India took pride of place at the 2012 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company RankingsTM. Of the 12 Indian companies represented in the 250, six are also in the list of top 50 fastest growing companies.
It was all eyes on China, India and the wider Asia-Pacific region when it comes to rapid financial growth and fast rising energy companies. A statement said that 70 companies from the region were in the spotlight when the 2012 Platts 250 Global Energy Companies Rankings were released in Singapore on Tuesday.
According to Platts, Cairn India took the top slot as the fastest-growing company not just in Asia but the world. Cairn India with a 119.8 per cent three-year compounded growth rate (CGR) was far ahead in the field.
The 2012 rankings reflect fiscal 2011 financial performance in four key areas: asset worth, revenues, profits and return on invested capital.
Indian companies surged ahead of others in both the independent power producers and gas utility categories, with NTPC Ltd and GAIL (India) coming top of their respective regional segments, Platts ranking showed.
A surprise entry at number two in the return on invested capital rankings was Coal India Ltd with an ROIC of 35.3 per cent, it said. A new entrant to the rankings in 2010, when the company listed, Coal India has posted strong returns on invested capital in both years, a remarkable achievement given the challenges it faces.
23 Chinese cos in 2012 list
China continues to grow in the energy business with 23 Chinese companies on the 2012 roster, giving it more companies in the Top 250 than any other country except the US.
PetroChina Company Ltd took over the 9th position and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp acquired the 12th position in the global Top 250 list.
ExxonMobile is No. 1
However, in an East-West energy showdown, Western majors still reigns, the Ranking shows. Western international oil and gas companies took all of the top 10 spots on the 2012 list, except for one – ninth place which went to PetroChina Co. Ltd.
ExxonMobil retained the number one spot of the Top 250 roster for the eighth consecutive year. Anglo-Dutch major Royal Dutch Shell moved up from sixth position to second, displacing U.S. major Chevron to third. ConocoPhillips dropped one place from seventh to eighth.
Of all Indian companies in the top 250, Power Grid Corp of India Ltd has improved its overall ranking, rising from 232nd in 2010 to 172nd in 2011, a gain of 60 places. Other significant moves include a rise of 21 places for leading power producer NHPC Ltd to 195th and amongst the electric utilities Reliance Infrastructure Ltd gained 17 places to come 215th in the overall top 250.
“India’s enormous growth in energy demand has led to its rise as the emerging energy leader on the global front," said Vandana Hari, Asia Editorial Director, Platts, adding that “Although these represent the bright spots for financial performance in 2011, 2012 may prove more challenging for India’s power generators. India is faced by massive fuel shortages, growing dependency on expensive imports and regulated domestic retail electricity prices and the widely reported blackouts in northern India in July 2011, suggest performance may prove hard to sustain.”
Also Coal India, dominant in the domestic market with few rivals, is struggling to keep pace with output targets while it continues to show resilience.