(FORTUNE Magazine) – In this difficult year, there must be something about the air in Britain and the Netherlands. Two of the top five earners have headquarters in both places. Royal Dutch/Shell, whose profits rose 27.3% to $5.4 billion, was No. 1, and Unilever No. 5. American companies Philip Morris, Exxon, and General Electric took the other three slots. Pharmaceutical makers were big winners, especially in returns on sales and assets. Glaxo Holdings of Britain had the highest return on sales, and Astra of Sweden was No. 1 in return on assets. Reflecting the U.S. recovery, Americans took the first five places among companies with the biggest increases in profits, led by Eastman Kodak's 6,641% rise.

BOX:

The Global 500 shrank employment 3.8%. Which country led in profit improvement?

/ CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: NO CREDIT CAPTION: FORTUNE'S GLOBAL 500 RANKED BY PERFORMANCE BIGGEST INCREASE IN SALES HIGHEST PROFITS BIGGEST INCREASES IN PROFITS* HIGHEST RETURNS ON. . . SALES ASSETS MOST EMPLOYEES