Switzerland is fifth-biggest hub for most valuable global companies

Lucrative capsules: Nestlé is the most valuable Swiss-based company listed on the stock exchange. © Keystone/ Valentin Flauraud

As home to three of the top 100 most valuable global firms, the Alpine nation is a stable fifth in a ranking dominated by the US, consultancy firm EY said on Thursday.

Swiss-based Nestlé, with a market capitalisation of $321.2 billion (CHF297 billion), is ranked 23rd among the world’s most valuable stock-market listed companies, EY writes. Pharma groups Roche and Novartis are ranked 32nd and 45th respectively. The EY study is based on closing data available on December 27, 2022.

While the Swiss position has remained stable thanks to these three heavyweights, Europe’s overall presence in the rankings has been declining. Before the financial crisis more than a decade ago, 46 of the top 100 companies were European, EY writes. This year, no company from the continent makes it into the top 10. And in the top 100, only 15 companies are headquartered in Europe, compared with 19 in Asia, EY writes.

The largest current European market capitalisation is French luxury goods group LVMH, in 15th place. France is home to a total of five companies in the ranking. Germany has dropped out completely, while Great Britain has four in the top 100.

American domination

US companies have reaffirmed their dominance of international stock exchanges, with 61 US companies in the top 100 global market capitalisations at the end of 2022. Apple comes first, with a market value of $2.1 trillion, followed by Saudi Aramco. The Saudi Arabian oil group is valued at $1.9 trillion. Microsoft ($1.8 trillion) and Alphabet, the parent company of Google ($1.1 trillion), are third and fourth.

China and Hong Kong showed the best growth, with a total of 15 companies now in the top 100, up from ten a year earlier. India had two, Japan one.

By sector, technology companies have lost ground. Indeed, by the end of 2022, there were only 21 technology companies in the top 100, down from 28 a year earlier. “Many technology companies gained a lot of value during the pandemic and are now facing a much tougher economic environment,” said Stefan Rösch-Rütsche, Country Managing Partner at EY Switzerland, in a press statement.

Companies in the “energy” and “industry” sectors have seen the strongest growth. EY says that eight and nine companies from these two sectors respectively now feature in the top 100, up from five last year.