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| UBS headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland |
UBS, the Swiss banking group and Europe's biggest bank by value, was named Wednesday night as Grand Prix winner of the Best of European Business Awards 2006 .
The awards, run by the Financial Times and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the international consultancy group, aim to single out star performers operating in Europe – including overseas-based companies – and identify factors behind their success.
Lionel Barber, editor of the FT, said: "Europe will enjoy a bright future if businesses and politicians tackle the hard challenges. As the achievements of the winners show, top-performing companies can achieve high rates of growth and value generation even in the face of regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles.
"Innovation and talent lie at the heart of their success. The task is to spread the best practice more widely. Europe's leaders must play their part in creating the competitive markets we need."
Burkhard Schwenker, chief executive of Roland Berger, said at a dinner last night to honour the winners at Brussels' Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire: "We wanted to find the stars of Europe and we found them. These star companies demonstrate how competitive Europe really is and how far European integration has proceeded for businesses."
The winners are:
Automotive: Audi, the premium arm of Germany's Volkswagen, headed the category with strong revenue and ebit (earnings before interest and tax) growth, a good position in core markets and success in China. "Audi has focused on design and quality to increase the emotional ap-peal of its products," said the judges. It has set a target of selling 1m cars worldwide in 2008 and becoming the leading premium manufacturer. Also shortlisted: Continental, Magna International, Porsche, Toyota.
Fast-moving consumer goods and retail: Esprit, the Hong Kong-listed fashion retailer, won on the basis of highly profitable growth and the creation of 12 collections a year for most product lines, with low inventories. Also shortlisted: Gallaher, Hennes & Mauritz, Puma, Tesco.
Financial Services: UBS won because of asset growth and a focus on value, including share buyback programmes. The judges highlighted its "convincing overall strategy". Also shortlisted: BNP Paribas, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander.
Industrial: Arcelor, the world's second largest steelmaker, currently the subject of a bid from the top steelmaker Mittal, won on its external growth drive - built on regions with the greatest development potential - its commercial strategy and emphasis on innovative and high-grade areas of steel. Also shortlisted: Saint Gobain, Samsung, ThyssenKrupp, Vinci.
Oil and gas: Statoil, Norway's energy group, won partly because of its drive for a more international focus. Its largest production areas outside Norway are Angola, Azerbaijan, Algeria and Venezuela; it has also acquired deep-water assets in the Gulf of Mexico and is investing in the Polish retail market. Also shortlisted: Mol, OMV, PKN Orlen.
Pharmaceuticals and chemicals: BASF, the German chemicals company, won plaudits for always being in the top three, if not the global leader, in all its business segments. The judges highlighted its balanced product portfolio, which includes chemicals, oil and gas. Also shortlisted: Dow Chemical, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Roche.
Telecommunications and media: Telefónica, the Spanish telecoms group, had "the best balance between growth and profitability" in this category, the judges said. The group's focus on reducing dependency on South America and its aggressive investment strategy in Europe, including acquisitions of the Czech Republic's Cesky Telecom and Britain's O2, impressed the judges. Also shortlisted: Deutsche Telekom, Swisscom, Tele2, Telenor.
Transport, tourism and logistics: Denmark's AP Moller-Maersk topped the category for its business focus, strong ebit growth and sales, and successful acquisitions. Its focus on core activities such as container shipping and oil and gas production paid off as did the sale of loss-making, non-core ventures. Also shortlisted: Geodis, Hilton, Kühne & Nagel, Tui.
Utilities: Germany's RWE impressed the judges because of its focus on core businesses such as electricity and gas. It achieved critical mass in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and central and eastern Europe. Also shortlisted: Eon, Enel, Iberdrola, Scottish & Southern.
Corporate governance: ICI, the UK chemicals company, impressed with its code of conduct, transparency of remuneration for board members, outstanding risk management and smooth management information system. Also shortlisted: BAA, OMV, Siemens, UBS.
The judges were: Lord Browne, chief executive, BP; Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, former governor, Bank for the Republic of Poland; Klaus Kleinfeld, chief executive, Siemens; Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive and president, Areva; Kai-Uwe Ricke, chief executive, Deutsche Telekom; Paolo Scaroni, chief executive, Eni; Marco Tronchetti Provera, chairman, Telecom Italia, Pirelli and Olimpia; Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive, Novartis; Ben Verwaayen, chief executive, BT Group; Lionel Barber, editor, FT; Burkhard Schwenker, chief executive, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.
