Ben T. Smith IV, a longtime Silicon Valley executive and currently head of the Communications, Media and Technology practice at Kearney, speaks to Global Finance about the post-SVB venture capital industry and the pace of innovation.
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Global Finance editor Andrea Fiano interviews Ásgeir Jónsson, Central Bank Governor of Iceland during Global Finance's World's Best Bank Awards at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on October 15th.
Worldwide, corporate cash hit an all-time high last year, spotlighting more than a decade of growth. US nonfinancial companies, anticipating tax legislation that would enable them to repatriate offshore cash holdings without penalty, brought their total liquid assets to a record $2.1 trillion at the end of 2017, according to S&P Global. Nonfinancial firms in Europe, the Middle East and Africa recorded $1 trillion in corporate cash for the second consecutive year, according to Moody’s, even though their net M&A spending nearly tripled to a seven-year high of €80 billion ($96 billion) in 2017.
The richest were richer than ever as 2018 began. Last year, the cutoff to make the top 25 was $16.3 billion in liquid holdings, and only the top 10 had more than $25 billion. This year, the cutoff for inclusion soared to $24.4 billion, and all but one of the top 25 have more than $25 billion.
This year, we expanded our criteria to include all publicly traded nonfinancial companies—even those with majority state ownership. Prior lists excluded any company with more than 50% government ownership, but we sought to give readers a window into the financial position of state-controlled firms. This brought significant new entrants to the regional lists in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Geographically, US companies continue to dominate the ranking, accounting for 13 positions, seven of them in the Top 10. Japan contributes four companies while China adds three, if one counts China Mobile, headquartered in Beijing but incorporated in Hong Kong.
Tech Giants Dominate
Technology giants stay ahead in our sixth annual ranking. The top US big tech firms alone account for a whopping $446.7 billion in cash, 12% more than the previous year. Microsoft stays at the top of this subgroup for the third year in a row with almost $133 billion in cash and cash equivalents, up $19.7 billion from 2016, despite chalking up capital expenditures (capex) of $8.1 billion—roughly the same level as 2016.With $101.9 billion, Google’s parent, Alphabet, has the second-biggest cash stash, adding more than $15 billion to its pile. Apple comes third, followed by China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile company by market capitalization. Cisco moves ahead of Oracle.
For many other companies, growth in their cash holdings is linked to acquisition plans. AT&T, 8th, grew its cash stash from $5.8 billion to $50.5 billion in just one year, mainly by resorting to the bond market. That bumped up the resources available for the company’s planned acquisition this year of Time Warner—finally approved in June after an intense judicial battle, although the decision may be reversed on appeal. Gilead Sciences spent $11.9 billion on the acquisition of Kite Pharma, and at the end of the year still had $25.5 billion on its balance sheet and may be on the lookout for other M&A deals. Qualcomm, on the other hand, recently announced that, in the pall of the US-China trade war, it is dropping its offer to buy NXP for $44 billion after failing to obtain approval from China’s antitrust agency. Instead, the company will spend $30 billion on buybacks.
Central Japan Railway Company (also known as JR Central or JR Tokai) debuts on the list in 16th place. Financing needs for construction of the Chuo Shinkansen magnetic levitation line led JR Central to create a dedicated cash fund that the company has generously fed for the last two years. Another Japanese newcomer is SoftBank Group, which has been raising cash to keep its leverage ratios in line as it pursues an aggressive investment policy.
A change in eligibility criteria brought in a few newcomers previously excluded because of their ownership structure, including three from China: China Mobile in 4th place, China State Construction Engineering at 10th, and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) at 17th. Of those, only Sinopec saw a noteworthy increase in its cash and cash equivalents in 2017, although its cash-to-total-assets ratio is still an unimpressive 13.6%.
Will 2017 represent a high-water mark for corporate cash holdings? Don’t assume it. The American Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) profoundly changed the landscape for corporate-finance practitioners, slashing the top US corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and allowing a one-time cash repatriation holiday. Will US companies reinvest those tax savings? Pay down debt? Give raises? How much will they retain? Will the M&A juggernaut continue?
