World's 100 Most Sustainable Corporations Deliver Better for Investors

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2019 /CNW/ - Corporate Knights released its 15^th annual list of the world's 100 most sustainable corporations in Davos today, following a rigorous analysis of some 7,500 companies with US$1B+ in revenues.  A comparative financial performance and corporate longevity analysis of the Global 100 companies against the MSCI All Country World Index supports the mounting case that sustainable corporate performance is consistent with equal or better returns for investors and greater corporate longevity.

Net returns of the MSCI All Country World Index (CNW Group/Corporate Knights Inc.)

Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (CNW Group/Corporate Knights Inc.)

According to the Toronto-based sustainable business magazine and research company's latest data crunching, the world's most sustainable corporation in 2019 is Chr. Hansen, a Danish bioscience company, which uses "good bacteria" to provide natural means for preserving food, protecting plants and reducing overreliance on antibiotics in livestock farming. Eighty-one per cent of Chr. Hansen's revenues are categorized as "clean," according to the Corporate Knights taxonomy. It also has strong representation of women on its board and in its executive ranks, and the company now links executive compensation to corporate diversity targets.

Other top spots on the 2019 ranking: second-place went to Kering S.A., a French apparel and accessories manufacturer, which pioneered Environment, Profit & Loss accounting as a way of making environmental impacts directly visible on the corporate bottom line. Kering was ahead of all other companies on representation of women on its board at 64 per cent.  Third place went to Neste Corporation, a Finnish petroleum refiner that earned 25 per cent of its revenues from refining biofuels and aims to boost that to 50 per cent by 2020.

The Global 100's "clean revenue" metric, which was introduced in last year's ranking and now counts for 50 per cent of each company's score, measures the percentage of revenues earned from products or services that have environmental, or well-defined social benefits. Refined "peer group" definitions used to score companies were introduced this year and have improved the comparability and precision of the rankings.

Analysis of the age composition and financial performance of the 2019 Global 100 continues to demonstrate that top sustainability performers tend to last longer and perform better for investors than comparator companies. The average age of a Global 100 company is 87 years, while the average age of a company in the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) is 63 years.  

Comparative investor returns were assessed using the "Global 100 Index," which is calculated by Solactive and available via Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. Composed of Global 100-ranked companies, it is equally weighted and mirrors the sector composition of the MSCI ACWI on a percentage basis. From its inception on February 1, 2005, to December 31, 2018, the Global 100 Index made a net investment return of 127.35 per cent, compared to 118.27 per cent for the MSCI ACWI (see Appendix A below for long-term trend).

"The Global 100 companies show that doing what is good for the world can also be good for financial performance," said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights.

Global 100 companies also consistently outperform MSCI ACWI companies on CEO-to-average-worker compensation equity, board gender diversity, on paying their fair share of taxes, and on various other specific metrics that factor into the ranking.

Metric	Global 100	MSCI ACWI
CEO-to-average-worker-pay ratio	76:1	140:1
Cash-taxes-paid-to-profit ratio	18%	16%
Carbon productivity (revenue-to-tonne-C02e ratio)	$238k	$157k
Clean revenues (from products or services with beneficial environmental or social impacts as % of total revenues)	26%	9%
% of women on boards	27%	19%
Executive pay linked to sustainability measures (% of companies having such a link)	58%	19%

Global 100 companies come from 21 different countries, predominantly in North America (there are 22 American and six Canadian companies on the list) and Western Europe, where 13 countries collectively account for 51 ranked companies. The other 21 ranked companies come from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Sectorally, 20 ranked companies are in IT and 17 in the financial sector. With the addition of the consumer discretionary, health care, and industrials sectors, these five sectors make up almost three-quarters of the Global 100 in line with its comparator benchmark.

For full rankings and methodology details, please see: www.corporateknights.com/global100.

About Corporate Knights: Corporate Knights Inc. includes the sustainable business magazine Corporate Knights and a research division that produces rankings and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. 

About the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World: The Global 100 is an annual project initiated by Corporate Knights, the company for clean capitalism. Launched in 2005, the Global 100 is announced annually on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Appendix I: Net returns of the MSCI All Country World Index and the Corporate Knights Global 100 Index in USD as calculated respectively by Solactive and MSCI (from February 1, 2005 to December 31^st, 2018)

