billion and net income increased 23% to $3.7 billion for the six months ended July 31 2002. Domestic expansion continued unabated and boosted the top line.

www.walmartstores.com

TELECOM EQUIPMENT

Motorola

CEO: Christopher Galvin

Motorola, invented the cell phone in the 1970s but lost its No. global market share to Finnish rival Nokia in the late 1990s. It has stabilized its market share by aggressively developing new phone features and technologies. Coming next year are phones with high-resolution color screens, musical ring tones, two-way video conferencing and photo downloading capabilities. The company expects 2003 sales of $29 billion.

www.motorola.com

TELECOM SERVICES

Verizon Communications President and CEO: Ivan Seidenberg

Verizon, the biggest US local phone company, has emerged as arguably the most important survivor in this market. It's not all plain sailing: Verizon forecast revenue growth for the full-year 2002 would fall between 0% and -1%. However, the company has continued expanding its highgrowth Verizon wireless unit-a joint venture with Vodafone-and long-distance services, moving into its 44th state in July.

www.verizon.com

TOBACCO

Philip Morris

Chairman, President and CEO:

Louis C. Camillerl

Philip Morris controls about half of the US tobacco market. Key brands include Marlboro, Parliament,Virginia Slims and Basic.The company is developing a cigarette that contains lower levels of potentially harmful chemicals than regular cigarettes. Philip Morris, which plans to change its name to Altria Group, also owns 84% of Kraft Foods and is the largest food company in the United States. It merged its Miller Brewing operations with South African Breweries.

www.philipmorris.com

WHOLESALE

W.W. Grainger

Chairman and CEO: Richard L Keyser

With 2001 sales of $4.8 billion, W.W. Grainger is the leading North American industrial distributor of products used by businesses to maintain, repair and operate their facilities. Grainger's online sourcing center includes 8,000 suppliers and 5 million products. Grainger has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years. www.grainger.com

BEST COMPANIES EUROPE

AIRLINES

Ryanair

CEO: Michael O'Leary

Ryanair's low-cost strategy has reshaped Europe's skies, putting traditional carriers on the defensive. Profits surged 59% in the second quarter of 2002, and a surging stock pushed market capitalization to $4.31 billion in September 2002. Criticisms over customer service and pilot flight-hours have dented the company's image, if not its sales.

www.ryanair.com

AUTOMOTIVE

BMW

President and CEO: Helmut Panke

This upscale brand has defied the economic downturn. Net profits rose by 7.7% in the first half of 2002, BMW's best-ever figures on a half-yearly basis. The new Mini brand car has broadened BMW's customer base and added a cult twist to an ever-so-slightly staid company look.

www.bmw.com

BEVERAGES

Diageo

Group CEO: Paul Walsh

The sale of Pillsbury and the December 2001 purchase of Seagram's spirits and wine business have perched this company at the top of the premium drinks business. Diageo's sales rose $2.97 billion in the first half of 2002, partly on the back of the Smirnoff Ice brand.

www.diageo.com

CHEMICALS

BASF

Chairman: Jurgen Strube

Tough restructuring cut operating costs and headcounts, helping BASF weather an industry downturn. It beat market expectations with a 9.5% rise in second-quarter earnings and made it into the Stoxx index of Europe's 50 largest companies. An oil and gas division makes this company less vulnerable to any conflict in the Middle East.

www.basf.com

COMPUTER HARDWARE

President and CEO: Guerrino De Luca

Swiss/US Logitech continued strong growth, with record results for the first quarter of 2002. Revenue grew 14%, operating income jumped 55%, and net income soared 71%. Continued demand for the Z-series multimedia speakers and the launch of new products such as the Bluetooth controller for PCs drove profits.

www.logitech.com

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

SAP

Chairman and CEO: Hasso Plattner

SAP CEO Planner admitted full-year sales growth was unlikely to hit an earlier 15% target but says the company will still make its planned operating margin of 21% for the year. SAP's market-leading role in Europe was underlined by a contract to provide software to 440,000 employees of engineering giant Siemens.

www.sap.com

CONGLOMERATES

E. ON

Joint Chairmen and CEOs:

