Swiss firms among 100 multinationals that ‘fuel inequality’: Oxfam

Oxfam: "100 multinationals are fuelling inequality" Keystone-SDA

The 100 largest European companies contribute to global inequality by prioritising shareholder and executive profits over employee wages, equality and ecological transition, according to NGO Oxfam.

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This is supported by an Oxfam study that also examined Swiss giants such as Zurich, Swiss Re and Glencore.

Between 2022 and 2024, the 100 multinationals in question paid out an average of 70% of their profits to shareholders. Some – such as Zurich, the Spanish Telefónica and the British BP – even distributed more to shareholders than they made in profits, Oxfam reports.

The example of Zurich is given: for the financial year 2022, the Zurich-based insurer promised its shareholders a dividend of CHF24 per share, compared to CHF22 the previous year, despite an 11.5% drop in profit. The following year, with net profit up 10% to CHF4.3 billion, the coupon rose to CHF26 per share. In 2024, profit jumped 34% to CHF5.8 billion and the dividend was increased to CHF28.

Glencore in 2023 and Swiss Re in 2022 also rewarded their shareholders with amounts exceeding their net profit. At the beginning of 2023, the Zürich-based multinational (listed in London) proposed a dividend of $0.44 per share and a $1.5bn share buyback programme, bringing total shareholder remuneration to $0.56 per share, up from $0.26 a year earlier.

Glencore is even among the six companies that remunerated shareholders despite posting losses in 2024. The commodities trading giant closed with a loss of $1.6 billion, but still proposed an ordinary dividend of 10 cents per share and a new $1 billion share buyback programme. Swiss Re, for its part, had reported a profit divided by three four years ago, but still promoted an increased dividend.

Oxfam calls for “a cap on dividends paid to shareholders until a decent wage is guaranteed for all workers along the entire production chain and an ambitious climate strategy is put in place”.

On the gender equality front, the study notes that the representation of women in the management of multinationals remains low, with modest progress: in 2022, women averaged 25% of members, rising to 26% in 2023 and 27% in 2024.

An exception is the 50% achieved in 2024 at the top of Roche and Zurich. Regarding pay differences, Nestlé and Novartis “show a negative pay gap, which means that their pay practices or industry realities favour female workers”.

Regarding carbon neutrality, Oxfam points out that “only four of the 100 companies have made solid commitments”, including Roche. “They are the only ones to engage their suppliers in achieving zero net emissions”.

Based on the annual reports, the NGO says that only one company, Nestlé, reduced its emissions in all three main areas over the three years examined. Some 58% of the companies increased their emissions over the three-year period, while 41% reduced them.

Adapted from Italian by AI/mga

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