Caution Is Back
The direction cash-rich companies will steer post-TCJA is still unclear. In its April 2018 Liquidity Survey, the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) found that up to 40% of respondents were still unsure of the new law’s implications and didn’t anticipate any changes in their company’s expenditures. Almost one in four companies were repatriating overseas cash, 18% planned to increase capex, 15% said they wanted to increase wages and bonuses, 14% planned share repurchases and 8% expected to make new hires. Significantly, companies planning to pay down debt dropped from 65% in 2017 to 26% this year.
A good deal of the extra cash might remain in liquid form. The AFP Corporate Cash Indicators showed a significant number of US companies continuing to grow their cash holdings in the first months of 2018, although the pace slowed down in the second quarter. Global cash piles may start to decline; but uncertainty, including what looks like a trade war, suggests leading companies may need to maintain comfortable cash buffers.
M&A is also heating up. In the US, the TCJA has made M&A more attractive for both buyers and sellers by reducing corporate tax rates and allowing companies, at least temporarily, to immediately expense 100% of depreciable tangible assets acquired. Combined with faster growth in Europe, that helped bring global M&A deals to a record $2.5 trillion in the first half of 2018, according to Thomson Reuters, with health care and media companies the leading targets. High valuations, geopolitical risk and increasing tensions between the US and China, with tariff, regulatory and antitrust ramifications, will make it harder to keep up the pace. But absent major disruptions, the global M&A market is on track to break 2007’s record $4.1 trillion in transactions.
Another potential use for excess liquidity is, of course, stock buybacks. The last time Washington offered a repatriation tax holiday, in 2004, analysts estimated 60% to 90% of the funds went to share repurchases. This time around, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA) estimated that buybacks would be only half of the expected $1.2 trillion of repatriated cash.
That prediction seems to have been off. Buybacks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 hit $189.1 billion in the first quarter, up almost 10% from the previous record, set in the third quarter of 2007. TrimTabs Investment Research estimated first-quarter buybacks at $242 billion and in the second quarter at a staggering $437 billion. Total returns to investors, including both stock repurchases and dividends, in the first three months of the year reached $1 trillion for the first time in history.
Apple has set the most ambitious goal by far. In May the company announced it would buy back $100 billion of its own shares. Apple’s repurchases amounted to $22.8 billion in the first quarter, accounting for 12% of the total for the S&P 500, and another $20 billion in the second. On June 28, Nike announced a $15 billion repurchase plan. In March, drug maker Amgen added $10 billion to its already active $4.4 billion program. And financial-services companies added a total of $112 billion in buyback announcements, with Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America announcing plans to repurchase more than $20 billion each.
What About My Raise?
Workers won’t get much of the tax-cut windfall. American Airlines, Walt Disney, AT&T and a few others announced tax-cut bonuses early this year and some, including Walmart and Wells Fargo, have raised minimum pay for workers or announced extraordinary contributions to retirement plans. But the higher minimum pay at Wells Fargo, for example, will cost the company a mere $78 million, while its buyback plan will cost $20 billion. And even the bank has waffled on whether it’s related to the tax cut or not. Workers at Disney, in the end, never got their raise; it was contingent on accepting management’s contract proposal.
Capex at S&P 500 companies grew 24% in the first quarter, moving even faster than buybacks. But at $166 billion, this is still below the level of share repurchases. And not all sectors are contributing equally. Google’s capex in the first quarter tripled its total for the same period the previous year. Apple recently announced it is raising its capex for 2018 to more than $26 billion, doubling its 2017 figure. The energy sector, too, shows money flowing back into oil projects now that prices have recovered.