Ulrich Hartman and Wilhelm Simson

Acquisition is on this year's agenda for E.ON. The Diisseldorf-based energy giant recently completed a $14.8 billion takeover of British PowerGen. A $10.2 billion deal for gas supplier Ruhrgas is in the works. Growth for the full year is not expected to be as high as for the first half, when operating profit soared to 42%.

www.eon.com

CONSUMER DURABLES

Electrolux

President and CEO: Hans Straberg

The world's largest white-goods company is continuing to cut jobs, streamline production and, crucially, slim down a plethora of brands. It's gotten a long way down that path, as recognized by the stellar performance of its stock in recent years. But now it's battling a swooning economy, too.

www.electrolux.com

CONSUMER NON-DURABLES

L'Oreal

Chairman and CEO: Lindsay Owen-Jones

Third-quarter sales growth at the world's largest cosmetics group was slightly disappointing at 4.5%, but Owen-Jones puts this down to foreign exchange losses and says the company is on target for its full-year figures. This summer L'Oreal and Nestle unveiled a joint company called Laboratories INNEOV to manufacture nutritional supplements.

www.loreal.com

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

EADS

CEO: Philippe Camus

European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company (EADS), the 80% shareholder in European civil aircraft maker Airbus, has been cutting costs and streamlining production. In 2001 Airbus took in orders worth $44.7 billion, winning 61% of the market in value terms. That's left arch-rival Boeing struggling.

www.eads.net/eads/en

DIVERSIFIED SERVICES

Chairman: Anthony Habgood

The UK distribution and outsourcing company again demonstrated resilience under trying economic circumstances. Sales rose 7% in first-half 2002, with profits up 8%. Bunzl completed $79 million of acquisitions this year, including Lockhart, the UK's leading supplier of catering equipment. It sold its paper distribution business in order to concentrate on outsourcing.

www.bunzl.com

ELECTRONICS

Philips

President and CEO: Gerard Kleisterlee

Europe's largest consumer electronics company is cutting costs in the face of a severe downturn in many of its key markets. Sales were 4% higher in the second quarter than in the same period last year, driven particularly by medical systems. Improved supply chain management has reduced inventories to historic lows.

www.philips.com

ENERGY SERVICES/ELECTRICITY

RWE

President and CEO: Dietmar Huhnt

In the past 20 months the German multi-utility has spent $20 billion buying Innogy, the UK's main electricity generator; Thames Water Works; and Transgas, the Czech monopoly gas distributor. Net profit for first-half 2002 rose by 11 %, but, sensing more difficult times ahead, RWE has implemented cost-cutting programs aimed at saving $200 million.

www.rwe.com

FOOD

Nestle

CEO: Peter Brabeck

This blue chip has kept its luster while others struggle. The company's organic growth is strong: Sales were up 7.2% in Swiss franc terms in first half 2002 and operating cash flow up 14.5%. Profits were up 79%, partly as a result of the partial sale of eye-care company Alcon and the sale of flavorings unit FIS.

www.nestle.com

HOTELS

Hilton

CEO: David Michels

An industry-leading brand and a wellregarded management team make the Hilton Group a strong play for the future, say analysts. Hilton has reduced capital expenditure and entered into hotel sale-and-leasebacks. It has also targeted the domestic leisure market.

www.hilton.com

INFRASTRUCTURE

Bouygues

CEO: Martin Bouygues

Bouygues Construction is still the core of Bouygues, despite its recent move into the telecom and media business. With the economy slow, the construction business is sluggish. However, Bouygues Construction now operates in more than 80 countries, and over half of its revenues in 2001 were from outside France.

www.bouygues.fr

LOGISTICS

Deutsche Post

Chairman: Klaus Zumwinkel

This state-owned company is growing rapidly. Revenue in Deutsche Post World Net increased 15.1% in the first half of this year, driven primarily by the first-time consolidation of DHL. At 39.9%, the share of revenue generated outside Germany rose to its highest level yet. Trouble looms closer to home, though, on the back of new price caps.

www.deutschepost.de

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Reed Elsevier

CEO: Crispin Davis

Science and legal divisions kept Reed Elsevier above the turmoil wracking much of the rest of the publishing industry. Profits were down 3% in 2002 compared with the first half of 2001, but the company says it's still on track to deliver above-market revenue growth and double-digit earnings in 2002 and beyond.