Appendix II: 2018 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World

Rank 2018	Full company name	Country	Peer Group
1	Chr. Hansen Holding A/S	Denmark	Food or other Chemical Agents
2	Kering SA	France	Apparel and Accessories
3	Neste Corporation	Finland	Petroleum Refineries
4	Orsted	Denmark	Wholesale Power
5	GlaxoSmithKline plc	UK	Biopharmaceuticals
6	Prologis, Inc	U.S	Real Estate Investment Trusts
7	Umicore	Belgium	Primary Metals Products
8	Banco do Brasil S.A	Brazil	Banks
9	Shinhan Financial Group Co	South Korea	Banks
10	Taiwan Semiconductor	Taiwan	Semiconductor Equipment
11	Pearson PLC	UK	Personal Professional Services
12	Outotec Oyj	Finland	Machinery Manufacturing
13	McCormick & Company	U.S	Food and Beverage Production
14	Cisco Systems, Inc	U.S	Communications Equipment
15	Natura Cosmeticos S.A	Brazil	Personal Care and Cleaning
16	ERG S.p.A	Italy	Wholesale Power
17	Analog Devices, Inc	U.S	Semiconductor Manufacturing
18	Novartis AG	Switzerland	Biopharmaceuticals
19	CEMIG	Brazil	Electric Utilities
20	Sanofi	France	Biopharmaceuticals
21	Ericsson	Sweden	Communications Equipment
22	Bombardier Inc	Canada	Aerospace and Defense
23	UPM-Kymmene Oyj	Finland	Forestry and Paper Products
24	BNP Paribas SA	France	Banks
25	City Developments Limited	Singapore	Real Estate Invest.+ Services
26	bioMerieux SA	France	Diagnostics and Drug Delivery
27	Royal KPN NV	Netherlands	Wireless and Wireline Telecom
28	Siemens AG	Germany	Industrial Conglomerates
29	Valeo SA	France	Consumer Vehicles and Parts
30	LG Electronics Inc	South Korea	Computer Hardware
31	Amundi SA	France	Investment Services
32	Ecolab Inc	U.S	Food or other Chemical Agents
33	CapitaLand Limited	Singapore	Real Estate Invest.+ Services
34	Vestas Wind Systems A/S	Denmark	Electrical Equipment + Power
35	ING Groep NV	Netherlands	Banks
36	Electrolux AB	Sweden	Household Appliances and Furn.
37	Teck Resources Limited	Canada	Metal Ore Mining
38	Dassault Systemes SA	France	Software
39	HP Inc	U.S	Computer Peripherals
40	Comerica Incorporated	U.S	Banks
41	Sun Life Financial Inc	Canada	Insurance
42	VERBUND AG	Austria	Wholesale Power
43	Kone Oyj	Finland	Machinery Manufacturing
44	Suncor Energy Inc	Canada	Integrated Oil and Gas
45	ABB Ltd	Switzerland	Industrial Conglomerates
46	Eli Lilly and Company	U.S	Biopharmaceuticals
47	Nordea Bank AB	Sweden	Banks
48	Autodesk, Inc	U.S	Software
49	Metso Oyj	Finland	Machinery Manufacturing
50	AstraZeneca PLC	UK	Biopharmaceuticals
51	KeyCorp	U.S	Banks
52	Alphabet Inc	U.S	Internet and Data Services
53	MetLife, Inc	U.S	Insurance
54	Industria de Diseno Textil	Spain	Apparel and Accessories
55	Danaher Corporation	U.S	Medical Devices
56	Halma plc	UK	Machinery Manufacturing
57	Total SA	France	Integrated Oil and Gas
58	Novo Nordisk A/S	Denmark	Biopharmaceuticals
59	PNC Financial Services	U.S	Banks
60	Schneider Electric SE	France	Industrial Conglomerates
61	Iberdrola SA	Spain	Wholesale Power
62	Alstom SA	France	Transportation Equipment
63	Bank of America Corp	U.S	Banks
64	Nokia Oyj	Finland	Communications Equipment
65	Unilever PLC	UK	Personal Care and Cleaning
66	Ingersoll-Rand Plc	U.S	Machinery Manufacturing
67	Commerzbank AG	Germany	Banks
68	Acciona SA	Spain	Facilities and Construction
69	Tesla Inc	U.S	Consumer Vehicles and Parts
70	Itron, Inc	U.S	Machinery Manufacturing
71	Westpac Banking Corp	Australia	Banks
72	ENGIE Brasil Energia S.A	Brazil	Wholesale Power
73	Eisai Co., Ltd	Japan	Biopharmaceuticals
74	National Australia Bank	Australia	Banks
75	AAK AB	Sweden	Food and Beverage Production
76	Lloyds Banking Group plc	UK	Banks
77	OSRAM Licht AG	Germany	Electrical Equipment + Power
78	Takeda Pharmaceutical Co	Japan	Biopharmaceuticals
79	UCB S.A	Belgium	Biopharmaceuticals
80	Intesa Sanpaolo SpA	Italy	Banks
81	Workday, Inc	U.S	Software
82	Yokogawa Electric Corp	Japan	Industrial Conglomerates
83	Samsung SDI Co., Ltd	South Korea	Electrical Equipment + Power
84	adidas AG	Germany	Apparel and Accessories
85	Campbell Soup Company	U.S	Food and Beverage Production
86	Advantech Co., Ltd	Taiwan	Computer Hardware
87	ANSYS, Inc	U.S	Software
88	Kesko Oyj	Finland	Food and Beverage Retail
89	Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd	Japan	Other Materials
90	VMware, Inc	U.S	Software
91	Canadian Tire Corporation	Canada	General Merchandise Retail
92	Kao Corp	Japan	Personal Care and Cleaning
93	Accenture Plc	Ireland	Technology Consulting Services
94	Celestica Inc	Canada	Manufacturing Equipment
95	Toyota Motor Corp	Japan	Consumer Vehicles and Parts
96	Konica Minolta, Inc	Japan	Computer Peripherals
97	Spectris plc	UK	Machinery Manufacturing
98	L'Oreal SA	France	Personal Care and Cleaning
99	Bayerische Motoren Werke	Germany	Consumer Vehicles and Parts
100	Panasonic Corporation	Japan	Computer Hardware

SOURCE Corporate Knights Inc.

For further information: Toby Heaps, CEO, Corporate Knights, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected]

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