Top 25 Global Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
MICROSOFT
US
Technology
132,901
113,239
19,662
-8,129
250,312
2
ALPHABET
US
Technology
101,871
86,333
15,538
-13,184
197,295
3
APPLE
US
Technology
74,181
67,155
7,026
-12,795
375,319
4
CHINA MOBILEd
Hong Kong
Telecoms
71,615
65,873
5,742
N/A
233,754
5
CISCO SYSTEMS
US
Technology
70,492
65,756
16,524
-964
129,818
6
ORACLEe
US
Technology
67,261
66,078
5,287
-1,736
137,264
7
TOYOTA MOTOR
Japan
Automotive
53,883
42,987
4,356
N/A
473,575
8
AT&T
US
Telecoms
50,498
5,788
2,985
-20,647
444,097
9
GENERAL ELECTRIC
US
Industrial
43,967
48,129
11,259
-7,920
369,245
10
CHINA STATE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING CORPORATIONd
China
Civil Engineering
42,663
46,327
-4,775
N/A
238,188
11
FACEBOOK
US
Technology
41,711
29,449
-12,832
6,733
84,524
12
AMGEN
US
Pharmaceuticals
41,678
38,085
4,944
-20,647
79,954
13
FORD MOTOR
US
Automotive
38,927
38,827
4,904
-7,920
258,496
14
QUALCOMM
US
Telecoms
37,308
18,648
-1,429
-690
65,486
15
TOTAL
France
Oil & Gas
36,155
29,010
-1,775
N/A
242,631
16
CENTRAL JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY
Japan
Transport
34,083
18,059
2,392
N/A
83,894
17
CHINA PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL CORPORATIONd
China
Oil & Gas
33,202
20,504
451
N/A
245,025
18
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
South Korea
Consumer Electronics
31,515
29,602
3,996
N/A
281,880
19
AMAZON
US
Retail
28,052
25,981
-244
-11,955
131,310
20
SOFTBANK GROUP CORP
Japan
Technology
26,019
18,291
-2,566
N/A
293,629
21
SONY
Japan
Consumer Electronics
25,711
17,953
-73
N/A
179,542
22
BP
UK
Oil & Gas
25,711
23,528
-5,085
N/A
276,515
23
GILEAD SCIENCES
US
Pharmaceuticals
25,510
11,895
4,479
-590
70,283
24
DAIMLER
Germany
Automotive
25,359
21,745
-6,552
N/A
306,547
25
PETROBASd
Brazil
Oil & Gas
24,409
21,993
4,755
N/A
251,410
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. dGovernment holds 50% or more. e2018 data. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Outside the S&P 500, investment activity is positive but less buoyant. According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, investment in equipment grew by 6.1% in the first quarter: solid growth, but in line with the last few quarters. Meanwhile, analysts are warning about the artificial boost that buybacks are giving to stock prices.
After all, cash may be king, but it does not always rule wisely.
North America
Once more, technology behemoths top the list of US corporate cash kings. AT&T jumps out of nowhere to 6th place after multiplying its liquid assets by a factor of almost nine in just one year, in preparation for the Time Warner acquisition. Gilead Sciences leaps into 13th place after more than doubling its cash stash. Solid numbers keep General Motors and Coca-Cola in the ranking, losing six positions each despite minor decreases in their absolute liquidity.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — North America
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
MICROSOFT
US
Technology
132,901
113,239
19,662
-8,129
250,312
2
ALPHABET
US
Technology
101,871
86,333
15,538
-13,184
197,295
3
APPLE
US
Technology
74,181
67,155
7,026
-12,795
375,319
4
CISCO SYSTEMS
US
Technology
70,492
65,756
16,524
-964
129,818
5
ORACLEd
US
Technology
67,261
66,078
5,287
-1,736
137,264
6
AT&T
US
Telecoms
50,498
5,788
2,985
-20,647
444,097
7
GENERAL ELECTRIC
US
Industrial
43,967
48,129
11,259
-7,920
369,245
8
FACEBOOK
US
Technology
41,711
29,449
-12,832
6,733
84,524
9
AMGEN
US
Pharmaceuticals
41,678
38,085
4,944
-20,647
79,954
10
FORD MOTOR
US
Automotive
38,927
38,827
4,904
-7,920
258,496
11
QUALCOMM
US
Telecoms
37,308
18,648
-1,429
-690
65,486
12
AMAZON
US
Retail
28,052
25,981
-244
-11,955
131,310
13
GILEAD SCIENCES
US
Pharmaceuticals
25,510
11,895
4,479
-590
70,283
14
GENERAL MOTORS
US
Automotive
23,825
24,415
-590
-27,633
212,482
15
COCA COLA
US
Beverages
20,675
22,201
-1,526
-1,675
87,896
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. d2018 data. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Latin America