www.reed-elsevier.com

METALS & MINING

Anglo American

CEO: Tony Trahar

Anglo American turned in solid results despite bad economic conditions and weak commodity markets. Total operating profit for the first half of 2002 was up 7%. Good performances in gold, base metals, coal, diamonds, forest products, industrial minerals and ferrous metals more than offset drastically lower earnings from platinum.

www.angloamerican.co.uk

OIL & GAS

BP

CEO: Simon Brown

This oil major has the best-regarded management in the business and has outperformed its rivals in recent years. While active developing new fields the company has begun to look seriously at the end of the hydrocarbon age-hence the slogan "Beyond Petroleum." Recent production estimate downgrades have taken off some of BP's shine, however.

www.rp.com

PHARMACEUTICALS

Novartis

Chairman and CEO: Daniel Vasella

In a terrible year for corporate Switzerland, Novartis proves the country can still turn out winners. Group sales increased 13%, operating income climbed 14%, and pharmaceuticals sales grew 15% in the first half of 2002. The company sold its food and beverage unit, but a bid for Slovenian pharma Lek is stalled.

www.novartis.oom

RETAILING

Hemes & Mauritz

CEO: Stefan Persson

This Swedish retailer prides itself on selling fashionable clothing at low prices, and it's clearly a formula that works. Profit was up 55% for the first half of 2002. H&M segments the market within its own stores, using 16 different concepts supported by a range of in-house brands.That makes growth largely an organic affair. www.hm.com

TELECOM EQUIPMENT

Nokia

Chairman and CEO: Jorma Ollila

This industry leader continues to defy predictions of saturation in its core mobile phone business. Pro forma results showed year-on-year growth of 11% and operating profits of $1.2 billion in the second quarter. Nokia achieved an increase of 37% in market share compared to 2001.

www.nokia.com

TELECOM SERVICES

Telecom Italia

CEO: Carlo Buora

Telecom Italia has largely escaped the missteps that have humbled Europe's other incumbent telecom operators. Revenues are up, debts are down, and the company is rolling out new services. This year, TI rolled out the first sizable voice-overInternet service, a move that should slash network maintenance costs.

www.telecomitalia.it

TOBACCO

BAT

Managing Director: Paul Adams

Tobacco companies have been one of the few bright spots in European stock markets this year, but Europe's largest quoted tobacco company is not sitting on its laurels. The company is believed to be interested in the manufacturing arm of the Italian tobacco monopoly, due for privatization. It's also hotly tipped as a bidder for UK rival Gallaher.

www.bat.com

BEST COMPANIES IN ASIA

AIRLINES

Singapore Airlines

CEO: Chang Choong Kong

This airline is one of the island state's gems, and national holding company Temasek-57% owner-has earmarked it for further investment. Singapore Airlines' classy image has stood it in good stead-and allowed it to keep routes going while other carriers slashed capacity. The October bombing in Bali is certain to depress flight volumes, however.

www.singaporeair.com

AUTOMOTIVE

Nissan Motors

CEO: Carlos Ghosn

Under Ghosn, this company is still a remarkable turnaround story. Nissan posted almost $4 billion in operating profits in the year ended March 2001. That capped the Nissan Revival Plan one year early. Next up is Nissan 180-aimed at squeezing costs and upping revenues still further. With costs already low, analysts say further sales growth is the key.

www.nissan-global.com

BEVERAGES

Fosters

President and CEO: Ted Kunkel

The October 2000 acquisition of California wine maker Beringer was aimed at turning Fosters from a dowdy brewer into a premium beverages company. Looking at the first full year of figures delivered in August 2002, it looks like the strategy worked: Wine and international beer sales more than compensated for sluggish domestic sales to push operating income up 20%.

www.fosters.com.au

CHEMICALS

Nanya Plastics

Chairman, Formosa Plastics: Wang Yung-tsai

Net profits at this Taiwanese plastics products maker, whose parent company is Formosa Plastics, rocketed 73% in the first six months of 2002, as demand from mainland China soared. That robust market underpinned performance in 2001, too, generating a return on capital of 8% and a profit ratio of 4.9%. www.npc.com.tw

COMPUTER HARDWARE

Quanta Computer

CEO: Barry Lam

This private-label notebook maker counts nine out of 10 of the world's largest branded notebook sellers as clients. Chip market woes have hit Quanta's stock, and the company has hometown rival Compal in hot pursuit. But Taiwan's largest notebook maker is counting on a new mainland China plant coming on stream, as well as a move upscale into servers and flat screens.

