UK has 'over 8% of World's best firms'

The UK has more than 8% of the world’s ‘‘best’’ big companies, including giants such as Vodafone, Lloyds TSB and GlaxoSmithKline, a report said today.

Forbes Global business magazine’s survey said there were 33 UK companies among its ‘‘A-list’’ of 400 large firms.

The A-list is made up of firms which have sales or a market value of at least five billion dollars (€5.7bn), and meet specific performance criteria such as revenue and earnings growth, and stock price.

European companies make up 32% of the list while the United States has 53%. Asian companies account for just 11% of the list.

Forbes said the lack of Asian companies on the list could suggest that the inadequacies of Asian business practices, which were uncovered four years ago in the financial crises of 1998, have not been improved upon by the companies themselves.