S&P: Foreign Sales by U.S. Companies Fall in 2009; Domestic Sales Also on the Decline

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- After three consecutive years of rising foreign sales, S&P 500 companies with full reporting information posted 46.6% of their sales from outside of the United States in 2009 down from the 47.9% recorded in 2008, Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, reported today. The data is derived from the 250 companies within the S&P 500 that have full reporting information.  

Reported foreign sales for the current membership of the S&P 500 decreased 16.0% in 2009, while U.S. domestic sales decreased 11.2%.

"Total reported 2009 fiscal sales for the S&P 500, on an aggregate basis, decreased 12.0% from US$ 9.08 trillion to US$ 7.99 trillion, matching the 2005 level of US$ 7.94 trillion," adds Howard Silverblatt, S&P Senior Index Analyst and author of the report. "The sudden and massive decline was the product of the global recession and the massive pull-back in consumer spending in the U.S."

According to the report, European sales from S&P 500 companies declined to 25.6% of foreign sales in 2009 from 27.7% in 2008, as Asia increased to 17.6% from 13.2%. Canada was the primary recipient of S&P 500 foreign sales in 2009 at 7.4%. Information Technology continued to be the dominating sector with over 56% of its declared sales coming from outside of the United States; the sector represents 20.4% of all U.S. foreign sales.

S&P Indices also determined that total income taxes paid declined 24% in 2009 as U.S. issues sent US$ 43 billion less to non-US governments than they did in 2008.  Federal income taxes paid to the U.S. government fell 13.6% to US$ 92.7 billion in 2009 from US$ 107.2 billion in 2008. Additionally, income taxes paid to non-U.S. governments declined 32.0% to US$ 91.7 billion from US$ 135.1 billion in 2008.

"While actual country payments are not reported, the aggregate loss of US$ 43.3 billion of income to non-US sovereigns puts additional budgetary pressures on an already strained system," notes Silverblatt. "Taxes paid to the United States now constitute a majority at 50.2% of all income taxes paid by U.S. companies, up from 44.2% in 2008."

The full report, S&P 500: 2009 Global Sales, can be accessed by going to www.indexresearch.standardandpoors.com.

About S&P Indices

S&P Indices, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor's family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for 150 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

SOURCE Standard & Poor's