????鑒于當前經濟復蘇遲緩和消費者手頭拮據,你或許會認為美國企業也步履蹣跚,難以全速迎接輝煌。事實上,財富美國500強總體生意興隆。與美國經濟不同,這些公司顯現出動如脫兔般的敏捷和靈活性,迅速轉變產品組合,幾乎沒增加多少成本就生產出了更多的產品。這樣的敏捷和靈活性,不禁會讓人忘了這些公司龐大的規模和通常上了年紀的歲數。比如,成立已160周年的富國銀行(Wells Fargo)(排第26位)2011年宣布實現利潤159億美元,較2010年大增28%。“我們一直能夠在艱難時期通過創新實現業務繁榮,這些創新包括在移動設備上推廣銀行業務以及在其他公司都退出時拓展我們的按揭業務,”富國銀行首席財務官蒂莫西?斯隆表示。 ????富國銀行豐厚的利潤令人贊嘆,但這樣的盈利并非個別現象。2011年,財富美國500強公司總共創造了8,245億美元的利潤,較2010年增長16.4%,并超越了經濟高速增長的2006年的7,850億美元利潤。從兩項關鍵的歷史指標看,2011年的利潤也很高。2011年財富美國500強公司的利潤/總銷售額比率為7%,高于58年來的平均值5.14%。另外,2011年的資本回報率也表現出色,權益回報率達到14.3%,遠高于歷史均值12%。 ????但這些驕人的數字不能持久。商業周期的萬有引力最終將截斷貢獻利潤的洪流,部分原因是很多公司在經濟危機期間瘋狂裁員,要保持增長將不得不雇傭更多員工。那么,就讓我們盡情享受這一輝煌卻短暫的時刻吧,這絕非什么可持續的新時代。 ????財富美國500強公司是如何在艱難的環境下實現巨額利潤的?通過兩種方式:提高生產率和全球化。500強公司將成本控制在低水平,即便是在經濟緩慢復蘇的初期、公司銷售開始增長之時。另外,500強公司也開始在經濟增速快于美國的發展中經濟體中經營更多的業務。這兩個因素共同打造了所謂“運營杠桿”的強大利潤引擎。從2008年底的金融危機開始,很多公司大砍成本,尤其是勞動力成本,仿佛經濟大蕭條已風雨欲來。從2009年底經濟重現增長以來,這些公司也一直不愿雇傭更多的員工;員工成本占其總成本的近70%。如今,財富美國500強公司在全球共雇傭2,580萬人,較2007年僅增加不到1%。而且,美國公司只是維持工資增幅與通脹持平,2011年平均漲薪2%。 ????勞動生產率的猛增也是一個因素。2005年,財富美國500強公司每位員工創造的銷售收入為369,000美元。去年,這一數字達到了455,000美元,增幅達23%。每位員工創造的利潤達到創紀錄的32,000美元,比00年代初期高出50%。500強公司還通過降低利息支出實現了增效,包括用利潤償還債務以及以極低利率發行新債券這兩種方式。舉例來說,富國銀行利用這兩種方式將2011年的利息成本同比消減了14億美元。 ????企業規模在2011年也是一大優勢。“大公司一貫比小企業做得好,主要的原因是它們有大得多的全球業務覆蓋。”Moody's Analytics的首席經濟學家馬克?贊迪表示。財富美國500強公司有近40%的銷售額來自海外市場。盡管歐洲經濟狀況欠佳,2011年海外業務仍增長了3.1%,大大高于美國業務的1.7%增幅。 |
????Given the sluggish recovery and a strapped consumer, you'd expect to see corporate America trudging along, not racing for glory. In fact, the Fortune 500 are thriving as a group. Unlike the U.S. economy, they've shown quicksilver agility, rapidly shifting their product mix and producing more goods at little new cost. This nimbleness belies the immense size of these companies and, frequently, their advanced age. For example, banking giant Wells Fargo (No. 26) celebrated its 160th anniversary with profits of $15.9 billion, up 28% over 2010. "We've been able to prosper in these difficult times by innovating, whether promoting banking on mobile devices or growing our mortgage business when others are leaving," says Wells Fargo CFO Timothy Sloan. ????Wells Fargo's (WFC) fat profits are impressive but by no means unusual. The Fortune 500 generated a total of $824.5 billion in earnings last year, up 16.4% over 2010. That beats the previous record of $785 billion, set in 2006 during a roaring economy. The 2011 profits are outsize based on two key historical metrics. They represent 7% of total sales, vs. an average of 5.14% over the 58-year history of the Fortune 500. Companies are also garnering exceptional returns on their capital. The 500 achieved a return-on-equity of 14.3%, far above the historical norm of 12%. ????These big numbers can't last. The gravitational pull of the business cycle will eventually end the profit bonanza, in part because many companies carried out brutal layoffs during the recession and will now be forced to hire more workers to maintain their growth. So let's enjoy it as a heroic but fleeting moment, not a durable new age. ????How did the 500 mine huge profits in a harsh environment? Two ways: productivity gains and globalization. The 500 companies kept costs low even as their sales grew in the early stages of a slow recovery. The 500 are also doing more business in developing economies that are growing faster than the U.S. Together, these two factors created a powerful earnings engine called "operating leverage." Starting with the financial crisis of late 2008, companies slashed costs, especially labor, as if a depression were looming. Since the economy began expanding again in late 2009, they've been reluctant to hire more workers, who account for almost 70% of their total costs. Today the Fortune 500 employs 25.8 million people worldwide, up by less than 1% since 2007. And U.S. companies are simply keeping wages even with inflation, granting average raises of 2% in 2011. ????The result has been an explosion in labor productivity. In 2005 the 500 generated $369,000 in sales per employee. Last year that figure reached $455,000, an increase of 23%. Profits per worker hit a record of $32,000, 50% above the level in the early 2000s. The 500 also reaped major rewards from lowering interest payments, both by tapping bigger earnings to reduce debt and by issuing new bonds at bargain rates. Wells Fargo, for example, used both strategies to pare its interest cost by $1.4 billion from 2010 to 2011. ????Size was a big advantage last year. "The big companies consistently did better than the small players, chiefly because they have far more global reach," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. The 500 pull almost 40% of their sales from foreign markets. Despite Europe's economic travails, growth outside the United States reached 3.1% in 2011, dwarfing the U.S. figure of 1.7%. |