Luxottica one of the 400 most important companies worldwide

In the sixth edition of the A-List 2004, the classification of the world's most important businesses drawn up by the American magazine Forbes, 12 Italian companies are included in the top 400.

There are 4 companies in the insurance segment (Cattolica, Fondiaria-Sai, Unipol and Ras), one in the banking world (Banco Popolare di Verona), three in the energy sector (Eni, Erg and Saipem), one in eyewear (Luxottica), one in TV networks (Mediaset), and two in telecommunications (Telecom Italia and Tim).

Companies are included in the classification if they meet certain parameters: sales of at least 5 billion dollars during the last tax year or market capitalization of 5 billion dollars or more at mid-March. In addition to these basic requirements companies are assessed on criteria relevant to past (sales, return on capital over the last five years) and future performance, such as analysts' expectations for profits per share and market price.

The Italian group is fourth, in Europe, after Great Britain (with 32 companies), Germany (20) and France (19).

The first ten A-List 2004 companies by billings are: Bp, Exxon Mobil, Total, Allianz, Conoco Phillips, Carrefour, Siemens, Aig, Nestle, McKesson.