Companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years ended on or before March 31, 2013. All companies on the list must publish financial data and report part or all of their figures to a government agency. Figures are as reported, and comparisons are with the prior year’s figures as originally reported for that year. Fortune does not restate the prior year’s figures for changes in accounting.
Revenue figures include consolidated subsidiaries and reported revenues from discontinued operations, but exclude excise taxes. For banks, revenue is the sum of gross interest income and gross noninterest income. For insurance companies, revenue includes premium and annuity income, investment income, realized capital gains or losses, and other income, but excludes deposits.
The figure shown is either a fiscal year-end or yearly average number, as published by the company. Where the breakdown between full- and part-time employees is supplied, a part-time employee is counted as one half of a full-time employee.
This year’s Fortune Global 500 was prepared under the direction of senior editor L. Michael Cacace. Financial statements and annual reports were reviewed by reporter Douglas Elam, accounting specialists Richard Tucksmith and Rhona Altschuler, and markets editor Kathleen Smyth. Reporter Cindy Kano (Tokyo) reviewed and verified figures for Japanese companies. Fortune Global 500 regional contact Zhang Dan provided figures for Chinese companies. Staff in Britain, France, Germany, India, and South Korea gathered data in those countries. Fortune’s Business Information Database administrator, Larry Shine, supplied the technical support. Edith Fried reviewed and edited nonstatistical information. Research director Marilyn Adamo, Viki Goldman, and research assistant Kathleen Lyons assisted in data verification using data provided by Thomson Reuters; S&P Capital IQ; Hoover’s; and Morningstar Document Research.
If you have further questions about the Global 500, please e-mail fortunespecials@fortune.com.
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