www quantatw.com

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Wipro

Chairman and Managing Director:

Azlm Premjl

Bangalore-based Wipro, India's biggest software company by market capitalization, has been a solid performer in a tough market. Revenue increased 22%, and net income from continuing operations rose 10% for the quarter ended June 30. And Wipro's shares traded in New York increased in value by one-third during the year ended September 30, far outperforming the S&P 500 Index.

www.wipro.com

CONGLOMERATES/LOGISTICS

Hutchison Whampoa

Chairman: Li Ka-Shing

This telecom-through-ports group operates five core businesses in 41 countries and bestrides the Asian business world.The jury is still out on a heavy play on 3G telecoms-- NTT Docomo recently wrote off some of its joint UK investment-- but Hutchison insists that with $13 billion in cash and bills, its balance sheet is strong enough to wait for its telecom money to yield handsome returns.

www.hutchison-whampoa.com

CONSUMER DURABLES/ ELECTRONICS

Samsung Electronics

CEO: Jong-Yong Yun

Despite tough economic times, Samsung continues to pour big money and personnel into research and development. It added 2,000 R&D staff members in 2000 and 2001 to develop new technologies. "Technology is the lifeblood of the electronics industry; technology is the only currency that will beget technology," says CEO Jong-Yong Yun.

www.samsunelectronics.com

CONSUMER NON-DURABLES

PT Unilever Indonesia

Chairman: Nihal Kaviratne

Unilever Indonesia is making money in a country that multinational companies still largely fight shy of. The company hung on in Indonesia after the 1987 crisis, picking up assets where it made sense. Gradually recovering consumer confidence has translated into rising profits-around $90 million in 2001 and still growing in 2002.

www.unilever.com

ENERGY SERVICES/ ELECTRICITY

KEPCO

President and CEO: Martin Kupferberg This Korean giant is set for a selloff-a prospect brought closer by first-half 2002 results ahead of expectations at $1.3 billion. Privatizations of South Korea's electricity and gas monopolies are considered crucial for restructuring the country's economy. South East Power will be the first Kepco unit to be sold, likely in January next year.

www.kepcopower.com

FRANCHISES

7-Eleven Japan

Chairman and CEO: Masatoshi Ito

This franchisee continues to defy Japan's long consumer downturn. Store sales were up 3.9% in the second quarter of 2002, while operating income was up 3.7%. Seven-Eleven Japan's 8,000 stores are the core of the business, but the company has expanded into other distribution-related activities such as meals for the elderly and Internet shopping pick up.

www.sej.co.jp

HOTELS

Resorts World

Chairman and CEO: Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong

The Malaysian resorts operator is fast becoming a stock market favorite on the back of resilient casino earnings and an ambitious resort expansion strategy. Revenue soared 60% in the first half of 2002, while pre-tax profit went up by 93%. Gaming, hotel and resort-related operations were transferred to this 55%-owned subsidiary from Genting Berhad in 1980.

www.genting.com.my

INFRASTRUCTURE

Hopewell Holdings

Manaing Director: Eddie Ping Chang

Hopewell is a pioneer of infrastructure developments across Asia. That's a high-rolling game, as stalled projects in Bangkok and elsewhere testify, but Hong Kongbased Hopewell has cut debt, sold some assets and turned in a rise in net profit of 11% for the year ended June 2000. Next on the horizon: a possible 29-mile bridge across the Pearl River delta.

www.hopewellholdings.com

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

News Corporation

Chairman and CEO: Rupert Murdoch

Australia-based News Corporation is a bellwether for the global media industry-hence the sighs of relief when Murdoch announced signs of an advertising upturn in October. Key assets are Fox media group and News International. The group took around $6.9 billion in charges in the 2001 financial year but expects to see underlying profits rise some 20% in 2002.

www.newscorp.com

METALS & MINING

BHP Billiton

Director: John Ralph

A year-and-a-half after the merger between Billiton of the United Kingdom and Australia's BHP, this company has achieved its aim of becoming a global diversified natural resources group.That's still not enough to shield it completely from the vagaries of the minerals and metals cycle. In August it reported a 12% fall in full-year profits before exceptionals.

