Foreign Sales by U.S. Companies on the Rise, Says S&P

44.2% of Sales Now Generated Overseas

    NEW YORK, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's, the world's leading
 index provider, announced today that for fiscal year 2006, S&P 500
 companies with full reporting information posted 44.2% of their sales from
 outside of the United States -- nearly 37% more than reported five years
 ago in 2001. The data is based upon 238 companies within the S&P 500 that
 have full reporting information.
     "The significant increase in foreign sales by U.S. companies over the
 past five years is due to the rapidly expanding foreign market for goods
 and services," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at Standard &
 Poor's. "We believe that the present trend will continue with greater
 portions of U.S. products being produced and sold abroad."
     Standard & Poor's findings were based on fiscal year 2006 data for
 issues with full reporting information, representing 53.7% of the S&P 500's
 market value. Standard & Poor's also calculated that an additional 0.95% of
 sales was generated from U.S. produced goods and services that were
 exported abroad, down from the 1.14% reported in 2005.
     While globalization is apparent in almost all company reports, exact
 sales and export levels are difficult to obtain. Many companies tend to
 categorize sales by regions or markets, while others segregate out
 government sales. Additionally, intra-company sales, and hence profits, are
 sometimes structured to take advantage of trade and tax polices.
     "Despite the lack of full reporting information, the growing
 significance of international sales and profits among U.S. domiciled
 companies should not be overlooked as more U.S. companies are positioning
 themselves, via greater production abroad, to take advantage of the growth
 in the foreign middle class," concludes Silverblatt.
     A table showing foreign sales for S&P 500 issues with full reporting
 data can be found at the conclusion of this press release.
     S&P 500 FOREIGN SALES FOR ISSUES WITH FULL DATA
     Data based on company fiscal
                                                              TOTAL  FOREIGN
                                                              SALES    SALES
                             % OF TOTAL     % OF TOTAL        2006      2006
     SECTOR                  SALES - 2001   SALES - 2006  BILLIONS  BILLIONS
     Consumer Discretionary         29.1%          40.2%      $781      $314
     Consumer Staples               31.8%          38.6%      $330      $127
     Energy                         10.8%          55.9%      $686      $383
     Financials                     24.1%          30.9%      $445      $137
     Health Care                    33.1%          41.6%      $315      $131
     Industrials                    36.4%          40.8%      $731      $299
     Information Technology         51.8%          55.2%      $612      $337
     Materials                      36.8%          44.6%      $272      $121
     Telecommunication Svc             NA             NA        NA        NA
     Utilities                      18.3%          26.9%       $29        $8
     S&P 500                        32.3%          44.2%    $4,201    $1,858
 
     * Source: Standard & Poor's Index Services
     About Standard & Poor's Index Services
     Standard & Poor's Index Services, the world's leading index provider,
 maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an
 array of investor needs. Its family of indices includes the S&P 500, an
 index with $1.32 trillion invested and $4.91 trillion benchmarked, and the
 S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country
 headline indices. For more information, please visit
 http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices
     About Standard & Poor's
     Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies ( MHP),
 is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence,
 including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment
 research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly
 owned affiliates, located in 21 countries. Standard & Poor's is an
 essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a
 leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the
 independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their
 investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit
 http://www.standardandpoors.com.
     For more information contact:
 
     David R. Guarino
     Communications
     Standard & Poor's
     212 438 1471
     dave_guarino@standardandpoors.com
 
     Howard Silverblatt
     Senior Index Analyst
     Standard & Poor's
     212 438 3916
     howard_silverblatt@standardandpoors.com
 
 

SOURCE Standard & Poor's