RIL lone Indian entity in world's 100 most respected cos: WSJ

New York, Sep 7 (PTI) The much touted B.R.I.C. pack accounts for less than 10 percent of the world's 100 most respected countries, whereas the U.S. and U.K. are home to nearly half of them, according to their latest rankings compiled by the American business daily Wall Street Journal.

While billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is the only Indian company on the list, there are four firms from Russia and two each from China and Brazil.

The U.S. has the largest representation of 38 companies, followed by 11 from the U.K.

The list has been topped by U.S.-based global healthcare
products major Johnson and Johnson, which is followed by
another American F.M.C.G. giant Procter & Gamble, Japanese
auto maker Toyota Motor, legendary investor Warren Buffett-led
Berkshire Hathaway and technology giant Apple in top five.

Besides, Google (6th), Wal-Mart (7th), Coca-Cola (8th),
PepsiCo (9th) and Nestle (10th) also figure among the top-
ranked companies.

In the top 10 itself, eight are from the U.S., except for
Toyota and Switzerland's Nestle.

However, the Indian entry R.I.L. at its 83rd position has
outranked two American giants — Citigroup (99th) and American
International Group or A.I.G. (95th). Citigroup and A.I.G.
have slipped from their 53rd and 30th positions in the
previous year's rankings. R.I.L. was not on the list in 2007.

R.I.L. has also been ranked ahead of big global names
like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial of Japan, Suez and France
Telecom and B.N.P. Paribas from France, British American
Tobacco from the U.K.

The two Chinese companies — Cnooc (93) and China
Construction Bank (94) — and four Russian companies — Sberbank
Rossia (96th), Rosneft (97th), Lukoil Holdings (98th)
and Gazprom(100th), are ranked below R.I.L.

However, the two Brazilian entities - Petroleo Brasileiro
at 52nd and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (C.V.R.D.) at 59th
place - are better placed than the Indian entity.

The list includes three entities led by Indian-origin
people - food and beverages major PepsiCo headed by Indra
Nooyi (9th), Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup and steel tycoon
Lakshmi Mittal-led ArcelorMittal (60th).

Besides, the 11 U.K. firms on the list also include
telecom major Vodafone, which was led by India-born
businessman Arun Sarin till earlier this year.

Among the top-ranked companies, Buffett-led Berkshire
Hathaway has slipped from its first position last year, while
J&J has moved up from its second place in 2007 list.

Toyota has retained its third place, while Apple and P&G
have improved on their previous year rankings.

As part of the fourth annual survey, Wall Street Journal
asked money managers to indicate the degree to which they
respect or don't the 100 largest publicly traded companies, as
measured by total market value.

According to the survey, 74 percent respondents said
they 'highly respect' J&J, 23 per cent said they 'respect',
3 percent said 'respect somewhat' and none said they 'don't
respect' the company — making it top-ranked company.

About R.I.L., 4 percent considered the company as highly
respected, 17 percent said they 'respect' it, 46 percent
responded saying they 'respect somewhat', while 11 percent
said they 'don't respect' the firm.

W.S.J. said it has assigned a point each to the four
categories to determine mean scores, using the percentage of
highly respect to break ties. Last year's top four winners
reappear at the top this year, but in different order," W.S.J.
said. PTI JD