www.bhp.com

OIL & GAS

China National Offshore Oil

President: Wei Liucheng

Despite a dip in first-half 2002 profits, this is still a small company with big ambitions. China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC) has set its sights on becoming China's leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) provider. In August the company took a 25% stake in China LNG, a blue-chip joint venture that has just won a $13 billion contract from the Chinese government.

www.cnooc.com.ar

PHARMAGEUTICALS

Takeda Chemical Industries

President and CEO: Kunio Takeda

Japan's largest pharmaceuticals company has moved sooner than its rivals to meet the challenges of a stagnant domestic market. Around 70% of Takeda's revenues come from outside Japan, a proportion expected to grow.The company has turned in eight straight years of record earnings, boosting net income by 60% in the year ended March 2002.

www.takeda.co.jp

RETAILING

Woolworths

CEO: Roger Corbett

"Cost savings continue to be the engine that allows us to reward both customers and shareholders," says CEO Roger Corbett. Over the past three years the company has managed to reduce costs by $570 million. It's a formula that works. In June the Australian company announced sales up 17% and earnings per share up 25.1%.

www.woolworths.com.au

TELECOM EQUIPMENT

Kyocera

Chairman and Representative Director: Kensuke Itoh

Kyoto, Japan-based Kyocera makes everything from wireless phone handsets to printers to semiconductor components to digital cameras.Though Kyocera's revenue and income growth have predictably slowed along with its rivals, the 20-year-old company's ADR shares have outperformed those of many of its peers during the past year. It has been aggressive in the deployment of new digital technologies.

www.kyocera.co.jp

TELECOM SERVICES

Telstra

CEO: Ziggy Switkowski

Australia's Telstra is that rare thing: a telecom company with a strong balance sheet and robust earnings prospects. Still, it faces challenges. Just 10% of its revenue comes from overseas, but to make acquisitions without straining its credit rating, it needs a planned, but controversial, sale of the government's 51% stake to go ahead.

www.telstra.com

TOBACCO

Japan Tobacco

CEO: Katsukiho Honda

Japan Tobacco is the world's thirdlargest cigarette maker and by far the largest in hard-puffing Asia. Still, it faces a tough market as domestic sales stagnate. Rare among Japanese companies, it's addressing those challenges head on. JT is closing eight cigarette factories in Japan over the next three years.

www.jti.co.jp

BEST COMPANIES IN LATIN AMERICA

AIRLINES

LanChile

Executive Vice President and CEO:

Enrique Cueto Plaza

Still financially strong despite the tough operating environment facing all airline companies, LanChile stands out among Latin carriers. Chile's well-managed air carrier continues to benefit from its diver-- sifted cargo and passenger business and regularly draws accolades from business travelers.

www.lanchile.com

BEVERAGES

Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (Ambev)

CEO: Marcel Hermann Telles

The largest beverage company in Latin America and the sixth-largest beverage company in the world, Ambev is trying to expand its reach. The company formed in 1999 from the merger of two of Brazil's largest breweries-Brahma and Antarctica-is close to acquiring one-third of leading Argentina brewer Quilmes. Argentine antitrust officials are expected to approve the acquisition-in which Ambev will pay $346.4 million-by the end of the year.

www.ambev.com.br

CHEMICALS

Braskem

CEO: Jose Carlos Grubisich

Braskem is the end result of the August merger of the petrochemical assets of the Odebrecht and Mariani groups.The move produced the largest petrochemical company in Latin America and one of Brazil's five largest private corporations, with annual revenue of more than $1.82 billion. The company is committed to developing Brazil's economy and will invest more than $78 million a year over the next three years.

www.braskem.com.br

CONGLOMERATES

Grupo Carso

Chairman Emeritus: Carlos Slim Helu

This sprawling conglomerate of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu owns more than three-quarters of Grupo Sanborns-which includes the Sanborns department store chain-and a majority stake in Sears Roebuck de Mexico. The wide reach of this Mexican powerhouse-it includes interests in cigarettes, construction and railroads-plus the shrewdness of Slim make it hard to beat.

www.gcarso.com.mx

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Kimberly-Clark de Mexico

Chairman and CEO: Claudio X. Gonzalez

With annual sales of more than $1.6 billion, Kimberly-Clark de Mexico makes a wide array of paper-based products that are used by millions of Mexican consumers. The company, known best for its Kleenex tissues and Huggies disposable diapers, keeps ahead of its competitors by tapping into the technological know-how of its US parent, Kimberly Clark.

