BC’s largest publicly traded companies posted another year of record revenue last year.
Companies on Business in Vancouver’s list of top 100 public companies in B.C. posted $70.1 billion in top-line revenue, a 9.4% increase from total revenue from companies on last year’s list.
Nearly half the list is comprised of B.C.’s largest mining and forestry companies headquartered in the province. Nearly 60% of the revenue on the list came from the province’s largest resource companies. About 39% came from mining companies and 20.2% came from B.C.’s forestry giants.
From a profitability perspective, however, mining companies dominate. More than three-quarters of the combined profit of listed companies came from the mining sector. Less than 3% of the list’s profit came from the forestry sector. The second largest source of profit came from the tech industry, with virtually all of that originating from Telus, which posted more than $1.2 billion in profit last year.
Overall, B.C.’s largest companies continue to post stronger results since the global financial crisis. According to BIV research, combined Top 100 profits continued to rise for a third consecutive year, jumping a phenomenal 39% in 2011 to $9.04 billion from $6.5 billion in 2010, surpassing the previous profit record of $7.28 billion in 2006.
The relative strength of global commodity prices has played a key role in the increase. Overall mining company profit rose 38% in 2011 to $6.88 billion from $4.97 billion in 2010.
Stronger commodity prices have also led to a changing of the guard on the list, with Teck Resources ranking as the largest B.C. public company by revenue, surpassing Telus, which retained #1 status for the past decade.
Whether Teck can retain top spot remains to be seen, but B.C.’s largest mining company continues to have higher revenue than the telecom giant. In the first quarter of 2012 ending March 31, Teck posted revenue of $2.54 billion. Meanwhile, Telus posted $2.44 billion in first quarter revenue. •
