To learn about the differences between the two products and find out which is more suited to you, learn more about spread betting vs CFDs. Founded in 1997, it is one of the world’s largest distillers, operating in over 180 countries. The company also holds a large stake in the Moet Hennessy drinks division of French company LVMH.
Since 2022, GSK’s market cap has fallen substantially due to a lawsuit over its heartburn drug Zantac, losing around 40% from a peak of $118 billion in 2022. This increase was mainly down to Shell combining its two shares (A and B) in January 2022 from their Dutch and British operations in an effort to ‘simplify’ the company. Some of these companies will be easily recognizable to the average consumer, whereas others will not be so well known. As a trader, they will all be relevant to us, having large impacts on their industries and the markets.
We trust this article has given you an introduction and basic knowledge of the history and operations of the UK’s 10 largest companies. As an effort to expand, the company has used a strategy of acquisitions, mainly of other tobacco brands. More recently, in an attempt to diversify, BAT purchased 20% of the cannabis-produced OrganiGram, which is based in Canada, for £126 million. Alongside its tobacco and nicotine products, the company now offers vapour, modern oral and tobacco heating products. Originally founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1908, BP has gone through multiple acquisitions and name changes over the last century to become the global company it is today. Although City Index is not specifically prevented from dealing before providing this material, City Index does not seek to take advantage of the material prior to its dissemination.
Rio Tinto is an Anglo-Australian mining company with headquarters in London. It is one of the world’s largest precious metals extractors and refiners, producing gold, how to get 100 free openfx video filters diamonds, iron, aluminium and copper. The company was founded in 1873 by Spanish investors and it still operates to this day in Spain and other countries worldwide.
- It is one of the oil and gas supermajors and one of the largest companies in the world by revenue.
- Glencore is the tenth-biggest company on the LSE by market cap, but isn’t strictly British at all – it is headquartered in Switzerland, although its oil and gas headquarters are in London.
- BP is one of the world’s seven oil and gas ‘supermajors’, founded in 1902 and headquartered in London.
- Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company is a Fortune Global 500 company and has a market cap of over $38 billion.
- It is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotech company.
The company serves over 65 countries worldwide and it is the largest bank in Europe, as well as one of the largest globally. It originates back to the British Hong Kong region in 1865 and now has headquarters in London, still maintaining its strong relationship with the Asian markets. HSBC caters for commercial banking, global banking and investments, retail banking, private banking and wealth management services.
Admiral Group is a global insurance company headquartered in the United Kingdom that controls the Admiral, Diamond, Bell, and Veygo names. It also owned the insurance comparison website confused.com until 2021, when it was sold. Admiral began as a provider of motor vehicle insurance and has since expanded to include holiday, home, and pet insurance. Despite this, Tesco remains one of the most important companies in the UK, employing over 230,000 people. RIO is currently the gravestone doji when measured by profit, making $21 billion in 2022 on $63 billion in sales. Diageo is a London-based alcoholic beverage corporation with over 200 brands, and sales across 180 countries, focusing on Scottish whisky and other spirits.
Top 100 companies
Of the most particular importance in the services industry, is the financial services industry, of which you’ll see many companies forming part of our list below. Unilever has been a household brand since 1929, when it was founded through the merger of soap maker Lever Brothers and margarine company Margarine Unie. It is a multi-layered business with more than 400 brands, including food, home and personal care products. BT Group Plc is a leading telecom company headquartered in England but with operations in around 180 countries.
This material is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation. While Shell, BP and HSBC are at the top of both lists, there are some notable differences. The company was formed when Glencore International merged with Xstrata in 2013. The company has operations in the mining of several minerals, including iron ore, copper, aluminium, uranium and diamonds. Diageo is a drinks company that has a wide portfolio of alcoholic beverage products, including a specialism in Scotch whisky and spirits.
Related UK Biggest Companies Comparisons
Linde serves its customers in multiple different areas ranging from healthcare and petroleum refining to fibre optics, chemicals and many more. Despite this, Linde’s core business is still processing plants that extract or produce gas, being the global leader in industrial gas production. It manufactures and distributes many gases that, include oxygen, nitrogen, helium and many more. Being a pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca has a massive outlay on R&D, with three main centres located in the UK, Sweden, and the USA, facilitating the $6-9 billion yearly spend.
AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN)
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The company reported making a profit in only one sector in 2020 for its chemical sales business. As APAC markets account for more than 35% of total revenues, Royal Dutch Shell may be looking towards a more hopeful year, due to aafx forex broker review the re-opening of the markets. Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS)
Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved by reading our full risk warning. Glencore is the tenth-biggest company on the LSE by market cap, but isn’t strictly British at all – it is headquartered in Switzerland, although its oil and gas headquarters are in London. The company is the world’s largest commodity trader, and a major metals miner too. Royal Dutch Shell also noticed a steep decline in revenue in 2020 as a result of economic and mobility restrictions. The price of crude oil per barrel plummeted in March 2020, which affected share prices of oil stocks.
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The UK’s biggest company by market cap is AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company best known for its role in developing the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. You can use a spread betting or CFD account to trade on the biggest companies in the United Kingdom. You can trade on the FTSE 100 index itself, referred to as the ‘UK 100’ or the individual stocks themselves. Learn more about spread betting vs CFDs to understand the distinctions between the two and determine which is best for you. It is currently one of the top 20 largest businesses in the United Kingdom by market capitalisation and one of the major global public energy organisations. It was established during the privatisation of the UK energy sector in the 1990s.
As a pharmaceutical company, its main products cover major diseases in the fields of oncology, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience, respiratory, and inflammation. Fourth on the list of largest employers in the UK is a chain of supermarkets, Sainsbury. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca was formed in 1999 after the merger between Astra AB and Zeneca Group. Since then, it has remained one of the largest pharma companies in the world and it was at the forefront of the drive to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Over the years, HSBC has found itself amidst multiple controversies, for which it has been fined multiple times. These include several accounts of money laundering and the setup of large-scale tax avoidance schemes. In recent years Linde has moved towards sustainable energy and transport, being a member of the Hydrogen Council, which invests in hydrogen vehicles. Over the next few decades, Linde expects these vehicles to compete with electric vehicles.
However, a sluggish rebound from the mass market selloff at the start of 2020 caused the company to relinquish its top position to AZN. In 2020, Reckitt had its highest ever sales growth of almost 12%, which was driven by exceptional demand for its disinfectants and antibacterial products from Dettol and Lysol. Given the pandemic, the company’s performance is attributed mainly to its hygiene division, with annual sales rising by over a quarter. This comes after a few sluggish years in terms of revenue and brand value, possibly restoring investor faith in this company for years to come.
Rio Tinto is listed on three exchanges – the LSE, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the NYSE – all under the RIO ticker. HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world – serving more than 39 million customers in 66 countries. You can take a position on the largest companies in the UK using CFDs or spread bets. As they’re derivatives, you can speculate on any underlying price movements without taking ownership of the shares.