HSBC has celebrated a milestone this month, jumping two places to become the first non-US company to top the prestigious Forbes 2000 list of the world’s largest companies.
The annual index surveys blue chip companies in 26 industries across 60 countries and ranks them according to a composite of sales, profits, assets and market value.
HSBC’s elevation to the top of the list comes on the back of a 26 per cent lift in revenue and a 31 per cent lift in net income over the past five years.
The largest non-banking sector company featured this year was General Electric, which placed second, with Bank of America placing third while last year’s leading company, Citigroup, which has been hard hit as a result of the sub-prime crisis, dropped to 24th.
