JOLLIBEE, AYALA COMPANIES DOMINATE AWSJ 200

The country's leading companies were recognized by business leaders across the Asia-Pacific in the annual Asian Wall Street Journal 200 (AWSJ 200) survey.

Now on its 12th year, the AWSJ 200, formerly known as Review 200, polls senior management, business owners, executives and professionals on the financial and corporate performance of 157 multinational companies and between 30 and 40 local companies each in 12 countries. The AWSJ 200 rates the overall leadership of these companies based on reputation, quality of products and services, management's long-term vision, innovativeness in responding to customer needs, and financial soundness.

In the Philippines, Jollibee Foods Corporation retained its leadership ranking for the seventh consecutive year, followed by companies in the Ayala group including Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Ayala Corporation, and Globe Telecom in the top five.

Ayala Land, which was a new entrant to the top ten in 2003, rose from seventh to second place and was also recognized as first in reputation and management vision. It was cited for its strategy to address the needs of the lower and middle-income markets.

BPI, which led recent polls and awards of various regional financial publications, also climbed to third place from sixth place. The strong performance of the two companies underscored the strategic direction of parent company Ayala Corporation. Its telecommunications company Globe Telecom continued to be considered favorably in fourth place.

Other companies that made it to the top ten in the Philippines were Mercury Drug (sixth), GMA Network (seventh), ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation (eighth), San Miguel Corporation (ninth), and Smart Communications (10th).

In addition to the company leadership rankings, respondents were also asked for their business outlook for the year. More than half of them expressed confidence that business will improve in 2005 and more than 48 percent said they will increase company budgets. And while the AWSJ200 survey was conducted before the late December tsunami, the report said that the disaster wasn't expected to pose a grave threat to Asian economies. Instead, issues of corruption, bureaucracy, and pollution were listed as having greater impact on national economies, and rising costs and poor economy were considered as serious threats to business success.