Tax havens significantly warp the ranking of Latin America’s top cash hoarders, with five of the top ten companies based in Asia but incorporated in the Cayman Islands. In 1st position, with $24.4 billion in cash, is Petrobras, the state-owned Brazilian oil company. But Beijing-based technology companies Baidu and NetEase come 2nd and 3rd. Ctrip, the travel services company headquartered in Shanghai, takes 4th place. It’s followed by CK Asset Holdings of Hong Kong (formerly Cheung Kong Property Holdings), which managed to stay in 5th despite losing some fuel. Schlumberger, the French oilfield services provider based in Houston but incorporated in Curaçao, takes some steps down the ladder after reducing its cash reserves by 45%; while FEMSA, the Mexican beverage and retail giant, takes a big leap forward by more than doubling its liquid assets.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — Latin America
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
PETROBASd
Brazil
Oil & Gas
24,409
21,993
4,755
N/A
251,410
2
BAIDU
Cayman Islands
Technology
18,285
12,973
5,312
N/A
251,410
3
NETEASE
Cayman Islands
Technology
7,531
5,735
1,796
N/A
10,908
4
CTRIP.COM
Cayman Islands
Travel Services
7,390
4,934
2,456
N/A
24,886
5
CK ASSET HOLDINGS
Cayman Islands
Real Estate
7,027
8,073
-1,045
N/A
58,016
6
JD.COM
Cayman Islands
Retail
5,895
6,162
-267
N/A
28,266
7
SCHLUMBERGER
Curaçao
Oilfield Services
5,089
9,257
-4,168
N/A
71,987
8
FEMSA
Mexico
Beverages
5,034
2,148
2,886
N/A
29,744
9
VALE
Brazil
Mining
4,328
4,262
66
N/A
99,184
10
AMERICA MOVIL
Mexico
Telecoms
4,215
3,766
448
N/A
75,112
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. dGovernment holds 50% or more. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Western Europe
The ranks of Europe’s most cash-rich companies stayed fairly stable in 2017, with six of last year’s top ten remaining in the top ten. Total keeps 1st place for the fourth year running, as it increased its cash holdings almost 25% to $36.2 billion and widened its lead over BP, with $25.7 billion. Daimler, Shell and Vodafone complete Europe’s Top 5. Big oil has a strong presence in the ranking, accounting for five companies out of 15. The biggest leap, however, was for Christian Dior, which in the aftermath of the Arnault family’s and LVMH’s moves to win complete control over the brand has almost tripled its cash holdings to $12.4 billion.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — Western Europe
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
TOTAL
France
Oil & Gas
36,155
29,010
-1,775
N/A
242,631
2
BP
UK
Oil & Gas
25,711
23,528
-5,085
N/A
276,515
3
DAIMLER
Germany
Automotive
25,359
21,745
-6,552
N/A
306,547
4
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL
UK
Oil & Gas
20,312
19,130
1,182
N/A
407,097
5
VODAFONE GROUP
UK
Telecoms
17,504
16,502
1,003
N/A
179,407
5
AIRBUSd
Netherlands
Aeronautics
16,362
12,877
3,485
N/A
136,645
7
ENI
Italy
Oil & Gas
16,041
12,731
3,309
N/A
137,833
8
PEUGEOT
France
Automotive
14,996
13,637
1,359
N/A
68,966
9
EQUINOR
Norway
Oil & Gas
12,838
13,301
-463
N/A
111,100
10
SANOFI
France
Pharmaceuticals
12,371
10,829
1,542
N/A
119,721
11
CHRISTIAN DIOR
France
Fashion
12,353
4,370
7,982
N/A
87,263
12
ANHEUSER-BUSCH
Belgium
Beverages
11,776
14,238
-2,462
N/A
246,126
13
RIO TINTO
UK
Mining
11,605
8,536
3,069
N/A
95,726
14
Medtronice
Ireland
Medical Equipment
11,227
13,708
-2,481
N/A
91,393
15
ENGIE
France
Energy
11,185
10,821
363
N/A
180,293
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. dGovernment holds 50% or more. e2018 data. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey
Expanding the criteria for inclusion had especially big impact on our Central and Eastern Europe ranking. Gazprom, with a $15.7 billion pile of cash, is the undisputable regional leader. Rosneft takes 2nd place despite a big dip in its liquidity, which declined by more than half to $9 billion, in part due to a Trump administration ruling against the company’s joint venture with ExxonMobil.
