WH Group Limited, parent company of US-based Smithfield Foods, debuted in the Fortune Global 500 list with a rank of 495th. The company ranked sixteenth in the food, beverage and tobacco sector and was the only Chinese food and beverage enterprise on the list. In addition, WH Group ranked fortieth on the Fortune China 500 list released earlier this year.
WH Group had set a goal earlier this year to become a global top 500 enterprise by 2020, said Wan Long, chairman and chief executive officer of WH Group, in a press release.
Fortune Magazine compiles and releases the Global 500 list annually. This ranking measures companies primarily by their annual revenue. The 2016 Fortune Global 500 List featured a total combined revenue of US$27.6 trillion and total combined profit of US$1.5 trillion. According to the 2016 list, WH Group’s annual revenue and profit for 2015 were US$21,209 million and US$786 million, respectively.
WH Group net profits, 2015
China-based WH Group reported a net profit of US$866 million for the 2015 fiscal year, a 17.5 percent increase when compared to the previous year. The company’s packaged meats business had a strong year, while its hog production business saw a sharp drop in operating profit.
WH Group’s operating profit as a whole was down about 3.5 percent. Operating profit for the packaged meat business was up 27.2 percent, while operating profit for the fresh pork business increased by 1.3 percent. However, the company’s operating profit of US$54 million for the hog production business was a major drop from the US$412 million from what was achieved in 2014.
WH Group is the world’s largest pig producer, according to the WATTAgNet Top Pig Companies database.
