KEY POINTS:
New Zealand companies Telecom and Fletcher Building have been included in Forbes' annual global list of the world's 2000 biggest listed companies.
The list, first compiled in 2004, ranks Telecom at 1095 and Fletcher Building at 1796.
British bank HSBC Holdings topped the list followed by General Electric, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Toyota Motor Group, ING Group and Berkshire Hathaway.
Sixty countries were represented on the list, but America had the most entries.
"The Forbes Global 2000 are public companies with the top composite scores based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. Our justification for using a composite ranking is simple: One metric alone can give a false impression about corporate size," the Forbes website said.
The 2000 companies account for US$30 trillion in revenues, US$2.4 trillion in profits, US$119 trillion in assets and US$39 trillion in market value and 72 million employees globally.
There are 315 banking companies on the list, the most from one industry.
"To qualify as a global high performer, a company must stand out from its industry peers in growth, return to investors and future prospects. Most of the 130 global high performers have been expanding their earnings at 25 per cent a year or better-easy for a start-up, hard for a blue chip."
- NZPA