Energy—particularly oil and gas—completely dominates the Central and Eastern Europe rankings, taking the four first spots and bringing four new companies into the Top 10. Geographically, Russian companies reign, occupying the first seven spots. Turkish Airlines, Turkish steel producer Erdemir and Polish oil refiner and retailer PKN Orlen—all state-owned—are the only non-Russian companies making the list.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — Central-Eastern Europe and Turkey
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
GAZPROMd
Russia
Oil & Gas
15,676
15,028
-647
N/A
316,644
2
ROSNEFTd
Russia
Oil & Gas
8,958
18,151
-9,193
N/A
212,274
3
LUKOIL
Russia
Oil & Gas
5,736
4,309
-1,427
N/A
90,733
4
SURGUTNEFTEGAS
Russia
Oil & Gas
3,812
1,787
2,025
N/A
73,605
5
UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATIONd e
Russia
Aeronautics
2,848
2,130
718
N/A
16,221
5
TRANSNEFTd
Russia
Oil & Gas
2,581
2,077
504
N/A
50,133
7
INTER RAO
Russia
Energy
2,478
1,644
834
N/A
10,852
8
TURKISH AIRLINES
Turkey
Transportation
1,889
1,465
424
N/A
18,183
9
ERDEMIR
Norway
Steel
1,864
1,302
561
N/A
7,516
10
PKN ORLEN
Poland
Oil & Gas
1,794
1,214
580
N/A
17,426
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. dGovernment holds 50% or more. e2018 data. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Asia-Pacific
With $71.6 billion of cash in its accounts, state-owned China Mobile takes 1st place in Asia-Pacific this year. Following in 2nd is Toyota, with a stash of $53.9 billion, while China State Construction Engineering takes over 3rd place despite an 8% decrease in its cash holdings to $42.7 billion. The biggest improvement was recorded by Central Japan Railway, which significantly increased its cash reserves in preparation for construction of the Chuo Shinkansen line.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — Asia-Pacific
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
CHINA MOBILEd
Hong Kong
Telecoms
71,615
65,873
-5,742
N/A
233,574
2
TOYOTA MOTOR
Japan
Automotive
53,883
42,987
-10,987
N/A
473,757
3
CHINA STATE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING CORPd
China
Civil Engineering
42,663
46,327
-3,664
N/A
238,188
4
CENTRAL JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY
Japan
Transport
34,083
18,059
2,392
N/A
83,894
5
CHINA PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL CORPORATIONd
China
Oil & Gas
33,202
20,504
451
N/A
245,025
6
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
South Korea
Consumer Electronics
31,515
29,602
3,996
N/A
281,880
7
SOFTBANK GROUP CORP
Japan
Technology
26,019
18,291
-2,566
N/A
293,629
8
SONY
Japan
Consumer Electronics
25,711
17,953
-73
N/A
179,542
9
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY
Taiwan
Consumer Electronics
21,760
20,052
1,708
N/A
114,152
10
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR
Taiwan
Electronics
21,756
19,383
2,373
N/A
66,734
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. dGovernment holds 50% or more. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Middle East