www.kimberly-clark.com.mx

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Empresa Brasileira de

Aeronautica (Embraer)

President and CEO: Mauricio Novas Botelho

The only Latin American aircraft company that operates globally, Embraer has facilities as far afield as China and Australia as well as closer to home at its US headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With its hands in the defense, commercial and corporate aviation sector, Embraer is Brazil's largest exporter. Its backlog for firm orders totaled $10.1 billion at the end of June this year.

www.embraer.com

ENERGY SERVICES/ ELECTRICITY

Compania Paranaense de Energia (Copel)

CEO: Ingo Hen que Hubert

Copel is one of the best-run electrical utilities companies in Brazil. Based in the southern state of Parana, the company didn't have to face the water rationing restrictions that recently curtailed the operations of other electrical utilities in the country, The company, whose operations include 17 hydroelectric plants, provides power to nearly 3 million consumers.

www.opel.com

FOOD

Sadia

CEO: Walter Fontana Filho

Sadia is one of Latin America's leading food-processing companies and has successfully struggled against a financial crisis that has seen Brazil's currency drop by 25% this year. Since its inception as a local grain mill in the late 1940s, the Brazilian company has used years of strategic planning to develop an aggressive export program and to diversify into more value-added products, which has provided resilience amid Brazil's troubled economy.

www.sadia.com.br

FRANCHISES

Grupo Posadas

Chairman and CEO: Gaston Azcarraga

In a sector dominated by foreign companies, Grupo Posadas stands out as one of the few successful indigenous franchise operators in Latin America. The Mexican company runs the popular Fiesta brand of hotels in Mexico and the Caesar Park luxury hotels in South America. The well-managed firm operates five hotel chains with 60 hotels and more than 13,000 rooms throughout the Latin region.

www.fiestamexico.com

INFRASTRUCTURE

Odebrecht

President and CEO: Pedro Novis

For nearly six decades, the Odebrecht Group has been active in a wide range of heavy industries including engineering and construction, chemicals and petrochemicals, and infrastructure and public services.The Brazilian giant has more than 36,000 employees working in nearly 200 subsidiaries and affiliates on four continents-- North America, South America, Africa and Europe.

www.odebrecht.com.br

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Grupo Televisa

Chairman, President and CEO: Emilio Azcarraga

The leading television broadcaster in Mexico and a dominant player in Spanish-language programming around the globe, Grupo Televisa is a well-diversified media and entertainment company. Its Mexican television broadcast business remains the largest contributor to annual sales, at more than 60%. Other revenue-producers include holdings in cable, radio, satellite programming, sports and a number of magazines.

www.televisa.com

METALS & MINING

Companhia Vale do Rio Dose (CVRD)

Executive Chairman: Roger Agnelli

While most Latin nations have large state-owned mining companies, CVRD remains successful because it is well managed and maintains a global reach. The Brazilian company gains nearly 85% of its revenue from exports and has been the world's top producer of iron ore for the past 10 years.

www.cvrd.com.br/

OIL & GAS

Petrobras

President and CEO: Francisco Roberto Andre Gros

Petrobras remains the largest company in Brazil and the region, as it posted annual sales of $24.5 billion and earnings of nearly $3.5 billion in 2001.As the country's largest exporter, its dollar-denominated revenues have helped the company and the government weather Brazil's financial crisis and the devaluation of its currency.

www.petrobras.com.br

RETAILING

Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao (CBD)

President and CEO: Abilio dos Santos Diniz

Brazil's largest food retailer became even larger this August when the country's antitrust unit approved its purchase of the Se supermarket chain in the state of Sao Paulo. CBD's overall share of the market increased to 15% with the acquisition of Se's 60 supermarkets from Portuguese company Jeronimo Martins.

www pao cr.cum.br

TELECOM SERVICES

Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex)

CEO: Jaime Chico Pardo

This Mexican telecommunications giant continues to draw praise for being well managed and protecting its market share as it controls costs and maintains a huge cash flow. The company is Latin America's second-largest company in terms of sales, posting revenue of $12 billion in 2001.

www.telmex.com.mx