In the Middle East ranking, a few state-owned corporations appear this year for the first time. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) increased its cash stash by 47% in 2017 and lands on top with $15.7 billion. Other companies report much more modest activity. Two telecoms come in 2nd and 4th: Emirates Etisalat and Qatari Ooredoo. In 3rd and 5th places are two real estate developers, Emirati Emaar Properties and Aldar Properties. The only companies in the top 10 without significant government ownership are Check Point Software, the Israeli cybersecurity company, which dropped from 3rd to 7th place despite keeping its cash stash almost unchanged; and Woqod, the Qatari fuel retailer, which fell from 4th to 8th despite an increase of almost 38% to $1.2 billion in cash.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — Middle East
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
SAUDI BASIC INDUSTRIESd
Saudi Arabia
Chemicals
15,744
10,733
-5,011
N/A
85,988
2
EMIRATES TELECOMMUNICATION (ETISALAT) d
UAE
Telecoms
7,386
6,447
939
N/A
34,931
3
EMAAR PROPERTIES
UAE
Real Estate
5,746
4,708
-1,039
N/A
30,702
4
OOREDOOd
Qatar
Telecoms
5,071
4,533
538
N/A
24,610
5
ALDAR PROPERTIES
UAE
Real Estate
1,875
1,823
52
N/A
9,911
6
DP WORLD
UAE
Logistics
1,484
1,299
184
N/A
23,114
7
CHECK POINT SOFTWAREd
Israel
Technology
1,411
1,373
-38
N/A
5,463
8
QATAR FUEL-WOQOD
Qatar
Oil & Gas
1,199
870
-328
N/A
3,427
9
ABU DHABI NATIONAL ENERGY-TAQAd
UAE
ENERGY
1,198
1,056
142
N/A
28,055
10
SAUDI ARABIAN MINING – MAADENd
Saudi Arabia
Mining
1,160
1,165
-5
N/A
25,365
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. dGovernment holds 50% or more. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.
Data provided by: Orbis by Bureau van Dijk
Africa
The 10 richest African companies are diverse by sector, but very concentrated geographically; all but one are based in South Africa. After more than doubling its cash pile to $4 billion, internet and media group Naspers takes 1st place. Sasol keeps the second spot, despite reducing its liquidity by more than a third to $2.3 billion. MTN, the global mobile telecommunications company, takes over third position with $1.9 billion. The sole non-South-African company in the regional top 10, Nigeria’s Dangote Cement, lands in 8th place after increasing its cash reserves by 45% to $550 million.
Top Regional Public Companies By Cash On Balance Sheet — Africa
Rank
Company
Country
Industry
Current Year Casha
Prior Year Cashb
YoY Change
Capexc
Total
Assetsc
1
NASPERSe
South Africa
Media & Communications
4,007
1,714
2,293
N/A
21,930
2
SASOLd
South Africa
Chemicals
2,254
3,541
-1,287
N/A
30,541
3
MTN
South Africa
Telecoms
1,941
2,649
-709
N/A
19,653
4
GRINDROD
South Africa
Freight
870
824
46
N/A
2,833
5
ASPEN PHARMACARE
South Africa
Pharmaceuticals
819
738
81
N/A
8,903
6
IMAPALA PLATINUM
South Africa
Mining
600
459
141
N/A
5,625
7
SHOPRITEd
South Africa
Retail
595
459
135
N/A
4,266
8
DAGONTE CEMENT
Nigeria
Cement
550
379
171
N/A
5,444
9
SAPPI
South Africa
Pulp & Paper
550
703
-153
N/A
5,247
10
EXARRO RESOURCES
South Africa
Mining
536
380
156
N/A
5,071
aCurrent year. bPrior year. cLatest available year. d2018 data. Data valid as of July 20, 2018. All figures in USD.